Senior CX Strategist

Senior CX Strategist

Company: VML UK
Location: London – Sea Containers House, SE1
Working Model: Hybrid
Reporting to: Head of Planning

Who We Are

At VML, we are a global creative company that brings together brand experience, customer experience and commerce to create connected brands and drive growth.

We combine creativity, strategy, data and technology to help some of the world's biggest brands build meaningful relationships with their customers. From shaping brand experiences to designing connected customer journeys, we believe the best work happens when different perspectives and capabilities come together.

We're now looking for a Senior CX Strategist to join our London strategy team.

The Opportunity

Most brands don't have a communications problem. They have an experience problem. A gap between what they promise and what customers actually experience at the moments that matter.

We're looking for a Senior CX Strategist who can help close that gap.

Someone who understands that great customer experience isn't just about individual touchpoints, CRM campaigns or digital journeys. It's about connecting the entire customer experience, from the first interaction with a brand through to building long-term relationships, loyalty and advocacy.

You'll bring together CX, CRM and brand-level thinking, using customer insight, creativity and data to develop strategies that make experiences better for customers and more effective for businesses.

You'll work across a range of exciting clients, including major global brands, helping them understand their customers, identify opportunities and create more connected, meaningful experiences.

This is a role for someone who enjoys getting under the skin of a business challenge, asking the right questions and turning complex customer problems into clear, inspiring strategic thinking.

You'll be comfortable working with creative teams, collaborating with data and experience specialists, and presenting your thinking to clients.

Above all, you'll be someone who sees the bigger picture but isn't afraid to get into the detail.

What You'll Be Doing

Connecting Brand, CX and CRM

• Develop integrated customer experience strategies that connect brand ambition with real customer needs and behaviours.

• Look across the entire customer journey, identifying opportunities to create more seamless, engaging and valuable experiences.

• Bring together brand strategy, CRM, digital experiences and customer engagement to create joined-up strategic thinking.

• Understand how different channels and touchpoints work together, from brand communications and social to digital, commerce, CRM and physical experiences.

• Help clients move beyond individual campaigns and channels to think about the wider customer relationship.

Turning Insight into Strategy

• Use customer research, behavioural insights, data and market understanding to uncover meaningful opportunities.

• Map customer journeys, identify pain points and understand the moments that matter most.

• Translate complex business and customer challenges into clear strategic recommendations and compelling creative briefs.

• Develop customer propositions, experience principles and strategic frameworks that inspire creative and experience design teams.

• Challenge existing thinking and bring fresh perspectives to how brands engage with their customers.

Making Customer Experience More Effective

• Work closely with data and analytics teams to understand customer behaviour and identify opportunities for growth.

• Develop strategies that improve customer acquisition, engagement, retention, loyalty and lifetime value.

• Understand how to measure the effectiveness of customer experiences and connect customer outcomes to business performance.

• Help define meaningful KPIs and measurement frameworks that demonstrate the impact of strategic recommendations.

• Use performance insights to identify what's working, what isn't and where experiences can be improved.

Bringing Strategy to Life

• Partner with Creative, Experience Design, Data, Technology and Client Services teams to turn strategic thinking into meaningful customer experiences.

• Write clear, inspiring briefs that give creative teams a strong foundation to develop ideas.

• Contribute strategic thinking throughout the creative development process, ensuring ideas remain grounded in customer insight and business objectives.

• Help connect strategic ambition with practical execution across different channels and customer touchpoints.

• Bring curiosity, fresh thinking and a willingness to challenge the expected.

Building Strong Client Relationships

• Build trusted relationships with clients, becoming someone they turn to for thoughtful, informed strategic advice.

• Present recommendations clearly and confidently, making complex thinking easy to understand.

• Work alongside senior strategists and wider teams to identify opportunities to develop existing client relationships.

• Contribute to pitches, proactive ideas and new business opportunities.

• Support and mentor more junior team members, sharing knowledge and helping strengthen the wider strategy team.

What We're Looking For

We're looking for someone who combines strategic thinking with genuine curiosity about people, brands and the experiences that connect them.

You don't need to have worked across every aspect of CX, but you should have a strong understanding of how customer experience, CRM and brand strategy come together.

Ideally, you'll bring:

• Solid experience in CX, CRM, customer engagement or integrated strategy, gained within an agency, consultancy or client-side environment.

• A strong understanding of end-to-end customer journeys, including acquisition, conversion, onboarding, engagement, retention and loyalty.

• The ability to connect customer experience thinking with wider brand strategy and business objectives.

• Experience developing customer-centric strategies, journey maps, propositions and creative briefs.

• Confidence working with customer data, research and behavioural insights to inform strategic recommendations.

• An understanding of how customer experience can drive measurable business outcomes.

• Experience working across multiple channels and touchpoints, including digital, CRM, content, social and physical experiences.

• Strong communication and storytelling skills, with the ability to present strategic thinking to clients and internal teams.

• A collaborative approach and the ability to work closely with creative, data, technology and experience specialists.

• A genuine interest in how customer behaviours, technology and emerging trends are changing the way people interact with brands.

It would also be great if you have:

• Experience working with automotive, FMCG or other major consumer brands.

• An understanding of retail, dealership or complex customer journeys.

• Experience contributing to pitches or identifying opportunities for client growth.

• An interest in AI and emerging technologies and how they can improve customer experiences.

The Kind of Person You'll Be

Curious about people

You're genuinely interested in understanding what makes people tick. You ask questions, challenge assumptions and look beyond the obvious to uncover what customers really need.

Creative in your thinking

You believe strategy should inspire great work, not just explain a problem. You can turn insight into ideas and enjoy collaborating with creative teams to bring those ideas to life.

Comfortable with complexity

You can see the bigger picture while understanding the detail. You're able to connect different parts of a customer journey and turn complicated challenges into clear, actionable thinking.

Commercially minded

You understand that great customer experiences need to deliver value for both customers and businesses. You're interested in effectiveness and can connect strategic recommendations to meaningful outcomes.

Collaborative and confident

You enjoy working with different disciplines, sharing ideas and learning from others. You're confident expressing a point of view, but equally open to being challenged.

What's in It for You?

• The opportunity to work with some of the world's most recognised brands on meaningful customer experience challenges.

• A genuinely integrated environment where CX, brand strategy, creativity, data, commerce and technology come together.

• The chance to shape experiences across the entire customer journey rather than being limited to a single channel.

• A collaborative and supportive strategy team where your ideas and perspective will be valued.

• Opportunities to develop your strategic craft, broaden your experience and progress your career.

• Hybrid working from our London office at Sea Containers House.

• A competitive salary and access to VML and WPP benefits.

Our Commitment to Inclusion and Belonging

At VML, we believe that diverse perspectives, experiences and backgrounds make us stronger and help us create better work.

We're committed to building an inclusive environment where everyone feels valued, supported and able to thrive.

We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, and if you need any adjustments or support during the recruitment process, please let us know.

Interested?

If you're a strategist who loves understanding people, connecting the dots between brands and customer experiences, and creating work that makes a real difference, we'd love to hear from you.

Come and help us shape experiences that are as creatively ambitious as they are commercially effective.