Data & Insights Strategist
Depth first. You own the measurement thinking with no reporting line. It is the first role where influence matters more than output, so you set the direction of the work through the quality of your thinking rather than through a team. You work independently on client projects, owning the analysis you deliver and adding value to the account teams you support. Your expertise in data and insights is your main contribution, and you deepen it deliberately.
How this role differs
You move from being trusted on complex work to owning the strategy and roadmap for your accounts, influencing delivery without a reporting line.
The Strategist owns the measurement thinking and is the person who says when the numbers do not support the plan. The Data & Insights Lead owns reporting delivery through Executives and the standard they work to.
Roles and responsibilities
- Turn client objectives and campaign questions into research and measurement approaches, defining suitable sources, methods, metrics and limitations.
- Assess whether proposed research is feasible before work begins, recommending alternatives when the available data cannot support the brief.
- Resolve escalated data problems, including conflicting sources, incomplete datasets and uncertainty about how results should be interpreted.
- Establish relevant metrics, baselines and tracking requirements at onboarding or campaign planning, working with account teams and technical specialists.
- Challenge campaign claims, strategic assumptions or proposed conclusions when the evidence does not support them.
- Turn analysis into clear findings and recommendations that non-technical stakeholders can understand and act on.
- Explain and defend methodology to account teams and clients, handling questions and being transparent about uncertainty.
- Work independently on client projects, managing your own work end to end and adding value to the account teams you support, including scope and hours.
- Make sure your work follows the agency's quality SOPs for research, reporting and documentation.
- Contribute the data and insight sections of quarterly business reviews, presenting findings where they add value.
- Support the sales team in scoping new projects.
Entry requirements
Gateway skills needed at 8+ in the previous role to step into this one.
How this role is weighted
Immediate growth path
Operates across multiple accounts. Consistent, not occasional, performance at level 4 behaviours.
First step beyond own output. The Lead directs the work of others. Same level, no drop in title or reward.