Brand Strategy Director

PepsiCo • New York, NY

6h

About The Position

The Brand Strategy Director is a senior brand strategy leadership role focused on shaping the strategic foundations behind PepsiCo’s brands. The role partners closely with brand and marketing leadership to define purpose, positioning, and long-term direction, ensuring brand thinking is clear, actionable, and carried end-end.

The role sits within the Brand Strategy Center of Excellence (COE) and is based in PepsiCo’s NYC Design Creative Center. It is positioned here because the work connects strategy to execution. Brand thinking developed in this role is expected to carry through creative and experience work once it moves beyond strategy and into development.

The role does not own creative production or day-to-day brand management. Instead, the focus is on bringing clarity, alignment, and strategic direction upstream so teams across Marketing and Design are set up to do their best work.
You will partner with brand and marketing leadership across PepsiCo’s global portfolio, along with Design leadership, Insights, and Innovation teams.

You will work across iconic global food and beverage brands such as Lay’s and Gatorade, helping connect brand vision, business ambition, and execution. While you will be deeply involved in shaping direction, you will not own ongoing brand operations or creative delivery.
We’re looking for a Brand Strategy Director who is a strong strategic thinker and an effective partner. Someone who knows how to work through influence, collaboration, and trust.

You create end-to-end brand strategies that are distinctive, actionable, and grounded in real insight. You are deeply curious about how people live, think, and feel, and you use that curiosity to inform ideas that are relevant and commercially sound. You understand culture, but you also understand business, and you know how to bring those perspectives together.

You are comfortable operating between vision and action. You help teams translate big ideas into clear direction that creative and experience teams can actually use. You are a strong storyteller who can simplify complexity and build alignment through clear, confident narratives.

You are thoughtful, sharp, and comfortable with ambiguity. You ask good questions, connect ideas quickly, and bring perspective without ego. You know how to navigate matrixed organizations, build credibility with senior stakeholders, and recognize when to push thinking and when to help teams make decisions.

You understand how strong strategy enables strong creative and experience work, and you enjoy working closely with creative teams to get there.

Requirements

• 10+ years of experience in brand strategy roles (brand agencies, advertising agencies or brand strategy roles within consulting firms)
• Proven experience operating at the intersection of brand, business, insight, and execution
• Strong track record shaping brand strategies, positioning platforms, and portfolio thinking
• Deep understanding of brand building and translating business ambition into clear strategic direction
• Demonstrated ability to influence senior stakeholders and align cross-functional teams
• Exceptional storytelling skills, with the ability to turn complex information into clear, compelling, and actionable strategy
• Entrepreneurial mindset with comfort creating structure where none exists
• Ability to thrive in fast-moving, ambiguous, matrixed environments
• Willing to travel up to 10%

Responsibilities

• Brand Strategy & Portfolio Leadership: Partner with marketing and brand leads to develop brand strategies: purpose, positioning, value propositions, portfolio architecture, long-term vision
• Strategic Briefs & Creative Direction: Translate brand strategy into design briefs and creative direction; build frameworks and springboards that unlock better work
• Insight & Intelligence: Drive cultural, consumer, and category research; run brand audits and competitive analyses; turn insights into strategic recommendations
• Frameworks & Capability Building: Create scalable tools and methodologies; lead brand workshops; build strategic muscle across Marketing and Design teams
• Strategic Partnership: Advise Design and Marketing leadership; provide thought leadership, navigate complexity; drive alignment; shape brand identity systems and design principles

Benefits

• The expected compensation range for this position is between $132,200 - $262,400.
• Bonus based on performance and eligibility target payout is 25% of annual salary paid out annually and an additional target payout of 10% of annual salary is paid out over 3 years following the end of the performance period.
• Long term incentive equity may be awarded based on eligibility and performance.
• Paid time off subject to eligibility, including paid parental leave, vacation, sick, and bereavement.
• In addition to salary, PepsiCo offers a comprehensive benefits package to support our employees and their families, subject to elections and eligibility: Medical, Dental, Vision, Disability, Health, and Dependent Care Reimbursement Accounts, Employee Assistance Program (EAP), Insurance (Accident, Group Legal, Life), Defined Contribution Retirement Plan.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed