Associate Director

Hollybank Trustees Ltd; Sydney; On-site; AUD 77,000 - 128,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual leave and public holidays

Sabbatical after 4 years

Live Event Leave

Wellbeing Leave

Volunteering Leave

Superannuation

Employee assistance program

Staff entitlements programme

Job summary

Crowd DNA is seeking an Associate Director in Sydney to deepen cultural strategy craft while leading key client relationships and shaping strategic direction across multiple projects.

Senior leadership entrusts near-full ownership of end-to-end delivery, driving growth, mentoring teams, and elevating tools and approaches for high-quality work.

Qualifications

• Solid experience in insights, strategy or cultural research with expert-level qualitative or mixed-methods methodologies.
• Exceptional writing skills producing clear strategic narratives with global relevance across markets.
• Proven ability to blend data, trends and stimulus into cohesive strategic insights and bold conclusions.

Responsibilities

• Set strategic direction and cultural/analytical lenses for briefs.
• Lead high-level analysis aligning insights across workstreams.
• Elevate debrief narratives and strategic recommendations with authority.
• Champion new thinking by developing tools, frameworks and approaches.
• Coach Senior Cultural Strategists and Cultural Strategists in thinking and storytelling.
• Lead craft capability and seniority in specialist skillset.
• Act as senior lead for 2-3 projects end-to-end, managing client relationships.

Skills

Brand strategy

Cultural research

Qualitative research

Written storytelling

Client leadership

Pitch & workshops

Team coaching

New business development

Job description

Formed in 2008, operating across 70+ markets, CROWD.DNA brings together trends specialists, researchers, strategists, data analysts, designers, writers and film-makers for the world’s most exciting brands.

Our values are tangible and connect with every member of the Crowd DNA team, regardless of their role or how long they’ve been with us. We believe they reflect how we wish to work with each other and with our clients and contributors.

Simple Is Always Best

that’s it, avoid the temptation to overcomplicate.

Better Blended

we’re not lone wolves, we work fluidly between ideas, specialisms, methods – and agencies.

Make It Count

we show up for our work, for our clients, and, most importantly, for each other.

We believe fully in the power of our work to fuel our clients with the evidence, inspiration and recommendation they need to grow and prosper.

POSITION OVERVIEW

Crowd DNA is looking for an Associate Director to join the team in Sydney. The Associate Director role is responsible for deepening the cultural strategy craft while leading key client relationships, shaping strategic direction, and delivering confidently across multiple projects. Senior Leadership entrusts near-full ownership of end-to-end delivery, with work that directly supports commercial growth, team development, and a positive, collaborative culture. The role lifts standards across the team by challenging how things get done, bringing in better tools and approaches, and coaching others to use them — while consistently producing high-quality work that rarely needs rework. With strategic thinking, commercial instinct, strong client leadership, and real commitment to developing others, the Associate Director helps drive both immediate project success and longer-term growth.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Knowledge & Craft

• Set strategic direction and cultural/analytical lenses for each brief
• Lead high-level analysis, aligning insights across workstreams with coherence and depth
• Elevate debrief narratives and strategic recommendations with authority and cultural sharpness
• Champion new thinking by developing tools, frameworks and approaches that influence team capability
• Coach Senior Cultural Strategists and Cultural Strategists in strategic thinking, synthesis and storytelling
• Lead craft capability and seniority in specialist skillset

Delivery

• Begin to act as a senior lead for 2-3 projects end-to-end, managing quality and client relationships
• Delegate effectively to juniors while maintaining commercial standards and project health
• Lead proposal writing and manages and develops knowledge on budgets and financial planning
• Support senior team with resource planning and identifies process improvements
• Ensure smooth delivery and anticipates team and client needs

Influence & Growth

• Acts as a trusted advisor at a senior level, leading accounts, workshops and challenging client thinking
• Influence team direction, discussions and decisions with informed perspective
• Develop team members through feedback and supports their progression
• Model inclusive, calm leadership that strengthens team culture
• Drive new business and build repeat client relationships

SKILLS & ATTRIBUTES

• Demonstrated passion for the intersection of brands, culture and commercial strategy with proven impact
• Solid experience in insights, strategy or cultural research with expert-level on qualitative research or mixed methods methodologies
• Proven ability to blend diverse data, trends and stimulus into cohesive strategic insights and bold conclusions
• Exceptional writing skills producing compelling reports, blog content and clear strategic narratives with global relevance across diverse markets
• Able to combine creative insight with commercial sense to develop bold, strategically-grounded recommendations
• Strong presentation capabilities and workshop facilitation skills, comfortable leading high-stakes client discussions
• Trusted advisor qualities with demonstrated track record of building and maintaining great client relationships
• Awareness with financial processes, cost sheets, budget management and commercial decision-making
• Project management capability with ability to coordinate teams, manage timelines and anticipate challenges
• Able to build collaborative teams through genuine feedback, mentorship and creating an environment where people grow, thrive and feel valued
• Experience in new business development and account management
• Proven capability in coaching and developing teams
• Exposure to broader creative disciplines such as design, film and content production

BENEFITS

The role comes with a competitive salary of up to $128,000 and clear paths to promotion and to new opportunities. Benefits include:

• 21 days plus relevant AUS Public holidays (our office also shuts between Christmas and New Year)
• 4-week sabbatical after 4 years continuous service on top of 21 days holiday
• Live Event Leave (x2 days per annum)
• Wellbeing Leave (x4 days per annum)
• Volunteering Leave (x2 days per annum)
• Superannuation Payments
• EAP Access and support
• Generous staff ents programme

RECRUITMENT

The recruitment cycle has two interviews with the team and one task.

Starting date – when possible

DISCLOSURE

STRAT7 is an Equal Opportunity Employer and our employees are people with different strengths, experiences and backgrounds, who share a passion for research. Our commitment to inclusivity is not just about race and gender identity, but also age, disability status, sexual orientation, religion and many other parts of one's identity. All of our employee's points of view are key to our success, and inclusion is everyone's responsibility.