Consultant

Job Description

About the Role

This isn't a typical consultancy role. We're not looking for a typical person.

Portas is looking for consultants, with strong strategic skills and cultural taste, to join the agency in shaping an exciting new chapter. You'll work directly with agency leadership and Mary Portas on projects that span brand strategy, retail experience design, placemaking, cultural activations, and even government policy. No two briefs look the same. That's the point.

What you'll do

You'll sit at the intersection of analysis, strategy, and storytelling. One week you might be building a brand repositioning framework for a luxury house; the next, shaping the cultural narrative for a major urban regeneration project or writing a think piece that reframes how an industry sees itself. You'll interrogate data, synthesise research, develop strategic recommendations and creative ideas, and turn all of it into beautifully written, compellingly argued output – whether that's a deck, a long-form provocation, or a concise client brief.

What we're looking for

• A sharp analytical mind. You're comfortable working with data, consumer insight, and commercial evidence: building hypotheses, not just summarising numbers. You might come from a strategy, planning, or analyst background within a consultancy, agency, or design studio.
• A strategic foundation. Whether you've been a creative strategist at a brand agency or a strategic design consultant, you know how to move from insight to implication to idea. You understand positioning, audience, and how brands create meaning.
• A genuine writer. Not someone who "can write" – someone who loves to write. You craft decks that land in a room. You write think pieces people actually want to read. You understand that the quality of the thinking is inseparable from the quality of the language.
• A cultural radar. You have a deep, personal connection to culture: art, music, design, fashion. You notice things. You make connections others don't. This isn't a nice-to-have; it's central to how Portas works.
• An ambitious self-starter. You're driven by curiosity and energised by variety. You don't wait to be briefed, you go looking for the interesting question. You're excited by the range: brand repositioning one day, a retail experience concept the next, a campaign strategy the day after.

Why this role is different

This is a genuinely rare opportunity. You'll have day-to-day access to Mary Portas and senior agency leadership from the outset. You'll help shape a new division inside a consultancy with nearly thirty years of heritage in redefining how businesses think about people, culture, and commerce. The work is varied, the ambition is high, and the right person will grow fast.

To apply , send your CV and – just as importantly – a piece of writing you're proud of.