Senior Director, Customer Strategy

About Merkle:

Merkle, a dentsu company, powers the experience economy. For more than 35 years, the company has put people at the heart of its approach to digital business transformation. As the only integrated experience consultancy in the world with a heritage in data science and business performance, Merkle delivers holistic, end-to-end experiences that drive growth, engagement, and loyalty. Merkle's expertise has earned recognition as a "Leader" by top industry analyst firms, in categories such as digital transformation and commerce, experience design, engineering and technology integration, digital marketing, data science, CRM and loyalty, and customer data management. With more than 16,000 employees, Merkle operates in 30+ countries throughout the Americas, EMEA, and APAC.

Purpose of the Role:

BX is dentsu UK&I’s strategy and transformation capability, housed within Merkle, our remit is to deliver high-impact strategy and transformation engagements for our clients and enable cross-practice growth.

We position ourselves as our clients’ go-to partner for future-fit business and experience transformation, delivering measurable business and customer growth through our blend of strategic and consulting rigour, human insight, and storytelling.

BX supports brands in achieving transformational outcomes, including revenue diversification through new business models; product and service innovation; organisational redesign; cultural and change management; and customer engagement strategies that drive value, loyalty and growth.

You will join our BX team, helping leading organisations shape and deliver customer-led growth. As a senior strategic leader, you will own significant client relationships and engagements across customer and business strategy, CRM, customer experience, operating models and wider transformation. Working across disciplines, you will turn strategic ambition into practical, scalable change while helping grow our client partnerships and practice.

What you'll do:

• Own the strategic direction and successful delivery of significant client engagements, typically across two key pieces of business.
• Build trusted relationships with senior client stakeholders, identifying opportunities to deepen and expand our partnerships.
• Lead customer and business strategy work spanning CRM, customer experience, operating models and broader transformation.
• Shape, pitch and win new work, working collaboratively with colleagues across the wider organisation.
• Direct multidisciplinary teams, providing clear strategic guidance and supporting consultants and analysts to deliver high-quality work.
• Contribute to the growth of our practice through proposition development, client workshops, speaking engagements and thought leadership.

How you'll succeed:

• Deliver high-quality strategic work that translates complex customer and business challenges into clear, practical recommendations.
• Build senior client confidence, strong feedback and enduring relationships across significant engagements.
• Identify and convert commercially valuable opportunities to expand existing partnerships and win new work.
• Provide clear direction that enables multidisciplinary teams to deliver effectively and on time.
• Strengthen team culture through collaborative leadership, mentorship and knowledge sharing.
• Help advance the practice through new propositions, perspectives and market-facing thought leadership.

What you'll bring:

• Significant experience in customer and business strategy, ideally gained within a leading consultancy or transformation environment.
• A strong track record of acting as the senior strategic lead for complex, high-value client engagements.
• Demonstrable experience of pitching, winning and expanding client work through commercially focused senior relationships.
• Broad understanding of CRM and customer experience, with the ability to connect these areas to operating-model and business transformation priorities.
• Confident and engaging communication skills, including facilitating senior workshops and presenting complex thinking clearly without relying on prepared slides.
• A highly collaborative, “we, not me” leadership style, combining ownership and self-sufficiency with the ability to bring others with you.

What we offer:

This is a permanent role. The team is based from our London office on a hybrid working basis. During probation, the expectation is three days per week in the office. Flexibility to attend client sites when required is also important.

At dentsu, we've built a benefits package that supports every chapter of your life. From company-funded Private Medical Insurance, a 24/7 Virtual GP and a generous sick-pay policy, to wellbeing days, volunteering time, flexible bank-holiday swaps and great everyday perks like retail discounts, gym access and tech schemes — we make it easier to live well, not just work well.

Our employee-led resource groups have helped shape policies that genuinely matter: enhanced maternity, paternity and carers leave, extended sick leave, menopause and baby-loss support, plus 10 fertility treatment days. Combined with life assurance, income protection, financial education tools and flexible savings options, you'll find a workplace that invests in you — your health, your family, your future.

About Dentsu:

Dentsu is an integrated growth and transformation partner to the world's leading organisations. Founded in 1901 in Tokyo, Japan, and now operating in approximately 120 countries and regions, we bring together the power of a global network of leadership brands to deliver impactful, end-to-end growth solutions.

Through our client promise, Innovating to Impact, we drive growth through integrated services across Media, Customer Experience Management (CXM), and Creative. Our business transformation (BX) mindset, combined with a focus on experience transformation (EX), drives sustainable growth for brands, people, and society.

Our commitment to innovation, collaboration, and diversity enables us to continuously evolve, pushing boundaries while delivering measurable impact in a fast-changing world.

Inclusion and Diversity:

At Dentsu, we embrace diversity and inclusion, valuing the unique perspectives and contributions of every individual. We believe that diversity fuels creativity and innovation, benefiting our employees, partners, and communities.

We welcome applications from all individuals, regardless of race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability, marital status, or any other protected characteristic. Beyond recruitment, we strive to create an environment where everyone feels respected, supported, and empowered to bring their authentic selves to work.