Group Director, Brand & Experience Strategy

dentsu•New York, NY

3d•$136,850 - $180,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Group Director, Brand & Experience Strategy leads strategy for a specific business vertical at a leading health and convenience retailer. The role connects the vertical’s priorities to the broader enterprise while setting the strategic agenda across multiple initiatives. It calls for someone who can navigate a large, highly matrixed brand and also develop practical, early-stage thinking that teams can build on. The Group Director develops strategic platform ideas grounded in data and insight, and stewards their development across campaigns, communications, and experiences. They lead and develop strategists, build client confidence, and partner with creative, account, media, data, and other specialist teams to produce connected work. The role also contributes to client partnership growth, agency intellectual property, research and learning agendas, measurement, case studies, and awards submissions. The position is based in New York. Dentsu’s working model combines flexibility with in-person collaboration; employees within commuting distance of a hub office are generally expected to work in the office three days per week, with a two-day requirement for Los Angeles-based employees. Those outside commuting range may be designated remote depending on role and business needs, and employees may need to attend an office as business needs require.

Requirements

At least 8 years of industry experience, including 2–4 years of leadership experience.
Experience leading strategists and overseeing integrated brand and communications work.
A strong strategic vision and a track record of turning it into distinctive creative work.
Excellent data analysis and research skills, with the ability to turn evidence into a clear point of view and actionable recommendations.
Ability to drive new business and strategic growth through proactive thinking and strong client partnerships.
Mentoring and leadership skills, including giving feedback, managing priorities, and developing strategic talent.
Experience navigating a large, highly matrixed brand and connecting stakeholders and business priorities across an enterprise.
Strong storytelling, presentation, and facilitation skills, including the ability to constructively challenge senior clients and inspire creative teams.
Ability to connect brand strategy to communications tasks, consumer journeys, and channel roles across paid, owned, earned, social, digital, and in-store experiences.
Creative curiosity and resourcefulness, including an appetite for unexpected angles, scrappy thought starters, and hands-on problem-solving.
Experience partnering across creative, account, media, data, and other specialist teams to build connected work.

Nice To Haves

Experience in retail, health and wellness, pharmacy, or CPG.

Responsibilities

Set the strategic agenda across assigned workstreams, connecting business priorities and audience needs to a clear point of view on brand growth.
Develop data- and insight-grounded strategic platform ideas and steward their development across campaigns, communications, and experiences.
Connect enterprise stakeholders and business verticals, aligning teams around shared brand direction while accounting for distinct audiences and business needs.
Lead the strategy team’s work quality and partner with strategy and creative leaders to inspire distinctive, effective ideas.
Oversee brand frameworks, integrated communications plans, and consumer journeys, clarifying communications objectives and channel roles with media and other specialists.
Identify opportunities to grow the client partnership, develop proactive proposals with account leaders, and contribute to new business efforts.
Contribute to agency intellectual property through approaches and perspectives on culture, human behavior, and brand and communications strategy.
Use qualitative and quantitative research and other data to uncover insights; set research and learning agendas that improve strategic and creative decisions.
Lead, coach, and develop strategists by setting expectations, providing constructive feedback, and building their judgment and confidence.
Partner with account and project leads to prioritize work and deploy strategy resources effectively.
Act as a senior client and creative partner by reframing briefs, facilitating working sessions, and building alignment around recommendations.
Foster a collaborative environment and stay hands-on in research, brief writing, and creative development when needed.
Guide measurement and learning agendas with specialist partners, linking communications objectives to brand and business outcomes and applying lessons learned.
Champion thoughtful use of AI to sharpen strategy, accelerate insights, and improve output quality while preserving human judgment and a strong strategic point of view.
Lead the strategic story in case studies and awards submissions, clearly communicating the idea, work, and impact.