Principal, Creative Strategy (In House Creative Agency)

London

3 days in the office, 2 days remote

Why this job matters

This role is central to BT Group’s brand transformation. You’ll lead the in-housing of one of our key brands, Plusnet, managing complex workstreams and senior stakeholders, while helping to shape the broader in-house agency model. Your leadership will ensure we deliver with clarity, creativity, and impact.

As Principal Creative Strategist, you'll be the strategic architect for a portfolio of brands within the BT organisation, defining brand positioning, creative strategies, and communication frameworks that drive business growth and build meaningful connections with customers.

What you’ll be doing

• Brand Strategy & Positioning - Drive and evolve a clear, differentiated brand strategy—defining purpose, positioning, and brand architecture—while ensuring consistent, audience focused branding across all touchpoints.
• Creative Strategy Development - Drive the end to end creative strategy by translating brand and business goals into inspiring concepts, clear storytelling frameworks, and strategic briefs that guide teams to deliver consistent, high impact campaigns.
• Insight & Consumer Understanding - Drive insight led brand strategy by transforming consumer research, cultural trends, and performance data into clear, impactful strategic direction.
• Strategic Leadership & Influence - Drive strategic excellence by leading brand thinking, challenging and shaping creative and business direction, and influencing senior stakeholders to unlock growth.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration - Drive cross functional collaboration to align brand strategy with business priorities, ensuring creative, product, and commercial teams deliver cohesive, strategically led campaigns and propositions.
• Agency Strategic Capability - Drive and promote strategic excellence across the agency by defining effective planning frameworks, fostering a culture of curiosity and creative thinking, sharing strategic insight, and representing the agency’s strategic expertise externally.
• Performance & Measurement - Drive brand performance by using data-led insights to measure brand health, evaluate creative impact, and present strategic recommendations that demonstrate the commercial value of brand investment.

The skills and experience you'll have under your belt

• Significant experience in brand strategy, planning, or strategic roles within advertising agencies, consultancies, or in‑house brand/marketing teams.
• Deep knowledge of brand positioning, brand architecture, and long‑term brand building.
• Ability to develop brand and creative strategies that deliver measurable business impact.
• Consumer insight translation – skilled at turning research, insights, and data into clear, actionable strategic recommendations.
• Presentation & communication skills – confident presenting complex strategic work to C‑suite and senior leadership. Leadership in creative pitch processes, from strategy development to final presentation.
• Able to work effectively across multiple brands or large brand portfolios.
• Sector knowledge – understanding of telecommunications, technology, or other complex B2C markets (desirable).
• Agile working – familiarity with agile methodologies and sprint‑based workflows.
• Industry recognition for strategic or creative excellence (e.g., awards, published case studies) highly desirable

Benefits

• Annual on target bonus 15% (based on both personal and company performance)
• Private healthcare for you and your family
• £5500 car or cash allowance
• BT Pension scheme; minimum 5% employee contribution, BT contribution 10%
• 25 days annual leave + 8 bank holidays with the option to buy up to one week's work of your contracted hours. This will also increase with service.
• 2 weeks carer’s leave
• From January 2025, all parents welcoming a new child will be eligible for our new Family Leave policy. You will receive 18 weeks at full pay, eight weeks at half pay and 26 weeks at the statutory rate. It is for all parents, no matter how your family is made.
• Enhanced women’s health support: including help with menopause symptoms, cancer screenings, period care and more.
• Life Assurance (4 x life cover pay)
• Exclusive colleague discounts on our latest and greatest BT broadband packages
• 50% off EE mobile pay monthly or SIM only plans and 50% discount for friends and family on EE SIM only plans.
• My Discounts gives colleagues access to unbeatable savings on everyday purchases at hundreds of retailers.
• Discounted EE TV including TNT Sport and the NOW Entertainment membership.
• Option to join the Healthcare Cash Plan or other benefits such as dental insurance, gym memberships etc.
• Volunteering days so you can give back to your local community.
• Brand new electric vehicle salary sacrifice arrangement, known as ‘My EV.’
• 24/7 private virtual GP appointments for UK colleagues

About us

BT Group was the world’s first telco and our heritage in the sector is unrivalled.  As home to several of the UK’s most recognised and cherished brands – BT, EE, Openreach and Plusnet, we have always played a critical role in creating the future, and we have reached an inflection point in the transformation of our business. 
 
Over the next two years, we will complete the UK’s largest and most successful digital infrastructure project – connecting more than 25 million premises to full fibre broadband.  Together with our heavy investment in 5G, we play a central role in revolutionising how people connect with each other. 
 
While we are through the most capital-intensive phase of our fibre investment, meaning we can reward our shareholders for their commitment and patience, we are absolutely focused on how we organise ourselves in the best way to serve our customers in the years to come.  This includes radical simplification of systems, structures, and processes on a huge scale. Together with our application of AI and technology, we are on a path to creating the UK’s best telco, reimagining the customer experience and relationship with one of this country’s biggest infrastructure companies.  
 
Change on the scale we will all experience in the coming years is unprecedented.  BT Group is committed to being the driving force behind improving connectivity for millions and there has never been a more exciting time to join a company and leadership team with the skills, experience, creativity, and passion to take this company into a new era.

A FEW POINTS TO NOTE:

Although these roles are listed as full-time, if you’re a job share partnership, work reduced hours, or any other way of working flexibly, please still get in touch.

We will also offer reasonable adjustments for the selection process if required, so please do not hesitate to inform us.

DON'T MEET EVERY SINGLE REQUIREMENT?

Studies have shown that women and people who are disabled, LGBTQ+, neurodiverse or from ethnic minority backgrounds are less likely to apply for jobs unless they meet every single qualification and criteria. We're committed to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace where everyone can be their best, so if you're excited about this role but your past experience doesn't align perfectly with every requirement on the Job Description, please apply anyway - you may just be the right candidate for this or other roles in our wider team.