Senior Strategist

About VML Live

At VML Live, we believe brands don’t just belong in ad breaks—they belong in culture.

We exist to create moments that matter in the real world. By uniting brand ambition with genuine fan passion, we turn sponsorships and commercial rights into living, breathing cultural phenomena. Whether it’s global sports tournaments, music festivals, gaming universes, or grassroots movements, we ensure our clients show up where audiences are genuinely invested.

The Opportunity

A brand’s partnership rights are only as powerful as the way they are activated. Too many sponsorships end at logo placement; at VML Live, that’s where our work begins.

As a Senior Strategist (Sport & Entertainment), you will sit at the vital intersection of brand strategy, commercial rights, and multi-channel comms planning. Your mission is to take partnership assets—new or legacy—and translate them into culturally resonant, high-impact activation strategies that excite fans and move the commercial needle.

You will own strategic relationships across flagship accounts, guide creative teams with inspiring, actionable briefs, and spearhead pitches that showcase VML Live’s specialist edge to prospective clients across the globe.

What You’ll Do

• Architect End-to-End Activation Plans: Translate brand ambitions, fan insights, and complex rights packages into integrated, channel-ready activation frameworks spanning experiential, digital, social, PR, content, and paid media.
• Unlock Value Beyond Visibility: Ensure every asset, contractual right, and IP opportunity is leveraged creatively and commercially—moving clients from passive sponsor to active cultural participant.
• Be the Strategic Catalyst for Creative: Partner closely with creative teams, providing sharp, fertile briefs and frameworks that empower them to develop bold work with speed, focus, and clarity.
• Lead Pitches & Drive Growth: Play a pivotal role in new business and competitive pitches, crafting compelling narratives that demonstrate how partnership activation drives measurable business outcomes.
• Collaborate Across the Network: Champion integrated thinking by seamlessly connecting with teams across VML Live, broader VML, and WPP sister agencies.
• Prove What Works: Partner with data and effectiveness teams to build robust measurement frameworks, proving ROI and turning campaign learnings into future strategic advantage.

Who You Are

• A Cultural & Fan native: You understand fandom, subcultures, and audience behaviors in sport, music, gaming, or entertainment, and know how brands can show up authentically without gatecrashing.
• An Integrated Strategist: You have proven experience bridging brand strategy, partnership activation, and comms/channel planning within an agency, rights holder, or brand environment.
• A Master Storyteller: You know how to structure an argument, articulate a vision, and deliver presentations that captivate senior clients and win high-stakes pitches.
• Commercially & Operationally Astute: You understand rights contracts, sponsorship mechanics, and production realities—ensuring your strategic visions are both ambitious and executable.
• A Collaborative Leader: You thrive in fast-paced, multi-disciplinary environments and enjoy mentoring junior team members while holding your own with senior stakeholders.

Why VML Live?

• Unrivalled Scale & Access: Work with some of the world’s most recognizable brands, governing bodies, and entertainment properties.
• Connected Culture: Join a collaborative, forward-thinking team backed by the global reach, tools, and intelligence of the VML and WPP network.
• Real Cultural Impact: See your ideas come to life in stadiums, arenas, digital spaces, and on the streets—shaping how fans experience the things they love most.
• Growth & Flexibility: We offer competitive compensation, comprehensive benefits, flexible hybrid working policies, and dedicated career development pathways.