Sr. Strategy Director

UMT - Internal•New York, NY

1d•$160,000 - $190,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Translation, an independent creative solutions company within UnitedMasters, is seeking a Senior Strategy Director to set strategic direction across key client accounts and help brands use culture to solve business challenges. The role leads the development of brand, cultural, and creative strategy, translating insight into clear points of view that guide client and creative work. It calls for strategic judgment, strong client leadership, collaborative work across disciplines, and the ability to lead teams through ambiguity while delivering meaningful business outcomes. The Senior Strategy Director will manage multiple engagements and workstreams, shape strategic approaches to major briefs, and partner with Data Strategy, Context, Business, and Creative leadership. The role also includes mentoring strategists, raising the quality and standards of Strategy deliverables, and contributing perspectives to Translation’s intellectual capital. The position requires four days in the office and one day remote.

Requirements

At least 8 years of relevant experience in strategy, brand development, communications, cultural strategy, or a related discipline.
Demonstrated experience leading strategy for significant client accounts, campaigns, brand platforms, or integrated engagements.
Ability to independently develop and defend strategic recommendations with senior clients and internal leadership.
Ability to synthesize research, cultural intelligence, business context, and audience understanding into actionable strategy.
Exceptional strategic judgment and command of brand, cultural, and creative strategy.
Ability to simplify complex business and cultural challenges into clear, compelling strategic choices.
Strong storytelling, presentation, client leadership, and senior-client credibility-building skills.
Ability to lead through ambiguity and provide structure and direction to assignments without clearly defined answers.
Strong creative instincts and ability to translate strategy into direction that inspires and improves creative work.
Understanding of qualitative and quantitative research and judgment about when research is needed and how findings should inform strategy.
Ability to lead, coach, and elevate strategists while remaining accountable for their work.
Collaborative leadership style that brings disciplines and perspectives together toward a common strategic ambition.
Deep curiosity about people, culture, brands, and business, informed by interests and experiences that contribute a distinct point of view.

Nice To Haves

Experience leading strategy across multiple or complex, multi-workstream accounts.
Strong understanding of digital, social, media, and creator ecosystems.
Demonstrated ability to turn cultural understanding into distinctive brand, cultural, and creative strategies.
Ability to uncover and translate audience-specific insights into impactful brand, cultural, and creative strategies.

Responsibilities

Set strategic direction across key client accounts, connecting clear, differentiated, culturally informed thinking to meaningful business outcomes.
Define the underlying problem behind complex business and brand challenges and identify relevant tensions, opportunities, and strategic choices.
Lead development of brand, cultural, and creative strategy, turning insight into a point of view that inspires clients and creative teams.
Lead multiple engagements and workstreams while maintaining strategic quality and helping teams prioritize.
Shape strategic approaches to major briefs and opportunities, including defining learning needs, key questions, and how disciplines should work together.
Partner with Data Strategy, Context, Business, and Creative leadership to develop an integrated strategic vision.
Develop and mentor strategists through direction and feedback, strengthening their judgment, storytelling, and strategic craft.
Establish strong standards for briefs, narratives, presentations, research, and strategic recommendations to raise the quality of the Strategy discipline.
Contribute to Translation’s intellectual capital by developing perspectives on audiences, culture, brands, and business.