Associate Director, Brand Strategy

Pivot Design; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Medical

Dental

Vision coverage

Disability Insurance

Life Insurance

FSAs/HSA

401(k) & Profit Sharing

PTO

Hybrid work environment

Job summary

Pivot Design, a strategic creative agency, seeks an Associate Director, Brand Strategy in Chicago to lead discovery and strategy for healthcare brands. This role owns brand strategy on assigned accounts and helps build the strategy department while managing multiple demanding client relationships.

You will shape insights, craft positioning, and develop briefs that connect insight to execution, while guiding annual brand planning and strategic storytelling for challenging accounts.

Qualifications

• Healthcare agency experience with Patient and HCP marketing experience a plus
• Experience working in a strategic role for rare disease a plus
• Appropriate academic/research training (social science, marketing, communication, statistics, strategic planning)
• Must be willing to work in the office a minimum of two days per week

Responsibilities

• Develop clear, provocative insights grounded in qualitative and quantitative research
• Design and synthesize research approaches that move beyond summarizing findings to uncover actionable opportunity
• Translate audience understanding into positioning, messaging architecture, and narrative frameworks
• Develop inspiring creative briefs that maintain a clear strategic throughline from insight to execution
• Define the right business and brand problems before solving them, pressure testing assumptions and identifying whitespace opportunities
• Own strategic input into annual brand planning and roadmap development for assigned accounts
• Lead client discovery end to end, including conducting stakeholder interviews independently and synthesizing findings into strategic recommendations
• Design and facilitate client workshops and strategic working sessions
• Serve as the visible, day-to-day face of brand strategy on assigned accounts

Job description

Pivot Design is a strategic creative agency with a unique vision for what healthcare brands should be. We believe that now more than ever, healthcare needs soul—connection, authenticity, and meaning. We leverage the power of design to make health more compelling and change people's lives.

The Associate Director, Brand Strategy brings executive presence into client meetings, leads discovery and strategic development independently, and carries full ownership of brand strategy on assigned accounts. This position is for someone who wants a hand in building the strategy department, and who can hold multiple demanding accounts at once.

Responsibilities

• Develop clear, provocative insights grounded in qualitative and quantitative research
• Design and synthesize research approaches that move beyond summarizing findings to uncover actionable opportunity
• Translate audience understanding into positioning, messaging architecture, and narrative frameworks
• Develop inspiring creative briefs that maintain a clear strategic throughline from insight to execution
• Define the right business and brand problems before solving them, pressure testing assumptions and identifying whitespace opportunities
• Build and evolve customer journey maps grounded in belief and behavior change
• Maintain a thorough understanding of key client accounts, including therapeutic areas, audiences, and competitive set, and apply that understanding to brand strategy
• Own strategic input into annual brand planning and roadmap development for assigned accounts, not just participate in it
• Lead new business efforts through research, insight development, and strategic storytelling

Client Leadership and Executive Presence

• Represent Pivot's strategic point of view directly to senior client stakeholders, with the composure and credibility to be trusted without a more senior strategist present
• Lead client discovery end to end, including conducting stakeholder interviews independently and synthesizing findings into strategic recommendations
• Design and facilitate client workshops and strategic working sessions
• Serve as the visible, day-to-day face of brand strategy on assigned accounts
• Contribute to new business pitches at a leadership level, including client-facing presentations

Research & Insight

• Identify appropriate research methodologies to address brand challenges and knowledge gaps
• Own the research process end to end, including discussion guide development and synthesis
• Conduct trend and competitive analyses to inform brand recommendations
• Present research findings internally and to clients with clarity and confidence
• Define what success looks like upfront and build measurement and learning into strategic planning

Team and Department Growth

• Partner with the Senior Director, Brand Strategy on how the strategy department works: process, standards, templates, and how the team scales
• Mentor other strategists as the department grows, including reviewing and strengthening their thinking before it reaches a client
• Bring genuine interest in building something, not just staffing an existing structure
• Manage multiple demanding, concurrent accounts without either losing strategic depth
• Take initiative and collaborate cross-functionally, internally and externally, under tight deadlines
• Bring POVs on marketplace trends and cultural shifts that impact client brands
• Contribute to thought leadership efforts such as POV pieces, articles, or internal frameworks
• Operate with a mindset of efficiency, using time and talent where it makes the most impact
• Manage and track time accurately and on time each week
• Foster growth, retention, and satisfaction among teammates
• Live Pivot's values of Passion, Curiosity, Nimbleness, Grit, Candor, and through actions and participation

Qualifications

• Healthcare agency experience with Patient and HCP marketing experience a plus
• Experience working in a strategic role for rare disease a plus
• Appropriate academic/research training (social science, marketing, communication, statistics, strategic planning)
• Must be willing to work in the office a minimum of two days per week

What We Offer

At Pivot Design, we believe that our people are our greatest asset, and we have developed an employee-centric culture where we value our people above all else. With a focus on employee wellness, we offer competitive salaries and a comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental, and vision coverage, disability and life insurance, Flexible Spending and Healthcare Savings Accounts, a 401(k) & Profit Sharing Plan with company match, PTO and a flexible hybrid work environment. We are a passionate group of creative experts who support one another in our efforts to produce award-winning work for our amazing clients.

• competitive salaries
• medical
• dental
• vision coverage
• disability
• life insurance
• Flexible Spending and Healthcare Savings Accounts
• 401(k) & Profit Sharing Plan with company match
• PTO
• a flexible hybrid work environment

Many of the greatest ideas and creative come from a diverse mix of minds, backgrounds, and experiences, and Pivot is committed to cultivating an inclusive work environment. Pivot provides equal opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, religion, color, age, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic disposition, neurodiversity, disability, veteran status, or any other protected category under federal, state and local law.