Insights Director

Agency : Havas Play

Job Description : Havas Play UK helps brands produce Remarkable work in culture, building branded entertainment, partnerships, social & influencer, experiential and content people want to spend time with. Sitting within Havas Media Network and connected to the wider Havas Village in London, we deliver through integrated divisions spanning Strategy, Creative, Activation, Content & Media Partnerships, Production, and Measurement & Evaluation – enabling truly 360° campaigns from insight to impact.

Our recent work and relationships span leading brands and rights holders, including EE, JD Sports, Jaguar Land Rover, Major League Baseball, The FA, HSBC, Jet2, BBC, Beiersdorf and Renault.

The Role

This role sits within the growing Research, Measurement & Evaluation function within Havas Play UK. The Insights Director will lead on social, digital and influencer insight – owning the strategic direction of measurement frameworks, performance analysis and audience intelligence for some of our most important client relationships.

You will be the go-to authority on social media and talent & influencer insight, bringing expertise in content performance analysis, platform trends and algorithmic shifts to inform creative, strategy and activation teams. You will also play a critical role in translating large, complex datasets into clear, compelling narratives that drive client decision-making.

Key clients: Beiersdorf, BBC, Renault – with scope to grow the portfolio as the team and capability expands.

What You'll Do

Insight Leadership & Client Delivery

• Lead and sign off on monthly, quarterly and annual reports for retained social media and influencer clients, ensuring quality across quantitative and qualitative analysis

• Own performance tracking and narrative-building for retained clients across organic and paid channels – translating data into strategic recommendations

• Act as the senior voice for social media and talent & influencer insight, advising clients and internal teams on content performance, platform changes and emerging trends

• Lead on social media audits for ad hoc briefs, new business pitches and retained client reviews

Measurement & Evaluation Frameworks

• Lead KPI evaluation, setting and projection across social media and influencer accounts – establishing benchmarks that clients can trust and build upon

• Develop and refine measurement frameworks for talent and influencer campaigns, ensuring effectiveness is tracked from brief through to impact

• Scope projects, brief teams and track progress through to delivery – ensuring work is on time, on budget and to standard

Data & Storytelling

• Work with large, complex datasets to extract meaningful insights and build clear, compelling narratives for client and internal audiences

• Partner with strategists and creative teams to analyse content performance and determine the drivers behind success (or underperformance)

• Present findings and strategic recommendations to senior client stakeholders with confidence and clarity

Tools, Platforms & Innovation

• Audit and own third-party analytical tools for social media and influencer measurement – onboarding and upskilling team members in usage and efficiencies

• Stay ahead of platform changes, algorithmic updates and new analytical capabilities – proactively identifying tools and approaches to boost efficiency and insight quality

• Represent Havas Play as the social media and influencer measurement specialist within the wider Data, Measurement & Evaluation team across Havas Media Network

Research & Analysis

• Lead quantitative and qualitative research projects end-to-end: scoping, costing, questionnaire/guide design, sampling, fieldwork management, analysis and presentation

• Support broader insight needs including desk research, secondary data analysis and social listening to inform client strategies and creative development

• Contribute research and insight to new business pitches and thought leadership initiatives

Team & Stakeholder Collaboration

• Act as senior support across the Insight function, mentoring junior team members and ensuring consistent quality across outputs

• Work closely with Strategy, Creative and Activation teams – ensuring insight is embedded throughout the campaign lifecycle

• Build and maintain strong client relationships, responding to enquiries and managing expectations across multiple accounts

About You

Must Have

• 4+ years' experience in insight, research or analytics – ideally with agency experience

• Deep expertise in social media and/or influencer measurement and analytics

• Proven ability to work with large datasets and translate complex data into clear, strategic narratives

• Experience setting KPIs and benchmarks for social and influencer campaigns

• Confident presenting to senior clients and internal stakeholders

• Excellent project management across multiple concurrent workstreams

• Experience in talent and influencer measurement specifically

Desirable

• Strong quantitative research skills – survey design, analysis, reporting

• Hands-on with creator discovery and performance tracking tools

• Background in qualitative research (interviews, focus groups)

• A genuine interest in culture, entertainment and the evolving social landscape

Tools & Platforms

Experience with some or all of the following (or equivalent):

• Sprout Social, Rival IQ (or other talent and influencer analytics tools)

• Talkwalker, Brandwatch (or other social listening tools)

• GWI, YouGov, TGI (or other audience analysis tools)

• Advanced Excel / Google Sheets and Powerpoint presentational skills

• Native platform analytics (Meta, TikTok, YouTube)

Ways of Working & Values

• Curious and proactive – you ask better questions to get to better work, and you don't wait to be asked

• Commercially minded – you understand that insight needs to drive action and impact, not just fill slides

• Collaborative – you work seamlessly with strategists, creatives and client teams, earning trust through quality and reliability

• Culturally aware – you believe brands should participate credibly in culture, not just advertise in it

What You'll Get

The chance to shape how insight and measurement works within one of the UK's leading culture and entertainment agencies. You'll work on household-name brands, build a growing function, and be part of an integrated village model that connects media, creative and experience end-to-end.

#LI-AC2

Contract Type : Permanent

Here at Havas across the group we pride ourselves on being committed to offering equal opportunities to all potential employees and have zero tolerance for discrimination. We are an equal opportunity employer and welcome applicants irrespective of age, sex, race, ethnicity, disability and other factors that have no bearing on an individual’s ability to perform their job.