Summary of the VML & Ogilvy | Senior Social Strategist, Japan job at WPP

The Role

You will be a key social and influencer strategist.

A strategist who lives inside platforms, reads culture in real time, and translates signals into ideas that move both the brand and the business.

You will shape social and influencer strategies for always-on programs and integrated campaigns across Instagram, X, TikTok, LINE, YouTube and emerging platforms. You will connect organic, paid, owned and earned media into one cohesive ecosystem while ensuring strategies remain insight-led, platform-native and aligned with broader business and marketing objectives.

You will work closely with clients, creative, production, media, analytics and external partners to translate strategy into execution, ensuring every piece of work delivers measurable business impact.

You will use social tools, AI, and data to build smarter workflows, stronger insights and faster delivery.

This role suits someone who is strategic, hands-on, commercially minded and passionate about helping brands grow through social and influencer marketing. You will be expected to take ownership of strategic workstreams and lead projects from strategy through execution, while collaborating closely with cross-functional teams across the business. Someone who thrives in ambiguity, simplifies complexity and consistently raises the quality of work around them.

You work well with people, and you work well on your own.

You think. You do. You deliver.

Key Responsibilities

Social Strategy

• Lead the development of integrated social and influencer strategies for always-on programs and campaigns aligned with business and brand objectives.
• Contribute to quarterly and annual strategic planning in partnership with clients and internal teams.
• Define the role of each social platform across Instagram, TikTok, X, LINE, YouTube and emerging channels.
• Connect organic, paid, owned and earned media into one cohesive strategy.
• Translate business challenges, consumer insights and cultural trends into clear strategic direction and actionable creative briefs.
• Ensure strategic consistency across platforms while enabling culturally relevant and platform-native executions.
• Use AI and social intelligence tools to sharpen insights, uncover opportunities and accelerate delivery.

Influencer Strategy & Partnerships

• Develop influencer activation strategies that align with the overall social strategy.
• Define creator roles, content territories, platform mix and activation approaches for each campaign.
• Develop creator selection criteria balancing audience relevance, credibility, reach and engagement.
• Partner closely with influencer agencies, creator platforms and external partners to ensure strategic alignment and execution quality.
• Develop influencer briefing principles, content guardrails and approval workflows that protect brand quality and consistency.
• Identify opportunities for social-first innovation, emerging creators, new platforms and strategic partnerships.
• Evaluate influencer performance and provide recommendations to strengthen future creator programs.

Performance, Data & Optimization

• Build KPI frameworks for both organic and paid activity.
• Develop measurement plans and learning agendas for campaigns.
• Track performance through weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual reporting.
• Partner with analytics teams to interpret brand and campaign performance.
• Present actionable insights, performance reviews and optimization recommendations to clients.
• Use social listening, trend analysis, AI and audience data to guide content and strategic decisions.
• Turn insights into practical recommendations that improve future performance.

Creative & Production Collaboration

• Translate approved strategies into clear, inspiring creative briefs.
• Partner with creative teams to shape platform-native ideas and content systems.
• Guide storytelling, content formats, creator partnerships and channel recommendations.
• Brief copywriters, designers, creators and production teams to ensure alignment with the strategic intent.
• Provide strategic guidance throughout content production and campaign development to maintain alignment with business objectives and platform best practices.
• Review creative output and ensure deliverables meet both strategic and creative expectations before client presentation.

Client & Cross-functional Collaboration

• Serve as a trusted social and influencer strategy partner for clients throughout the lifecycle of a project.
• Lead strategic discussions within projects and confidently present recommendations, insights and future opportunities to clients.
• Share platform updates, cultural trends, thought leadership and best practices with clients and internal teams.
• Work collaboratively across account, creative, media, production, analytics and research teams to deliver integrated solutions.
• Support regional and global initiatives by adapting global strategies into locally relevant execution.
• Build trusted relationships with local and global stakeholders to ensure smooth collaboration across markets.
• Take ownership of the strategic workstream from briefing through optimization while ensuring alignment across all project stakeholders.

What You Bring

Experience

• 8–10+ years of experience in social strategy, influencer strategy or integrated digital marketing.
• Proven experience developing and delivering social and influencer strategies for major brands.
• Strong understanding of Instagram, TikTok, X, LINE, YouTube and emerging platforms.
• Experience working across organic, paid, owned and earned media.
• Experience collaborating with creative, production, media and analytics teams throughout campaign development.
• Experience working with regional or global stakeholders is highly desirable.
• Strong client presentation, facilitation and stakeholder management skills.

Craft

• Fluent in consumer insight, social strategy and content planning.
• Strong understanding of influencer ecosystems and creator marketing.
• Able to build strategic frameworks that connect business objectives to creative execution.
• Skilled in social listening, trend analysis and performance measurement.
• Strong at translating data into actionable business recommendations.
• Comfortable using AI tools, prompt engineering, and automation to improve efficiency and quality.

Mindset

• Curious, commercially minded and solutions-oriented.
• Thinks strategically while remaining highly hands-on.
• Comfortable switching between long-term planning and day-to-day execution.
• Confident working across cross-functional teams and leading projects in fast-paced environments.
• Collaborative, proactive and accountable.
• Passionate about growing clients' businesses and strengthening the Content Studio's strategic capability.

Language Requirements

• Professional proficiency in both Japanese and English.