Group Strategy Director

We are looking for a Group Director of Strategy with a strong perspective on integrated brand strategy and a passion and knowledge of behaviors, trends, and culture. This individual needs to have experience working with big, complex brands, is experienced in many different strategic disciplines and categories, and exemplifies the highest standard of strategist craft skills.

As a Group Director of Strategy, you are the key driver of the strategic vision, business growth, and team development across several brands. You will be a voice of authority within the agency and will help push the strategic discipline forward. You are an inclusive leader able to support, champion, and unlock the potential of the teams and clients you work with, and effective in leading collaboration across disciplines.

Role & Responsibilities:

• Drive the strategic future across multiple brands of some of our largest clients 
• Is the senior strategist lead in the development, with the team, of a range of strategic deliverables, from positioning and messaging to integrated campaign development and annual communications plan
• Has an ambition for the brands we lead, and a plan for how to get them there 
• Inspires original creative ideas among every team member (Creative, Account, Clients, Partner Agencies) evangelizing insights and POVs that trigger proactive thinking in every aspect of a brand’s behavior 
• Stays engaged in the crafting and selling of ideas, always finding ways to make the work better and more impactful, collaborating with Creative to ensure output is the highest quality, meets client objectives, and leads the category 
• Develops excellent relationships with senior managers within the client organization 
• Leverages client trust to help take business-appropriate risks and knows where any given assignment fits into the overall strategy 
• Develops innovative consumer insight(s) for specific client’s brand issues and uncover opportunities to maximize current marketing plans
• Works in collaboration with the Research and Analytics team to synthesize large amounts of data into actionable insights as well as forming KPIs
• Works with clients on research and testing approaches 
• Feels as comfortable crafting comms plans and running focus groups 
• Able to translate client feedback into actionable creative guidance, in real-time 
• Stays current on as much relevant research as necessary to keep clients’ brands and the agency’s reputation ahead of competitors
• Delivers compelling presentations and facilitates internal and client meetings
• Creates an environment for continuous learning to continually increase the effectiveness of our strategy
• Rewards and motivates junior strategists allowing them to step up and encouraging them to lead their career development

Requirements

• 12+ years experience as a strategist preferably on Financial Service & Luxury Retail brands, preferably at creatively-driven agencies 
• Must be based in NYC
• Has the proven ability to create consensus and strategic direction from multiple opinions 
• Has proven examples of industry-leading brand strategies and creative work
• Strong management skills and experience
• Experience as a trusted advisor to senior clients 
• Can employ both imagination and rigor to take an idea from good to inspiring
• Exhibits intense curiosity about human nature and the world we live in
• Is observant, open-minded, and receptive to new experiences from which he/she/they can learn 
• Has a reputation for being able to tap into the minds of others – learns about attitudes, opinions, interests, and motivations from multiple audiences 
• Has consistently displayed an understanding of the methods and procedures commonly used in advertising and marketing research and experience drawing valid conclusions and implications from client studies

The salary band for this role is $165,000 - $210,000. Where a prospective new hire's base salary will fall within this band depends on several factors including their qualifications and experience, the skill level required in the role, market rates, location and the salaries of existing crew members at SPCSHP within the same role to maintain equity.