Senior Strategist

At AKQA, we believe in the imaginative application of art and science to create beautiful ideas, products and services. With an entrepreneurial and collaborative approach, we design adaptive digital services and applications that capture the imagination, delivering impressive returns for our clients.

Strategists at AKQA work in diverse cross-functional teams (integrating business design, brand, engineering, data science, product, and more) hand in hand with client teams. Their work includes framing and scoping client challenges, leading research and analysis, developing key insights and recommendations, and designing new offering concepts and business models, while ensuring that teams, ultimately, deliver human-centered solutions that change our clients’ businesses and markets.

Senior strategists are responsible for leading teams, providing though-leadership and advice to clients, while owning strategy from insight to successful execution in client projects. You will be central to AKQA’s digital product- and services offering in Copenhagen, as well as able to deliver impact and though leadership across the full range of our client offerings and services.

You will be critical to our significant and serious efforts to embed creativity and design into strategic problem-solving and business. We expect you to demonstrate the values of a trusted advisor to clients, as well as setting an example of both kindness and calmness under pressure to your team.

You will be able to think both creatively and analytically. Helping clients dissect business problems in a structured manner, while using creativity and design methodologies to develop innovative visions, platforms, and solution concepts, spanning services, brands, and broader market propositions.

You will be expected to lead interactive workshops and concept sprints to inject strategic and service design tools and methodologies that deliver tangible results in a rapid and iterative way with our clients. Working with client teams to implement solutions and strengthen our client’s capabilities.

Requirements:

• Entrepreneurial mindset with the ability to adapt, self-organize and define project team’s tasks, as well as your own, in situations of ambiguity; experience in digital business building, start-ups, or strategy consulting is a plus.
• Expertise in human-centric design methodologies and passionate about the value of understanding the intersection between business, culture, and technology. 
• Strong advisory, influence, and communication skills (written, verbal, presentation); ability to be a thought partner and coach to clients and internal teams. 
• Strong skills in collaborating, problem-solving and leading cross-functional teams, preferably including a variety of stakeholders, across business functions and levels, and in an advisory capacity to senior clients.
• Expertise in one of core focus areas in Copenhagen: innovation & design strategy; business & brand strategy; digital product & service strategy
• Significant expertise in qualitative research methods and data management (e.g., ethnography, cultural and semiotic analysis, UX research and other exploratory, generative or evaluative research methods)
• Proficient in quantitative research methods such as surveys, market sizing, social listening, performance analysis a plus
• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in design (e.g. UX or service design), human and social science (e.g. anthropology), or a business discipline (e.g. business innovation) 
• Knowledge of, and comfortability in using rapid prototyping, and collaboration tools such as Miro, Figma, InVision, ProtoPie, Principle are a plus. 

Qualities and characteristics

Design and Creativity

• Structured visual thinker; translating complex information into models, systems, and communication.
• Ideate, plan, and lead multidisciplinary design and creative teams in projects across global clients.
• Act as human-centric design thought leader in defining new experiences and offerings for clients.
• Represent strategic creative design methodologies and best practices; advise clients on design processes.

Project Management and Impact

• Independently run mid-to-large scale projects and/or workstreams that combine research, analysis, insight development, strategy development, and solution/ concept definition
• Design research to fit client objectives and constraints – drawing on ethnography, foresight, semiotics, UX, and quant methods as appropriate.
• Lead the translation of research into business relevant insight, strategy, and value propositions, and further, into brand or product and service platforms.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to clients; independently navigating ambiguity and shifts in engagements.

Business and Practice

• Owning problem and opportunity framing and development of pitches and client proposals
• Identifying and developing new business opportunities independently, and with client service teams
• Proactively determining where AKQA can provide solutions for client needs beyond engagements.
• Helping to develop methods and best practices in strategy at AKQA globally.

People and Culture

• Manage the distribution and load of work in projects, balancing output with team wellbeing.
• Create an inspiring and inclusive environment, where each team member is valued and encouraged. 
• Coach and develop junior team members using constructive feedback and on-the-job learning.
• Own and promote an inclusive and intellectually ambitious working culture.

Explore our extensive range of benefits here.