Creative & Brand Strategist (On-Call)
About The Position
ICF is seeking a senior Creative & Brand Strategist to lead strategic development across integrated engagements spanning brand, campaigns, digital experience, customer engagement, and organizational transformation. The strategist will help clients identify opportunities, define strategic choices, and build meaningful connections with the people they serve. Working with researchers, behavioral scientists, consultants, creatives, technologists, and client leaders, this role turns research and audience understanding into strategic foundations, positioning, narratives, and ideas that support measurable business impact. The role calls for comfort in executive settings, workshops, research reviews, and creative briefings. The strategist will influence executive stakeholders, guide multidisciplinary teams, and help ensure that strategy advances both creativity and business outcomes. Success is defined by the decisions strategies enable: clarifying ambiguity, aligning stakeholders, influencing business and experience choices, strengthening strategic thinking, and producing work that earns attention, builds trust, drives participation, and delivers meaningful outcomes. ICF is a global advisory and technology services provider. The company describes itself as an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable accommodations during the application and employment process. Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States; this position is not eligible for new H-1B visa sponsorship. Applicants must submit their own applications. The role requires passing a background check and securing public trust clearance.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in marketing, market research, journalism, sociology, or a related field; one year of related experience may substitute for one year of education.
- At least 10 years of experience developing and leading brand, communications, customer experience, or business strategies within agencies, consultancies, or client organizations.
- Significant experience in brand strategy, communications planning, creative strategy, customer strategy, consumer behavioral psychology, consulting, or a related discipline.
- Strong track record leading strategic work across complex, multidisciplinary engagements and with cross-functional marketing teams.
- Experience developing positioning, messaging architectures, audience personas, narrative frameworks, campaign strategies, and creative briefs.
- Strong facilitation and stakeholder management skills, including executive-level engagement.
- Exceptional communication, storytelling, and presentation abilities.
- Demonstrated ability to align diverse stakeholders around strategic direction and organizational priorities.
- Primary and secondary research experience and ability to use data to uncover insights that drive program design.
- Must be able to pass a background check and secure public trust clearance.
- Must be authorized to work in the United States.
Nice To Haves
- Experience using AI to make research and deliverables smarter and more efficient.
- Curiosity about culture, behavior, technology, and the forces shaping how people make decisions.
Responsibilities
- Lead strategic direction across brands, campaigns, experiences, and integrated initiatives.
- Translate research, data, and audience understanding into actionable insights and strategic recommendations.
- Develop brand positioning, value propositions, messaging frameworks, narrative platforms, and campaign strategies.
- Partner with research, analytics, and account teams to identify audience drivers and develop personas and segmentation strategies that inform program development and delivery.
- Contribute to developing key performance indicators and program evaluation approaches.
- Create clear, inspiring briefs that guide creative and experience design work.
- Facilitate stakeholder workshops, executive alignment sessions, and strategic planning engagements.
- Identify emerging cultural, behavioral, and market shifts that create opportunities for clients.
- Partner with research, customer experience, creative, digital, consulting, and account teams to solve complex business challenges.
- Check creative concepts and delivery for strategy and brand consistency.
- Influence executive stakeholders, guide multidisciplinary teams, and align stakeholders around strategic direction and organizational priorities.
- Use primary and secondary research and data to uncover insights that inform program design.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
