About this Strategy Analyst role at VML
Who We Are
VML, part of WPP, is a leading creative company that combines brand experience, customer experience, and commerce, creating connected brands to drive growth. VML is celebrated for its innovative and human first, award-winning work for blue chip client partners including AstraZeneca, Colgate-Palmolive, Dell, Ford, Microsoft, Nestlé, The Coca-Cola Company, and Wendy's. The agency is recognized by the Forrester Wave™ Reports, as a Leader among Marketing Creative and Content Service Providers, Commerce Services, Global Digital Experience Services, Global Marketing Services and, most recently, Marketing Measurement & Optimization. In addition, VML’s specialist health network, VML Health, is one of the world’s largest and most awarded health agencies. VML’s global network is powered by 26,000 talented people across 55+ markets, with principal offices in Kansas City, New York, Detroit, London, São Paulo, Shanghai, Singapore, and Sydney.
About WPP
WPP is the trusted growth partner for the world’s leading brands. We unite cutting-edge media intelligence and data solutions, world-class creativity, next-generation production, transformative enterprise solutions and expert strategic counsel in a single company – powered by exceptional talent and our agentic marketing platform, WPP Open, to help our clients navigate change, capture opportunity and deliver transformational growth. For more information, visit WPP.com.
About the Role
We are looking for a detail-oriented, highly analytical, and intellectually curious Strategy Analyst to join our growing strategy team.
In this role, you will initially work exclusively on one of our agency’s flagship accounts: Microsoft. You’ll have the opportunity to dive deep into one of the world's most influential technology brands, helping to shape their strategic direction. As our business and your career evolve, you could expand your scope to other exciting clients across our portfolio.
This role is designed for a data-driven thinker who loves digging into complex datasets and research, taking genuine pride in the quality, accuracy, and rigour of their work. We’re looking for someone who is organised, proactive, and eager to translate raw information into powerful, strategic narratives.
The Opportunity: Why Join Us?
As a junior strategist, you aren't just joining a team to build decks; you are buying into a fast-track environment for professional growth.
- Direct Mentorship: You will work in a tight knit, highly collaborative team, learning directly on a day-to-day basis from our Senior Strategist, Strategy Lead, and Head of International Strategy. This flat structure means you will have immediate exposure to high-level strategic thinking, client presentations, and decision-making processes.
- Real Ownership & High Impact: We don't believe in siloing our analysts. You will have a voice in the room and own critical pieces of work, from analyzing massive consumer data sets to identifying the cultural shifts that define our client's next big campaign.
- Clear Career Progression: In a small, agile team, your impact is highly visible. We are committed to nurturing junior talent and providing a clear path for you to step up into broader strategic responsibilities as the team and client account expand.
Key Responsibilities
- Data-Driven Insights & Research Rigour
- Quantitative Analysis: Support the team in executing rigorous research processes. This includes assisting in the drafting of surveys, analysing quantitative audience segmentation studies, and synthesizing complex data sets.
- Performance Analysis: Review past campaign and business performance data to identify trends, measure effectiveness, and uncover optimization opportunities.
- Social Listening & Auditing: Leverage social listening tools to monitor conversations, identify audience pain points, and extract clear, actionable insights rather than just pulling raw numbers.
- Qualitative Support: Assist in preparing for and analyzing qualitative research, such as focus groups and depth interviews.
- Competitive & Cultural Intelligence
- Competitor Intelligence: Conduct regular competitor analysis across communications, campaigns, social presence, and market positioning.
- Trend Spotting: Surface emerging narratives and flag relevant cultural, technological, or category moments in a timely and structured way.
- Whitespace Identification: Spot gaps in the market and find untapped opportunities where our client can stand out.
- Strategic Storytelling & Project Support
- Decks & Deliverables: Help translate raw research, data, and social listening findings into clear, highly visual, and digestible summaries, insight decks, and trend reports.
- Knowledge Management: Maintain organised and accessible documentation, research libraries, and data sources for the wider team.
- Meeting Prep: Support the team in preparing high-quality materials for strategy presentations, workshops, and client briefings.
Skills & Experience
- Data Literacy & Analytical Rigour: Strong analytical skills with a genuine comfort working with numbers. You are someone who looks at a spreadsheet or data dashboard and naturally starts looking for the "why" behind the numbers.
- Insight Generation: An ability to go beyond simple desk research to find the so what? in data, translating raw metrics into clear strategic recommendations.
- Exceptional Communication: Strong written and verbal English fluency. You can write clearly, synthesise complex information accurately, and present your findings confidently within the internal team.
- Attention to Detail: An uncompromising eye for detail—you spot the inconsistencies in data and take pride in presenting polished, error-free work.
- Proactivity & Organisation: Comfort managing multiple tasks simultaneously, prioritizing effectively, and taking initiative to keep projects moving forward.
Desirable
- Research Experience: Familiarity with research methodologies (e.g., helping draft surveys, analysing quantitative studies, or using social listening platforms like Brandwatch, GWI, or similar).
- Industry Context: A background or strong interest in strategy, communications, media, marketing, or the technology industry.
- Agency Exposure: Experience working within or alongside a creative, media, or communications agency environment.
- Cultural Curiosity: A natural curiosity about human behaviour, brands, and how culture influences consumer decision-making.
We believe the best work happens when we're together, fostering creativity, collaboration, and connection. That's why we’ve adopted a hybrid approach, with teams in the office an average of four days a week. If you require accommodations or flexibility, please discuss this with the hiring team during the interview process.
WPP (VML) is an equal opportunity employer and considers applicants for all positions without discrimination or regard to characteristics. We are committed to fostering a culture of respect in which everyone feels they belong and has the same opportunities to progress in their careers.
VML is a WPP agency (NYSE: WPP). For more information, please visit www.vml.com, and follow along on Instagram, LinkedIn, and X.
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