Job Description

About us.

We’re the team behind digital retailer Very

Our purpose, helping families get more out of life, powers everything we do.

And we want our people to get more out of life too! If you’re high-performing, ambitious and make the most of every opportunity, we want to hear from you. In return, you’ll enjoy heaps of flexibility, great perks and benefits, and the freedom to be yourself, keep learning and take your career wherever you want it to go.

If you love making a difference, you’ll love making it sparkle for millions of Very customers. ✨

About the role.

The Brand Marketing team are looking for a new Senior Brand Strategy & Planning Lead to help supercharge our sparkle and elevate Very into a loved, household brand that is first-choice for our families.

As Senior Brand Strategy & Planning Lead, you will be responsible for shaping and driving Very's brand strategy, ensuring it is rooted in insight, clearly defined, and powerfully activated across every consumer touchpoint.

You will be a credible strategic voice in the business, working closely with the Head of Brand, senior marketing leadership, and agency partners to set the direction for how Very shows up in the world. You will also play a key role in developing the team around you, mentoring more junior colleagues and helping to build a high-performing Brand function.

This is a role for someone who’s passionate about brands, combining big-picture strategic thinking with creativity and commercial rigour, to bring plans to life.

What you’ll be doing:

• Insights & Measurement: Champion an insight-led culture, owning insights and measurement frameworks to continuously inform and improve brand and business performance.
• Strategy & Positioning: Lead the development of Very's brand strategy and positioning, translating business objectives into clear propositions that guide decision-making across the customer function.
• Brand Identity & Creative Strategy: Own Very's brand guidelines, distinctive brand assets, and IP portfolio, partnering with Hello Studio and external agencies to elevate creative across the customer journey.
• Brand planning: Lead annual and quarterly brand planning, staying close to consumer and cultural trends and co-delivering campaign briefs with the Advertising team.
• Stakeholder Management & Collaboration: Act as a brand partner across the business, managing agency relationships and presenting brand strategy confidently to Directors and C-suite level.
• Team Leadership: Line manage and mentor a Brand Manager and Executive, fostering a collaborative, high-performing team culture.

About you.

• Significant experience in a brand strategy or planning role, either client-side or in a strategic agency environment (or both).

• Proven success in creating and executing brand strategies with evidence of demonstrable brand and commercial impact.

• Strong track record of grounding strategy in robust insight, with experience commissioning, interpreting, and activating research to inform strategic decisions.

• Deep understanding of integrated marketing and how brand strategy translates across channels — from broadcast to digital and social.

• Understand what it takes to bring a new identity to life consistently across a complex organisation — from guidelines and governance through to embedding it with internal teams and external partners.

• Outstanding written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to influence and inspire at all levels of a business.

• Experience managing agency relationships and leading the briefing and development of strategic initiatives and campaigns.

• Significant experience leading and developing a team within a complex structure, fostering a culture of collaboration and innovation in a fast-paced environment.

• A genuine passion for brands, culture, and consumer behaviour.

• Travel: Open to frequent travel between London and Liverpool for collaboration.

Some of our benefits

• Flexible, hybrid working model

• Inclusive culture and environment, check out our Glassdoor reviews

• £6,500 flexible benefits allowance to suit your needs

• 30 days holiday + bank holidays

• LinkedIn learning access

• Bonus potential (performance and business-related)

• Up to 25% discount on Very.co.uk

• Matched pension up to 6%

• More benefits can be found on our career site

How to apply

Please note that the talent acquisition team are managing this vacancy directly, and if successful in securing this role, you will be required to undertake a credit, CIFAS, Right to Work checks and if a specific requirement of your role a DBS (criminal records) check. Should your application progress we require you to let the team know if there is anything you need to disclose in relation to any of these checks prior to them being undertaken, including any unspent criminal convictions.

What happens next?

Our talent acquisition team will be in touch if you’re successful so keep an eye on your emails! We’ll arrange a short call to learn more about you, as well as answer any questions you have. If it feels like we’re a good match, we’ll share your CV with the hiring manager to review. Our interview process is tailored to each role and can be in-person or held remotely.

You can expect a two-stage interview process for this position:

1st stage - An informal 45 minute video call with the hiring team to discuss your skills and relevant experience. This is a great opportunity to find out more about the role and to ask any questions you may have.

2nd Stage – A one-hour formal task based interview where you can expect both competency and technical questions.

As an inclusive employer please do let us know if you require any reasonable adjustments.

If you'd like to know more about our interviews, you can find out here

Diversity, inclusion and equal opportunities

We’re building a culture of everyday inclusion, and welcome applications from anyone who believes they can do the job. We don’t discriminate based on age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation.

We want our recruitment process to be accessible to everyone. If you need reasonable adjustments to apply, interview, or perform a role, let us know via talentacquisition@theverygroup.com. We’ll be happy to support you.

We’re proud to be a Disability Confident Committed Employer and have nine brilliant colleague networks - including DAWN (Disability Awareness at Very) and Think (Neurodiversity at Very) - that are helping us make Very an even more inclusive place to work.