Director, Commercial Strategy

dentsu•New York, NY

19h•$136,850 - $180,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Dentsu Creative is seeking a Director, Commercial Strategy to help lead portfolio planning for a leading consumer brand portfolio. The role connects brand ambition with how people shop and buy, translating complex, multi-brand portfolio questions into clear, actionable plans. The Director will own the analytical tools behind portfolio recommendations, frame business questions, evaluate findings against market and category realities, and turn complex analysis into commercially grounded recommendations for senior client stakeholders. The Director will partner closely with the Retail & Shopper Strategy Lead and collaborate with creative, media, data and retail teams to ensure downstream work reflects the commercial rationale behind decisions. The role also includes defining success measures, incorporating results into future planning, mentoring strategists and analysts, and supporting business growth with commercial rigor.

Requirements

At least 8 years of experience in commercial, brand or portfolio strategy at an agency, consultancy or CPG company.
At least 3 years of experience leading teams.
Deep strategic expertise in portfolio management, brand architecture, growth strategy and category management.
Background in business insights or commercial analytics.
Experience in below-the-line, shopper or commerce strategy.
Ability to interrogate large datasets and build decision frameworks.
Advanced Excel skills.
Hands-on experience with syndicated, panel and retailer data, and an understanding of what each can and cannot show.
Experience building or managing analytical models or planning frameworks, with the discipline to document, quality-check and improve them.
Working knowledge of shopper marketing, retail and channel strategy across in-store, on-premise and e-commerce.
Rigorous, detail-oriented and hypothesis-driven approach, including checking calculations and identifying questionable results.
Clear communication and low-ego collaboration skills, including the ability to simplify complex topics into compelling stories for senior clients and lead in a matrixed agency.

Nice To Haves

Beverage alcohol experience.
Experience with SQL, Python, R or BI tools.

Responsibilities

Lead portfolio planning for a consumer brand portfolio.
Own and maintain accurate, rigorous and repeatable analytical tools that inform portfolio recommendations.
Frame business questions and adapt analysis as client objectives, market conditions and data change.
Pressure-test findings against market realities, category dynamics and brand strategy, and determine when an approach needs rethinking.
Translate complex analysis into clear, commercially grounded recommendations for senior client stakeholders.
Work with large, complex datasets from multiple sources and identify data gaps and anomalies.
Partner with the Retail & Shopper Strategy Lead on shopper, retail and channel strategy.
Collaborate with creative, media, data and retail teams to keep downstream work anchored to its commercial rationale.
Serve as the senior commercial voice with brand, category, sales and customer marketing leaders.
Define measures of success before plans go to market and feed results into future decisions.
Build and mentor a team of strategists and analysts.
Support business growth by bringing commercial rigor to new clients and opportunities.