Director, Brand Storytelling
About The Position
The Director, Brand Storytelling sets brand narratives, content strategies, and messaging for clients, grounding the work in audience research, data analysis, and insights. The role leads storytelling from new-business pitches through the life of an account, establishing a central idea, tone, and integrated content ecosystem that supports clients’ business goals. This work is deeply social-first, with ongoing inputs from social listening, creative performance analysis, community sentiment, and responses from creators and audiences. The Director guides how narratives are expressed across touchpoints, authors or co-authors briefs, and evaluates agency deliverables to ensure work is engaging and aligned with the strategy. They orchestrate collaboration across creative, social, media, and community teams, providing direction and feedback while allowing collaborators room to bring their own expertise to execution. The role leads a mixed team of full-time creative strategists and freelance subject-matter experts, including recruiting, briefing, and evaluating freelance talent. It also requires a current, hands-on understanding of paid and organic channels, community, content, creators, and brand, and the ability to use audience feedback and cultural trends to refine strategy. The role is hybrid and based in New York City. It reports to the Managing Director, Head of Strategy. Client engagements may require onsite work. Between engagements, consultants are expected to work from a Sia office or approved coworking location at least three days per week, and candidates should live within reasonable commuting distance of one.
Requirements
- At least 8 years of experience in storytelling, content strategy, or social-first brand strategy.
- At least 3 years at director level or equivalent, managing people and ideally freelance talent.
- Direct experience leading storytelling for new-business pitches.
- Track record of translating audience research and insights into brand, social, and content strategy.
- Experience recruiting, briefing, and managing freelance subject-matter experts or contractors, including evaluating their quality and fit.
- Personal experience authoring creative, social, and media briefs.
- Collaborative leadership style and evidence of bringing out strong work from cross-functional teams.
- Current, fluent understanding of paid, organic, social, community, content, and brand, and how to use them to capture attention, drive engagement, and build trust and equity.
- Hands-on social-first experience with community growth and creator content, and experience working from social listening.
- BA degree.
- Legally authorized to work in the United States at the time of application and throughout employment; the role is not eligible for employment visa sponsorship.
Nice To Haves
- New-business or pitch leadership experience at an agency.
- Career experience spanning more than one of brand strategy, creative, social, and research/insights.
Responsibilities
- Establish brand narratives and content strategies for client accounts and new-business pitches, based on audience research, insights, and creative inspiration.
- Maintain each account’s strategic throughline, including its central idea, conversation, tone, and integrated content architecture.
- Develop messaging and social strategy frameworks by persona based on audience segmentation.
- Ensure strategies are relevant to audiences and likely to earn their attention and interest.
- Author or co-author briefs for creative, media, and social teams.
- Orchestrate and curate work across strategy, creative, media, social, and community, translating the narrative into direction for each department.
- Provide critical feedback on developing deliverables to ensure they meet or exceed the strategic promise and engage target audiences.
- Ensure the ecosystem vision is expressed across paid, organic, earned, and owned channels, accounting for channel context and audience response.
- Build and lead a mixed team of full-time staff and freelance subject-matter experts.
- Recruit, brief, source, vet, and evaluate freelance experts for pitches and programs, including assessing quality and fit.
- Set clear direction while enabling creative, social, and subject-matter collaborators to contribute their craft.
- Use creative performance analysis, social listening, comments, conversations, brand sentiment, and creator and cultural trends to understand audience response and refine the strategic throughline.
- Maintain a diverse cultural reference set and use research capabilities as needed to establish a high bar for the work.
- Partner with social and community leads on community growth and guide or brief creator content as needed.
- Lead storytelling for new-business pitches and build a compelling story quickly under pressure.
Benefits
- Annual performance bonus.
- Medical, dental, and vision insurance.
- Company-paid life and AD&D insurance; voluntary supplemental insurance and EAP.
- 401(k) with company match and immediate vesting.
- HSA and FSA options.
- College savings and student loan repayment programs.
- Paid parental leave.
- Generous paid time off, nine company holidays, and one floating holiday.
- Cell phone stipend.
- Well-being and professional development programs.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Director
