Senior CRM Strategist 

Company: VML

Working Model: Hybrid working

Location: Sea Containers office, London, SE1

At VML, we are a beacon of innovation and growth in an ever-evolving world. Our heritage is built upon a century of combined expertise, where creativity meets technology, and diverse perspectives ignite inspiration. With the merger of VMLY&R and Wunderman Thompson, we have forged a new path as a growth partner that is part creative agency, part consultancy, and part technology powerhouse.

Our global family now encompasses over 30,000 employees across 150+ offices in 64 markets, each contributing to a culture that values connection, belonging, and the power of differences. Our expertise spans the entire customer journey building connected brands that drive growth for our clients. We do this by leveraging our 3 core practices; Brand experience, Customer experience and Commerce. Within these practices we offer expertise across communications, commerce, consultancy, CRM, data, production, and technology. We deliver end-to-end solutions that result in revolutionary work.

The Role

As a Senior CRM Strategist, you'll be a key strategic voice within the team, working closely with Client Services, Creative and other disciplines to turn business challenges into effective, customer-focused solutions.

In this role, you’ll focus on one of our major automotive accounts, helping shape CRM strategy across the connected customer journey, from brand consideration and lead generation to end-to-end lifecycle CRM, web experience, and retail activations.

You will work closely in partnership with our data strategy team, using the insight from our access to customer data to shape strategy and drive performance.   

You'll be involved from brief through to delivery, helping shape the strategic direction, inspire creative thinking and make sure the work remains rooted in a clear understanding of the customer and the client's commercial objectives.

You'll work across multiple stakeholders and levels of seniority, so being able to adapt your approach, communicate clearly and build strong relationships will be just as important as the quality of your strategic thinking.

There will also be opportunities to contribute to wider strategic projects and new business, giving you the chance to bring your perspective to different challenges and clients.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the strategic direction across projects, from understanding the brief through to creative development, client sell-in and measuring effectiveness.
• Turn business, customer, cultural and behavioural information into clear, actionable insights.
• Write compelling strategic and creative briefs that give creative teams a clear direction and space to do their best work across CRM, digital, social, and dealership assets.
• Drive the CRM comms strategy across the end ot end custome journey including automated/triggered reminders, seasonal promotional campaigns, and ad-hoc owner messaging.
• Work closely with Client Services, Creative, Data and Media partners to develop connected, effective solutions.
• Build trusted relationships with clients and become a confident and credible strategic partner.
• Present and sell strategic thinking clearly to clients and internal stakeholders at different levels.
• Use data, research and customer understanding to inform strategic recommendations and strengthen the work.
• Ensure strategic thinking remains connected to the client's commercial objectives and desired outcomes.
• Challenge briefs and thinking constructively when there is an opportunity to make the work better.
• Contribute to pitches, quarterly thought leadership, proactive thinking and opportunities to grow existing and new client relationships.
• Support and develop more junior members of the strategy team, sharing knowledge and helping raise the quality of strategic output.
• Bring curiosity and new thinking into the team, keeping up with changes in culture, technology, customer behaviour and the wider industry.

Who You Are

• Strategically strong: You can get to the heart of a problem, identify what really matters and turn it into a clear point of view.
• Commercially minded: You understand how strategic thinking connects to client business objectives, funnel performance, lead generation, and long-term customer retention.
• Confident but collaborative: You're comfortable leading a conversation and challenging a client or colleague, but you're equally happy listening and adapting your thinking.
• A strong communicator: You can make complex thinking feel simple, whether you're presenting to a senior client or briefing a creative team.
• Customer curious: You genuinely want to understand what makes people tick and how their behaviours, needs and motivations can influence the work.
• Low ego: You care more about getting to the right answer than getting credit for having it. You enjoy working with different people and bringing the best out of those around you.
• Adaptable: You can fluidly navigate different briefs, from building our high-level brand frameworks and strategy houses to detailed CRM journeys, content strategies, and retail activation briefs.
• sight of the strategic objective.
• Culturally & Technologically curious: You're interested in what's happening in the world and know how to turn those observations into useful strategic thinking. You stay ahead of emerging tech and media trends - including AI, LLMs, and GEO and know how to turn those insights into useful strategy.
• A team player: You enjoy working alongside Client Services, Creative and other disciplines and understand that the best work rarely comes from one person working alone.

What You'll Need

• Proven experience working as a CRM Strategist within an agency environment (automotive is a strong advantage).
• Connected customer journey strategic experience spanning brand consideration, lead generation (e.g., test drives), and post-purchase CRM/servicing retention.
• Experience developing strategic thinking from brief through to creative development, delivery, and performance evaluation.
• A passion for creativity, we want you to do your best creative work at VML
• Strong understanding of customer behavior, journey mapping, CRM/lifecycle comms, and digital ecosystems (web, search, social, dealership touchpoints).
• Confidence presenting strategic thinking and recommendations to clients.
• The ability to interpret data and research and turn it into meaningful insight.
• Experience contributing to pitches and/or proactive strategic projects would be beneficial.
• Experience supporting or mentoring junior team members would be advantageous.

What Success Looks Like

• Strategic thinking that is clear, ambitious and rooted in genuine customer and business insight.
• Clients who see you as a trusted strategic partner and value your perspective.
• Creative teams who feel inspired and clear on the opportunity you're giving them.
• Strong collaboration across Strategy, Creative, Client Services and specialist teams.
• Strategic recommendations that contribute to meaningful client and business outcomes.
• A positive impact on the development and quality of the wider strategy team.
• The ability to bring clarity and momentum to complex challenges.

What's in It for You?

• The opportunity to work on high-profile clients and commercially meaningful challenges.
• The chance to work alongside talented people across Strategy, Creative, Client Services and specialist disciplines.
• A genuinely collaborative environment where different perspectives are encouraged.
• Opportunities to work across a broad range of strategic challenges and develop your experience.
• A culture that values good thinking, curiosity, collaboration and people who aren't afraid to challenge the status quo.
• Strong learning, development and career progression opportunities.
• A competitive package, hybrid working and access to the full suite of company and group benefits.