Talo is hiring on behalf of a client

Senior Creative Strategist

A confidential search run by Talo for one of its clients. The full brief is shared with shortlisted candidates.

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About youStep 1 of 6

Full nameEmailPhone — optionalLocation and time zone — optionalLinkedIn — optionalPortfolio — optionalYour CV — PDF please, up to 4 MB; it is read as part of your applicationIntro video — required · a short video of you (1 to 2 minutes), MP4, MOV or WebM up to 100 MB, or a linkor a link anyone can open (YouTube, Vimeo, Loom, or Drive shared as “Anyone with the link”):Why this role? — optional

What is your salary expectation per month, gross?

Please give a monthly figure and state the currency (for example "£5,500 per month" or "€6,000 per month"). If you are applying as a freelancer or contractor, give your monthly rate and say so. A range is fine.

What is the earliest date you could start?

If you are serving notice, give the first working day you would realistically be available.

Which country will you be working from, and do you already hold the right to work there?

For example: "United Kingdom — British citizen" or "Spain — permanent residency, no sponsorship needed". This role's working pattern and contract type are still being confirmed with the client, so we need to know where you would be based and employed.

How many hours of your normal working day overlap with 09:00–17:00 UK time (GMT/BST)?

Answer for the hours you could realistically work every day, not occasional exceptions.

How many years have you worked specifically in creative strategy (setting the strategic rationale behind advertising or campaign creative)?

Count only time in the discipline itself, not general marketing, account management or design roles.

Which best describes your most recent two years of work?

Choose the closest single option.

Which best describes your level of decision-making in your most recent creative strategy role?

Be honest — we are testing fit, not filtering for the highest option.

List the agencies, brands or companies where you did creative strategy work, with your job title and dates for each.

One per line, most recent first, for example: "Wieden+Kennedy — Senior Strategist — Mar 2021 to Aug 2023". Include client names where you are allowed to.

Which markets have you built or directed creative strategy for?

Select every market where you personally worked on the strategy, not markets your agency simply served.

UK and Ireland Western Europe Central and Eastern Europe North America Latin America Middle East and North Africa Sub-Saharan Africa Asia-Pacific Global or multi-market

Have you personally set the creative strategy for a campaign that then met or beat its stated client objective?

Answer yes only if you owned the strategic thinking and can point to the result.

What is the largest monthly advertising or media spend behind creative you were strategically responsible for?

Give the spend on the campaigns whose creative direction you set, in the month it peaked. Convert to pounds sterling if it was in another currency. If you genuinely do not know the figure, choose the last option rather than guessing.

Which of these did you personally own, rather than support or observe?

Select only what you were accountable for.

Audience and market research Insight and strategic proposition Writing creative briefs Directing concept development Channel and format decisions Reading performance data and iterating creative Presenting to clients or senior stakeholders Mentoring or managing strategists Pitch and new business strategy

Link to proof of the result — performance data, a case study, a results deck or a client testimonial.

Use a publicly viewable link or one that does not require an access request (Drive, Dropbox, Notion, personal site). Redact confidential figures if you must, but keep the metric visible. Paste "none" only if you truly have nothing shareable.

Link to the finished work itself — the campaign, ads or content that came out of your strategy.

Link straight to the work (video, ad library, case page), not your whole portfolio homepage.

Using the work you linked above, explain why it worked.

Around 200–300 words. Cover the objective, the evidence or insight you started from, the strategic choice you made, what you deliberately ruled out, and the measurable outcome. We are reading for reasoning, not polish.

Which tools and platforms do you use regularly in your strategy work?

Select what you use yourself, at least monthly.

Meta Ads Manager or Ads Library Google Ads / GA4 TikTok Creative Centre Figma Miro or FigJam Google Slides or Keynote Social listening tools (Brandwatch, Sprout, similar) Survey or panel tools (YouGov, Attest, similar) Consumer research platforms (GWI, Mintel, similar) AI tools for research or concepting None of these

A client asks for "something like the campaign our competitor just ran". You have two weeks, last quarter's performance data showing their previous creative underperformed, and a creative team waiting on a brief. Write the paragraph that describes how you would handle it.

One paragraph, roughly 150–250 words. Tell us what you would do first, what you would push back on and how, what evidence you would use, and what you would put in the brief. Concrete beats abstract.

This role is still being scoped with the client, so the remit will need shaping in the first weeks. How comfortable are you with that?

Be candid — a settled, fully specified brief is not available here.

Are you willing to complete a short strategy task (roughly two hours) as part of the process? — optional

The client has not yet confirmed whether a task stage will be used, and whether it is paid. We will tell you before you are asked to do anything.

Link to a 1–2 minute intro video.

Record on your phone or laptop, unscripted and unedited. In under two minutes: your name, the kind of creative strategy work you do, and one strategic call you made that you are proud of. Upload to Loom, YouTube (unlisted), Drive or Dropbox and check the link opens without an access request.

How did you hear about this role? — optionalIs there anything we should know to make the process work for you, or any context about your circumstances you would like to share? — optional

Optional. For example adjustments for interviews or tasks, notice period complications, caring responsibilities affecting scheduling, or a career gap you would rather explain here than be asked about. Only share what you are comfortable sharing.

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I consent to Talo storing and processing the details I've provided to consider me for this role and, if shortlisted, to present me to its client. I can ask for them to be corrected or removed at any time.