Senior Strategist

The Adcom Group, Inc.•Cleveland, OH

About The Position

We’re looking for a Senior Strategist who can make sense of complicated things. Someone who is naturally curious, asks good questions, sees connections others miss and can turn a lot of information into a clear point of view about what we should do next. This is not a research role. It’s not a reporting role. And it’s not a role for someone who believes strategy ends when the brief is written. Our strategists help connect the entire picture, the business problem; the audience, the category, the culture, the brand, the creative idea, the channels we use and the results we see. The job is to turn all of that into direction. We don’t believe strategy is a department people visit at the beginning of a project. Strategy should create the connective tissue between the work. Business → Audience → Insight → Strategy → Creative → Media → Performance → Learning. The Senior Strategist helps make sure those things don’t become separate conversations. Sometimes that means leading. Sometimes it means challenging. Sometimes it means simplifying. And sometimes it means being the person in the room willing to say, “I don’t think we’ve answered the real question yet.” The best strategic work should make the next decision easier. It should be clear enough that people understand it. Connected enough that people know what it means for their work. And accountable enough that we can eventually determine whether we were right. A good Senior Strategist doesn’t just bring information into the room. They help the room decide what to do with it.

Requirements

Significant experience in brand, communications, advertising or integrated marketing strategy.
Experience developing insights, briefs and strategic recommendations.
Strong research and analytical instincts — both quantitative and qualitative.
The ability to synthesize large amounts of information quickly.
Experience working across creative, media, digital and analytics teams.
Confidence presenting and facilitating conversations with senior clients.
Strong writing and storytelling skills.
Comfort working with imperfect information and figuring out what needs to be known next.
A healthy curiosity about people, businesses, culture, technology and why things work.
Experience mentoring or developing less-experienced strategists.
Intellectual curiosity is mandatory.

Nice To Haves

Agency experience is valuable.

Responsibilities

Lead research and discovery across consumers, culture, categories and competitive environments.
Turn data, research and observations into insights people can actually use.
Define audiences based on behaviors, motivations and opportunities, not just demographics.
Frame business and communications problems clearly before teams jump to solutions.
Develop strategic positioning, communications strategies, briefs and planning frameworks.
Partner closely with Creative, Media, Analytics, Digital and Account teams to connect strategy to execution.
Help teams understand not only what we’re recommending, but why.
Facilitate workshops and working sessions that move teams toward decisions.
Present strategic thinking to clients clearly, confidently and without hiding behind marketing language.
Stay connected to the work after the strategy is approved.
Use performance data to understand what we’re learning, what it means and what we should do differently.
Help identify opportunities to deepen client relationships and solve bigger business problems.
Raise the quality of strategic thinking around you.