Associate Creative Strategist

Stanley Black & Decker, Inc.; Maryland; Hybrid; USD 52,000 - 83,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, life, vision

401(k) + Stock Purchase Plan

Tuition reimbursement

Discounts on tools

Paid time off

Well-being programs

Job summary

Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. is seeking an Associate Creative Strategist to join our in-house SHOP, shaping brand and campaign strategies for a portfolio of major brands.

You will translate audience insights and cultural context into compelling briefs and strategic plans, partnering with Brand, Creative, and Insights teams. You will synthesize research into actionable directions, craft engaging messaging, and present findings to cross-functional teams while managing multiple projects under

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent professional experience required.
• Master’s degree in Advertising, Marketing, Communications, or a related field; or 1–2 years of experience working as a Creative Strategist or in a similar strategic role within an advertising agency or in-house marketing team.
• Ability to synthesize research and insights into clear strategic direction and compelling briefs.
• Strong storytelling, writing, and presentation skills.
• Relevant work samples preferred, ideally in the form of a portfolio or personal website that clearly demonstrates strategic thinking.
• Passion for branding, creativity, culture, and consumer behavior.
• Confidence working cross-functionally with Brand, Creative, and Insights teams.
• Strong research instincts and curiosity about trends, competition, and emerging cultural signals.
• A strategic mindset paired with a creative sensibility.
• Comfort presenting ideas and defending strategic recommendations with clarity and confidence.
• This role is not eligible for visa sponsorship (H1B, OPT/CPT, TN etc)

Responsibilities

• Support strategy development across large-scale brands, helping create approaches that can scale from the global to regional level.
• Write creative briefs that inspire both clients and creative teams, resulting in work that is insightful, strategically sound, thoughtfully designed, and sparks action.
• Build and maintain a strong understanding of the target audiences across our brands, working closely with the research team to stay connected to key learnings from both audience research and creative testing and communicate the most actionable insights to creative partners.
• Conduct independent research across competitive landscapes, category trends, culture, and consumer behavior to add depth, relevance, and supporting evidence to creative briefs and strategic recommendations.
• Review creative concepts and provide a clear point of view on how effectively they deliver against the creative strategy, including identifying opportunities for refinement or improvement.
• Contribute to 360° messaging strategies and communications plans, with an understanding of the full marketing funnel and how audiences engage across channels and touchpoints.
• Present strategic thinking in a way that is clear, disarming, convincing, and inspiring to cross-functional teams and stakeholders.
• Manage multiple projects and brands simultaneously, with guidance and support from the Director of Creative Strategy.

Skills

Strategic thinking

Storytelling

Writing

Presentation skills

Cross-functional collaboration

Research instincts

Education

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent professional experience

Master’s degree in Advertising, Marketing, Communications, or related field; or 1–2 years of experience

Job description

Come build your career.
It takes great people to achieve greatness. People with a sense of purpose and integrity. People with a relentless pursuit of excellence. People who care about making things better For Those Who Make The World™. Sound like you? Join our top-notch team of approximately 43,500 diverse and high-performing professionals globally who are making their mark on some of the world’s most beloved brands, including DEWALT®, BLACK+DECKER®, CRAFTSMAN®, STANLEY®, CUB CADET®, and HUSTLER®.

Towson, MD/ Remote USA
Come build your career.
It takes great people to achieve greatness. People with a sense of purpose and integrity. People with a relentless pursuit of excellence. People who care about making things better For Those Who Make The World™. Sound like you? Join our top-notch team of approximately 43,500 diverse and high-performing professionals globally who are making their mark on some of the world’s most beloved brands, including DEWALT®, BLACK+DECKER®, CRAFTSMAN®, STANLEY®, CUB CADET®, and HUSTLER®. The Job:
As an Associate Creative Strategist, you’ll be part of our in-house advertising agency—aka the “SHOP,” helping shape compelling, insight-driven brand and campaign strategies across a portfolio of large-scale brands. This role is ideal for someone who is curious, collaborative, and eager to grow their strategic thinking in a fast-paced creative environment. The Associate Creative Strategist will partner closely with the Director of Creative Strategy as well as Brand, Creative, and Insights teams to develop strong strategic foundations for brand campaigns and new product launches. This person will help translate audience understanding, cultural context, and business objectives into inspiring creative briefs, messaging strategies, and communications plans that drive effective and engaging work across the full marketing funnel. You’ll get to:

• Support strategy development across large-scale brands, helping create approaches that can scale from the global to regional level.
• Write creative briefs that inspire both clients and creative teams, resulting in work that is insightful, strategically sound, thoughtfully designed, and sparks action.
• Build and maintain a strong understanding of the target audiences across our brands, working closely with the research team to stay connected to key learnings from both audience research and creative testing and communicate the most actionable insights to creative partners.
• Conduct independent research across competitive landscapes, category trends, culture, and consumer behavior to add depth, relevance, and supporting evidence to creative briefs and strategic recommendations.
• Review creative concepts and provide a clear point of view on how effectively they deliver against the creative strategy, including identifying opportunities for refinement or improvement.
• Contribute to 360° messaging strategies and communications plans, with an understanding of the full marketing funnel and how audiences engage across channels and touchpoints.
• Present strategic thinking in a way that is clear, disarming, convincing, and inspiring to cross-functional teams and stakeholders.
• Manage multiple projects and brands simultaneously, with guidance and support from the Director of Creative Strategy.

The Person:
You love to learn and grow and be acknowledged for your valuable contributions. You’re not intimidated by innovation. Wouldn’t it be great if you could do your job and do a world of good? In fact, you embrace it. You also have:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent professional experience required
• Master's degree in Advertising, Marketing, Communications, or a related field; or 1-2 years of experience working as a Creative Strategist or in a similar strategic role within an advertising agency or in-house marketing team.
• Ability to synthesize research and insights into clear strategic direction and compelling briefs.
• Strong storytelling, writing, and presentation skills.
• Relevant work samples preferred, ideally in the form of a portfolio or personal website that clearly demonstrates strategic thinking through the core framework of challenge opportunity.
• Passion for branding, creativity, culture, and consumer behavior.
• Confidence working cross-functionally with Brand, Creative, and Insights teams.
• Strong research instincts and curiosity about trends, competition, and emerging cultural signals.
• A strategic mindset paired with a creative sensibility.
• Comfort presenting ideas and defending strategic recommendations with clarity and confidence.
• This role is not eligible for visa sponsorship (H1B, OPT/CPT, TN etc)

The Details:
You’ll receive a competitive salary and a great benefits plan, including:

• Medical, dental, life, vision, disability, 401(k), Employee Stock Purchase Plan, paid time off, and tuition reimbursement in addition to programs & benefits in support of your well-being.
• Discounts on Stanley Black & Decker tools and other partner programs.

And More:
We want our company to be a place you’ll want to be – and stay. Being part of our team means you’ll get to:

• Grow: Be part of our global company with 20+ brands to grow and develop your skills along multiple career paths.
• Learn: Have access to a wealth of learning resources, including our digital learning portal.
• Belong: Experience an awesome place to work, where we have mutual respect and a great appreciation for a wide range of perspectives and experiences.
• Give Back: Help us continue to make positive changes locally and globally through volunteerism, giving back, and sustainable business practices.

What’s more, you’ll get that pride that comes from empowering makers, doers, protectors, and everyday heroes all over the world. We’re more than the #1 tools company. More than a driving force in outdoor power equipment. More than a global leader in industrial. We’re visionaries and innovators. As successful as we’ve been in the past, we have so much further to go. That’s where you come in. Join us!

The Salary range for this position is $51,700.00 - $83,300.00

• This is the lowest to highest annual full-time salary range we would pay for this role at the time of this posting. The salary offered within the range may vary depending on multiple factors including job level, geographic location, job-related knowledge, skills, qualifications, experience and in compliance with local wage requirements. Please note that salary is only one component of total rewards at Stanley Black & Decker.
• The salary range listed in this job posting reflects the range for the primary location specified. The salary range may vary for other locations.
• The successful candidate may be eligible for annual merit increases.
• Medical, dental, life, vision, disability, 401(k), Employee Stock Purchase Plan, paid time off, and tuition reimbursement in addition to programs & benefits in support of your well-being.
• Discounts on Stanley Black & Decker tools and other partner programs.

We Don’t Just Build The World, We Build Innovative Technology Too.

Joining the Stanley Black & Decker team means working in an innovative, tech-driven and highly collaborative team environment supported by over 43,500 professionals in 60 countries across the globe. Here, you’ll get the unique chance to impact some of the world’s most iconic brands including STANLEY TOOLS, DEWALT, CRAFTSMAN, MAC TOOLS and Black + Decker. Your ideas and solutions have the potential to reach millions of customers as we work together to write the next chapter in our history. Come build with us and take your career to new heights.

Who We Are

We’re the World’s largest tool company. We’re industry visionaries. We’re solving problems and advancing the manufacturing trade through innovative technology and our Industry 4.0 Initiative. We are committed to ensuring our state-of-the-art “smart factory” products and services provide greater quality to our customers & greater environmental and social value to our planet. We are unique in that we have a rich and storied history dating back to 1843, but that hasn't stopped us from evolving into a vibrant, diverse, global growth company.

What You’ll Also Get

Career Opportunity: Career paths aren’t linear here. Being part of our global company with 60+ brands gives you the chance to grow and develop your skills along multiple career paths.

Benefits & Perks

You’ll get a competitive salary and a comprehensive benefits plan that includes medical, dental, life, vision, wellness program, disability, retirement benefits, Employee Stock Purchase Plan, Paid Time Off, including paid vacation, holidays & personal days, and tuition reimbursement. And, of course, discounts on Stanley Black & Decker tools and products and well as discount programs for many other vendors and partners.

Learning & Development:

Our lifelong learning philosophy means you’ll have access to a wealth of state-of-the‑art learning resources, including our Lean Academy and online university (where you can get certificates and specializations from renowned colleges and universities).

Diverse & Inclusive Culture:

We pride ourselves on being an awesome place to work. We respect and embrace differences because that’s how the best work gets done. You’ll find we like to have fun here, too.

Purpose-Driven Company:

You’ll help us continue to make positive changes in the local communities where we work and live as well as in the broader world through volunteerism, giving back and sustainable business practices.

EEO Statement:

All qualified applicants to Stanley Black & Decker are considered for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran’s status or any other protected characteristic.

If you require reasonable accommodation to complete an application or access our website, please contact us at [phone] or at [e-mail]. Due to volume, we cannot respond to unrelated inquiries about the status of a completed application or resetting an account password.

Know Your Rights: Workplace discrimination is illegal (eeoc.gov)

This employer participates in the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) program. Applicants may be asked to voluntarily provide information to determine eligibility. Any information provided will be kept confidentially other than as required to make the necessary WOTC disclosures and in accordance with applicable laws.