Director, Cultural Strategy

Omnicom Media US•New York, NY

3h•Hybrid

About The Position

Omnicom Media (OM), the media services division of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC) – delivers transformational experiences for consumers, clients, and talent. Powered by the Omni marketing orchestration system, OM connects best-in-class capabilities that enable our full-service media agencies OMD, PHD, and Hearts & Science to deliver more relevant and actionable consumer experiences, more productive and proactive client experiences, and more collaborative and rewarding talent experiences for the more than 24,000 people serving the world’s leading brands in OM agencies around the globe. sparks & honey is a cultural intelligence and foresight consultancy within Omnicom. We believe that culture shapes how we see the world and is the biggest driver of business success in today’s ever-changing environment. Our core offerings focus on helping organizations understand the shifts happening in culture and act on them before the competition does: Cultural Intelligence: Making cultural change visible. We bring together data, expert perspective, and proprietary trend analysis to show what’s shifting, why it matters, and what to do about it. Strategic Foresight: Exploring where the world is headed and how to plan for it. We map and prioritize future growth opportunities by combining market signals, innovation pipelines, and cultural shifts. We help uncover where demand, capability, and momentum will converge to focus organizational action. For this role, we are looking for a strategic leader who is the day-to-day lead for ads-hoc projects and retainer business. The Director’s role is hands-on, leading and executing on the project vision. The Director sets the tone and establishes the narrative for the rest of the team (staff, Omnicom collaborators, and external advisors) around how to address client challenges. Reporting into the Senior Vice President, Cultural Strategy, this role leads the development of strategy outputs including client presentations, AI-powered research, primary research studies, expert roundtables, interviews, and workshops. The ideal candidate You have held positions in edge dwelling strategy and/or innovation shops where you have been responsible for providing a clear analysis of future opportunities and advice on how to take action through the development of new products or services, acquisition strategies, business model innovation, and/or brand positioning shifts. The role demands knowledge of trends across business and human behavior; innovation methodologies; ideation; and foresight. It also demands an appreciation for strategic imagination, high-impact storytelling, and a deep sense of curiosity. The Strategy Director is a hands-on leader, skilled in natural language processing and AI-driven analytics, including social listening, patent and academic research, venture funding databases, and generative AI research. While training is provided through partners and hands-on client projects, we expect this role to quickly become a power user of our proprietary intelligence platforms, Omni and Q as well as our intelligence toolkit (QuidNetbase, Pulsar, CBInsights, others). Ultimately, the Cultural Strategy Director will help clients define growth strategies, identify threats, and prioritize opportunities. You'll lead client sessions, guide team analysis using tools like startup analytics, patent analysis, social listening, and our proprietary cultural intelligence platform. Success in this role relies on strong collaboration with both internal teams and client partners.

Requirements

Approximately 7+ years of experience in a related field, ideally in positions that require blending right- and left-brain sensibilities.
Proven track record in business and brand transformation, audience intelligence, innovation, and marketing communications (with tangible market results).
Skilled in natural language processing and AI-driven analytics, including social listening, patent and academic research, venture funding databases, and generative AI research.
Familiarity with the beauty, wellness, or luxury/fashion space is highly valued.
Experience leading primary research and/or managing primary research vendors a plus.

Nice To Haves

Familiarity with the beauty, wellness, or luxury/fashion space is highly valued.
Experience leading primary research and/or managing primary research vendors a plus.

Responsibilities

Project & Client Leadership. Responsible for the end-to-end engagement and its overall success. You will be a key advisor to our clients, earning their trust to strategically solve business challenges, define growth strategies, and prioritize threats and opportunity spaces through cultural intelligence.
Deliver Smart and Actionable Work. You will be working on dynamic engagements across our consulting offerings, including strategic foresight and innovation, corporate strategy, brand, audience and other disciplines.
Skilled in diverse research methods—primary, qualitative, quantitative, and desk research—along with data and intelligence tools, including Omnicom’s proprietary platform, Q Omni, and third-party data tools including (but not limited to): QuidNetbase (patents, media intelligence) Pulsar (social media listening) CB Insights (startup ecosystems, VC funding analyses)
Data Analysis & Synthesis. Formulate powerful cultural and audience insights and/or foresight through the analysis of data and research outputs. Develop initial hypotheses and curate the most relevant research and intelligence to interrogate those hypotheses.
Strategy Formulation. Identify the insights and key learnings that deliver on the client brief, while, at the same time, highlight the evidence that most clearly illustrates the POV behind that insight.
Supporting New Business. Working with senior leadership to identify new opportunities with existing clients, as well as working on proposals for new, potential clients.
Brief Interpretation. Collaborate with Engagement Lead to translate project brief into a defined process and methodology to ensure project success (e.g., key actions, data tools to consider and potential frameworks).
Presentation & Facilitation. Confidently presenting to senior and executive stakeholders. Collaborate with project team in delivering the work to clients, assisting with client engagement facilitation and help ensure project success.