Head of Integrated Strategic Planning (Remote US)

Directive•Irvine, CA

3d•$150,000 - $180,000•Remote

About The Position

Directive Consulting is seeking an Associate Director, Integrated Strategic Planning dedicated to Performance Marketing. The role connects business goals, audience insights, brand positioning, and channel strategy to create integrated plans for growth. It combines uncovering insights that give brands a meaningful advantage with translating those insights into plans that teams can execute and measure. The role leads strategic planning for Performance Marketing engagements, aligning paid media, performance creative, landing page experiences, analytics, and client business outcomes around a shared understanding of customers and business opportunities. The successful candidate turns complex inputs into focused briefs, connected conversion journeys, and actionable recommendations, ensuring channels and teams work toward shared business outcomes. This person owns planning direction for assigned engagements, advises clients and senior stakeholders, collaborates with cross-functional specialists, and helps establish repeatable research, briefing, and planning standards. The role is remote-first and may be performed 100% virtually from a home office. The annual U.S. base salary range is $150,000–$180,000, with potential bonus eligibility.

Requirements

Substantial experience in strategic planning, integrated performance marketing, or account planning within an agency or growth-focused business, including ownership of complex client strategies.
A portfolio demonstrating strategic leadership, including how audience insights shaped performance marketing briefs, coordinated channel plans, and measurable business outcomes.
Experience with B2B performance marketing, complex buying journeys, paid media, performance creative, and conversion strategy.
Ability to independently lead planning engagements, advise senior client stakeholders, and mentor colleagues while remaining hands-on with research and briefing.
Strong understanding of how brand, demand generation, and customer experience contribute to business growth.
Ability to connect marketing recommendations to commercial priorities, budgets, and realistic execution plans.
Confidence interpreting quantitative and qualitative evidence and distinguishing meaningful signals from vanity metrics.
Ability to make decisions with the full customer journey in mind rather than focusing on individual channels.
Hands-on familiarity with research, audience intelligence, analytics, and planning tools.
Ability to use AI responsibly for research and synthesis, apply independent judgment, and validate sources.
Comfort interpreting campaign reporting and working with analytics specialists to define measurement and learning plans.
Strong storytelling skills and ability to turn complex information into clear insights, strategic narratives, and actionable briefs.
Facilitation skills and ability to build alignment among clients, performance creative practitioners, paid media specialists, analytics teams, and senior leadership.
Confidence asking thoughtful questions, constructively challenging assumptions, and explaining strategic trade-offs.
Strong organization and prioritization skills, including the ability to manage multiple planning workstreams in a fast-paced environment.
Ability to operate a laptop computer, software platforms, and office productivity tools; remain stationary for extended periods; interpret written and/or verbal communication; and maintain reliable internet access and a professional background.

Responsibilities

Lead research into client businesses, ideal customer profiles, buying committees, competitors, and category dynamics.
Synthesize customer interviews, market research, search behavior, and campaign data into strategic insights.
Map B2B buying journeys, identifying decision points, barriers, and opportunities to influence consideration and conversion.
Develop a clear strategic point of view based on research rather than simply compiling observations.
Lead integrated strategic planning in Performance Marketing, connecting audience insight, messaging, paid media, performance creative, and conversion experiences to client growth objectives.
Define audiences, positioning, messaging priorities, channel roles, and sequencing to meet client business goals.
Coordinate with paid media, design, copy, landing page, and analytics specialists on plans across paid search, paid social, display, and video.
Apply DiscoverabilityOS™ principles to align audience targeting, messaging, and conversion experiences with important customer decision points.
Write strategic and creative briefs defining the business challenge, audience insight, value proposition, and desired response.
Partner with performance design, copy, paid media, and landing page teams to turn strategy into creative and connected conversion experiences.
Facilitate planning workshops and working sessions to align stakeholders around a shared direction.
Evaluate concepts and plans against briefs, audience needs, and business outcomes.
Own strategic planning direction for assigned Performance Marketing engagements, partnering with client success and channel leads to clarify objectives, challenge assumptions, and prioritize opportunities.
Present research, recommendations, and integrated plans in actionable language for clients and senior stakeholders.
Lead the strategic narrative for Performance Marketing pitches and account expansion opportunities, grounding recommendations in audience insight and evidence.
Build alignment across Performance Marketing teams and clients, document decisions, and explain strategic trade-offs.
Translate business objectives into measurement frameworks with shared goals, channel-specific indicators, and learning priorities.
Work with analytics and paid media teams to interpret engagement, conversion, lead quality, pipeline, and revenue performance where data is available.
Develop test-and-learn plans to validate audience, messaging, creative, and channel assumptions.
Recommend evidence-based adjustments while acknowledging attribution limits and balancing short-term performance with long-term brand growth.
Consider budget, scope, and delivery constraints to ensure recommendations are commercially sound and executable.
Use AI and research tools to support insight synthesis, competitive analysis, and planning efficiency; validate generated outputs and protect confidential client information.
Establish repeatable research, briefing, and planning standards for Performance Marketing, coach colleagues in their use, and improve strategic quality.
Build relationships with Performance Marketing colleagues and client stakeholders, learn assigned client businesses and audiences, and take ownership of planning priorities.
Mentor colleagues and articulate the value of Performance Marketing strategy in client and new-business conversations.

Benefits

Medical, dental, vision, disability, and life insurance coverage for employees and their families.
Employer-paid medical plan for employees and an employer contribution toward dependent coverage (U.S., Canada, and Mexico).
Access to certified therapists through Spring Health and Headspace membership.
Physical therapy through Omada, Aaptiv virtual workouts, and complimentary One Medical membership for primary and virtual care.
Unlimited PTO with a two-week minimum.
Paid company holidays, birthday off, and end-of-year recharge from December 24 through January 1.
Paid parental leave.
Traditional and Roth 401(k) with a 3% company match.
Annual bonus based on tenure, increasing in total amount over time.
Annual company-wide retreat.