Senior Director, Brand & Cultural Strategy

Proof Strategies is an independent, Canadian‑owned strategic communications agency that charts its own path. Built on a simple philosophy – that you can do great work with great people and be a great place to work – Proof has grown into an award‑winning agency where curiosity, integrity, and collaboration are deeply valued. Today, we are proud to be one of Canada’s leading communications agencies, partnering with some of the world’s most respected brands and trusted organizations.

Guided by this foundation and a belief in the power of strong human relationships, we are on a mission to help our clients capture attention, earn trust, and move people to action. To support us on this journey, we’re hiring a Senior Director, Brand Strategy, who’s excited to build with us and help shape the agency’s next chapter.

The opportunity

Proof is seeking a Senior Director, Brand Strategy to lead strategic thinking across the agency, elevate the quality and effectiveness of our client work, and help define the next generation of communications planning.

This role combines audience insight, cultural strategy, trend identification, communications planning, and creative inspiration. You will uncover emerging signals, identify shifts in audience behaviour and culture, and translate those insights into powerful communications strategies, earned-first ideas, brand platforms, campaigns, and stakeholder engagement programs that connect to clear client objectives and create meaningful impact.

You will work closely with client teams, creatives, integrated planners, and research partners to ensure our work is rooted in insight and connected to what matters most to people. You will help teams turn strategic thinking into clear direction, stronger ideas and excellent client initiatives from opportunity and brief through development, execution and evaluation.

Beyond client work, you will help build and grow the agency’s strategic planning capability by evolving our methodologies, integrating AI and new technologies into our process, mentoring talent, and supporting business development efforts and identifying opportunities to strengthen client relationships and agency growth.

Our strategists are active partners to our clients, not behind-the-scenes strategists. This role requires someone who can lead and present strategic thinking with confidence, build trusted client relationships, and stay close to the work from insight through execution. You’ll be expected to bring strategic perspective into client conversations, shape the work alongside creative and account teams, and help ensure strategy translates into ideas and outcomes that deliver for our clients.

Key responsibilities

Audience, Cultural & Market Intelligence

• Lead primary and secondary research to uncover audience insights, behaviours, motivations, barriers, and opportunities.
• Identify emerging cultural shifts, market signals, risks, and opportunities before competitors.
• Monitor social, economic, technological, media, and consumer trends to inform client strategies and agency thinking.
• Apply AI-enabled research, intelligence, listening, and forecasting tools to accelerate insight generation and strategic planning.
• Transform complex research findings into compelling narratives and actionable recommendations that inform decisions, shape strategy and identify opportunities for client impact.

Strategic Planning

• Write insightful and inspiring creative briefs that spark breakthrough ideas.
• Develop strategies that connect business objectives, brand, audience insight, culture, and communications.
• Define clear measures of success and guide teams on performance evaluation and learning.
• Partner with creative, digital, content, and communications teams to develop earned-first ideas capable of competing with both communications and advertising agencies.
• Lead strategic thinking throughout the development of major client initiatives, ensuring insight, strategy, creative ideas and execution remain connected to the client’s objectives.
• Raise the strategic quality and effectiveness of client work by challenging and strengthening ideas, recommendations and approaches.
• Ensure creative territories and execution remain aligned with audience insight, strategic objectives, and brand positioning.
• Bring cultural relevance and audience understanding into every stage of campaign development.
• Define what success looks like at the outset of an initiative and use insights, data and results to evaluate impact and strengthen future work.
• Translate strategic thinking into clear direction that enables client and agency teams to make strong decisions and move work forward.

Agency Strategy Leadership

• Define and evolve Proof’s strategic planning offering and point of view.
• Build tools, frameworks, processes, and best practices that strengthen strategic thinking across the agency.
• Champion the adoption of audience-first and insight-led planning methodologies.
• Establish Proof as a recognized leader in communications strategy, audience intelligence, and cultural insight.
• Contribute thought leadership, speaking opportunities, articles, and agency marketing initiatives.

Growth & Business Development

• Provide strategic leadership in new business opportunities and agency growth.
• Lead strategic discovery, audits, workshops, and planning sessions with prospective clients.
• Contribute to pitch strategy, insight development, positioning, and presentation storytelling.
• Identify and develop new strategic products, services, and opportunities that create value for clients and support agency growth.

Team Development & Collaboration

• Mentor teams across the agency, including client leads, and emerging talent.
• Foster a culture of curiosity, learning, experimentation, and innovation.
• Collaborate across practices and disciplines to elevate strategic thinking throughout the agency.
• Educate teams and clients on emerging trends, cultural shifts, research methodologies, and AI-enabled planning.
• Create clarity and alignment across teams, helping translate strategic direction into strong decisions, ideas and execution.
• Coach and develop emerging strategic talent and help raise the overall standard of strategic thinking across the agency.

What you’ll bring

• 10+ years of experience in brand strategy, communications strategy, cultural strategy, account planning, consumer insights, or integrated planning.
• Experience working within an agency environment.
• Demonstrated ability to turn audience insights into effective communications, campaigns, and brand strategies.
• Demonstrated ability to lead complex strategic initiatives from development through execution, bringing teams together around a clear direction and standard of excellence.
• Strong understanding of earned media, reputation, public affairs, and integrated marketing.
• Experience conducting and interpreting qualitative and quantitative research.
• Proven ability to facilitate workshops, presentations, and strategic planning sessions.
• Exceptional storytelling, presentation, and communication skills – comfortable presenting the thinking as they are developing it.
• Strong business acumen and an understanding of how strategic thinking translates into client value, business outcomes and agency growth.
• A track record of influencing senior clients and internal stakeholders and translating complex thinking into decisions, action and measurable outcomes.
• Deep curiosity about culture, technology, media, consumer behaviour, and societal change.
• Understanding of AI, social listening, research technologies, and emerging intelligence platforms as strategic planning tools.

WHY JOIN US?

• A forward-thinking, inclusive, and award-winning culture: We put people first.
• Local decision making: Canadian, independent ownership where decisions are made here by leadership.
• Career-defining impact: Shape not only client work, but the future direction of our agency.
• Flexible hybrid workplace: We celebrate flexibility and trust our team to honour our hybrid work policy.
• Values you can feel: Curiosity, empathy, integrity, inclusivity, excellence, and innovation guide everything we do.

Compensation and benefits

Expected compensation for this role is $150,000 – $160,000 annually, with placement within this range dependent on the candidate’s years and level of experience relative to the requirements of the role.

Full-Time Employees at Proof Enjoy:

• A collaborative, inclusive workplace that values diverse perspectives
• Collaboration with a team exploring AI and building contemporary services to reflect growing work and new behaviours
• Competitive benefits package (health, dental, counselling, etc.) coverage to care for you and your loved ones from day one
• Mental health resources (EAP, Headspace)
• Parental leave benefits
• Green commuter perk
• And more!

Other

• Job type: existing vacancy, full-time
• Hiring manager: SVP, Innovation & Growth
• Location: Hybrid, 33 Bloor Street East, Toronto, ON
• Start date: Nov / Dec 2026
• Vacation: 4 weeks

Use of Artificial Intelligence

We may use artificial intelligence to screen, assess, or select applicants for this position.