Hybrid Chief Strategy Officer

at Zinc Network

• Job title: Chief Strategy Officer
• Job type: Full Time
• Experience level: Lead
• Salary: Not specified
• Degree requirement: Bachelor's Degree
• Location requirements: Hybrid, London, United Kingdom

About the role

• Chief Strategy Officer leading strategy and innovation at Zinc Network. Overseeing multidisciplinary teams to drive impactful communications and behaviour change initiatives in London.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Head of Research and MREL, Creative Director, Head of Digital, and team of strategists — ensuring these functions operate as a high-performing, integrated unit
• Drive technical excellence and innovation across all of our project delivery including strategy, research, evaluation, digital, and creative work
• Work closely with the Kora Director to advance our AI and technology capabilities, ensuring the teams use Kora to enhance how we deliver insight, design interventions, and measure impact
• Champion quality standards across all client deliverables
• Codify and continuously improve Zinc's methodologies across research and analysis, strategic planning, creative, digital, and campaigning
• Lead and write technical sections of major bids and proposals, ensuring they are strategically sound, methodologically rigorous, and creatively ambitious
• Ensure programming and strategy teams are developing new opportunities with existing clients by providing a steady drumbeat of ideas for innovations and uplifts
• Work with our Head of BD to map future opportunities, based on emerging policy issues and priorities
• Design innovative methodologies that differentiate Zinc's offer and demonstrate our expertise to government clients
• Work with the Head of BD to identify opportunities where Zinc's technical capabilities create competitive advantage
• Identify and attend fora where Zinc can build its reputation and convert that into new clients and projects
• Ensure tight integration between research, strategy, and MREL functions — so insights inform design, evaluation demonstrates impact, and learning is used to optimise our approach
• Oversee development of strategic frameworks and behavioural change approaches that advance Zinc's practice
• Drive quality assurance for research design, data analysis, and evaluation methodologies
• Ensure all of our analytical products are rigorous, concise, compelling, and actionable
• Build Zinc's reputation for thought leadership in behaviour change, strategic communications, and influence operations
• Guide digital innovation, ensuring Zinc adopts emerging technologies and platforms that advance client outcomes
• Ensure digital marketing and campaign success, ensuring work reaches target audiences and drives measurable behavioural change
• Oversee creative strategy and production, ensuring campaigns are compelling, culturally resonant, and strategically aligned
• Promote experimentation and learning — creating space for teams to pilot new approaches and tools
• Champion a campaigns mindset across our projects, ensuring everything we do is focused on delivering meaningful, measurable wins for our clients
• Build and mentor heads of department and strategists, fostering a culture of intellectual curiosity, rigour, and collaboration
• Contribute to executive-level discussions and decision-making
• Support personal development across technical functions, and build our bench of freelance talent
• Represent Zinc at high-level meetings with clients and project partners

Requirements

• 10+ years' experience in leadership across behaviour change, strategic communications, behavioural science, or related fields including communications, product/ service design or management consultancy.
• Proven track record leading the strategy function at an organisation or business that changes attitudes and behaviours
• Familiarity with digital product design and change management
• Experience developing and using, or significant exposure to, innovative technology to change audience behaviours
• Demonstrated ability to direct and integrate multidisciplinary teams spanning research, strategic planning, digital marketing, and creative and production functions to deliver high impact, integrated campaigns and interventions
• Deep expertise in behaviour change frameworks (e.g., COM-B, EAST, B=MAP) and their application to complex interventions
• Outstanding written and oral communication skills, with ability to translate complex issues into actionable strategies
• Track record of leading and writing technical sections of major bids for government, defence, or international development clients
• Strong and demonstrable interest in international affairs, security, and defence
• Experience working with or strong interest in technology platforms, digital tools, and AI applications
• Collaborative, intellectually curious mindset with commitment to excellence and innovation