Director Brand Strategy

Kantar; New York (NY); On-site; USD 140,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical plans

Health Savings Account

Dental and Vision

Wellness Program

401k with match

Unlimited PTO

Job summary

Kantar is seeking a Director to lead the Consulting Team in New York City, with borders to Boston or Chicago. You will manage brand strategy projects, guide client relations, and mentor junior staff while ensuring high-quality, actionable insights.

The role requires strong analytics, storytelling, and cross-functional leadership to drive strategic outcomes for our clients. You will oversee project planning, execution, and financials, while leveraging Kantar data sources and AI-enabled approaches

Qualifications

• 5+ years of professional experience in management consulting, brand strategy consulting, or custom market research.
• Strong academic background in marketing/market research, social science, mathematics or analytic fields.
• Proven experience presenting insights and recommendations to clients.
• Excellent written and verbal communication with strong reasoning and problem solving.
• Ownership mindset with ability to manage complexity and deliver under pressure.
• Curiosity and proactive mindset with initiative to work independently and in teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead delivery of brand strategy and consulting projects with high impact.
• Develop workplans, oversee day-to-day activities, and ensure timely progress.
• Serve as main client contact and facilitate client workshops/presentations.
• Mentor junior team members and manage project staffing and finances.
• Provide analytical leadership and synthesize insights into actionable recommendations.
• Identify new opportunities and help draft proposals for clients.

Skills

Brand strategy

Client management

Data analysis

Communication

Project management

Mentoring

Relationship building

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Marketing/Market Research

Master’s degree preferred

Tools

SPSS

Survey Reporter

Microsoft Office

Cross-tab tools

Job description

• Job Title: Director – for Kantar Consulting Team
• Job Location: New York City, Boston, or Chicago

Primary Objective

• Profitably grow the business by managing and delivering high-quality/high-impact brand strategy and consulting solutions in a dynamic, collaborative environment.
• Hone your client relationship and consulting skills to establish yourself as a trusted and strategic advisor to existing and new clients

Scope of Role

• Manage delivery of a variety of consulting projects such as brand strategy, market structures, consumer & demand segmentations, brand valuations, brand portfolio strategy, brand architecture, brand purpose, organizational performance, front end innovation, commerce strategy etc.
• Assist senior team members with design of custom approaches to address client questions; engage with the client to properly understand client context and challenges and ensure we achieve project objectives
• Function as the main point of contact for clients
• Develop overall project workplan to deliver on scope; oversee day-to-day management of all project-related activities and maintain progress against workplan
• Responsible for overseeing the team on execution of project tasks; ensuring outputs are meaningful and actionable for clients
• Conduct data analysis, synthesizes data from multiple sources, displays critical and analytical thinking skills
• Take an active role in storytelling by identifying and bringing together compelling insights from the research and translating learnings into “so what” recommendations and next steps for clients
• Package deliverables and presentations to ensure they are clear, relevant and impactful - use vast knowledge of account / industry to logic check deliverables
• Keep project leadership apprised of progress and thoughtfully solicit input to ensure available expertise is fully leveraged
• Lead project related client conversations, facilitate decision making and translate decisions into clear next steps for the team
• Starting to lead client presentations and facilitate client workshops
• Proactively identify and solve project issues as they arise
• Ensure a high level of accuracy in all stages of the project, help the team optimize efficiency of delivery without sacrifice of quality
• Help build successful project teams, mentoring and supporting junior team members
• Responsible for staff utilization and financial management of projects
• Demonstrate a high-level understanding of Kantar data sources, tools, and practice areas, and follow the latest developments.
• Exhibit good critical and analytical thinking skills, actively share ideas and point of view
• Support senior leadership in identifying and securing new client opportunities, development of proposals and winning work
• Work closely with senior partners to design proposals and pitch solutions for client marketing problems. Actively look for opportunities to apply all Kantar solutions in service of our clients.
• Provide feedback across the team (managing up and down) where opportunities to improve exist
• Take ownership of building your own skills through training and asking questions
• Challenge the status quo, look for opportunities to improve, automate, streamline processes – including incorporating the use of AI to improve efficiency and work processes.
• Demonstrate curiosity and a commitment to building an understanding of our capabilities, solutions, data sources and analytic methods.
• Proactively build relationships with consulting colleagues to receive support and feedback
• Understand our culture and how to take an active role on the team (e.g., attending/participating in ERG/Social Community meetings/activities/training
• 5+ years of professional experience in similar capacity – Management consulting, brand strategy consulting, or custom market research experience preferred with exposure to quantitative methodologies
• Strong academic background: Bachelor’s degree (preferred major or concentration in marketing / market research, social science, mathematics or other analytic fields), Masters preferred
• Proven experience performing custom research / analytics / consulting for multiple strategic research or consulting projects; experience presenting insights and recommendation to clients
• Excellent communication skills (verbal and written) with ability to use logical reasoning and problem solving
• Demonstrates ownership, a can-do attitude and experience managing complexity and challenging situations
• Is curious and driven, proactive mindset, takes initiative to work independently and within a team
• Strong project and time management experience, organized while delivering against multiple/competing deadlines
• Proficient computer skills in Microsoft office tools and ability to master other needed business tools (e.g., SPSS, Survey Reporter, data management / cross tab tools and other proprietary tools)
• Experience with AI tools and openness to exploring more ways to incorporate AI into our work and processes
• Strong business acumen; brand savvy
• Interest in mentoring and fostering junior team members

Essential Skills & Capabilities

Managerial Skills

• Plans complex engagement / job planning
• Excellent project management skills
• Motivates / leads individuals and teams, stewards team culture

Communication

• Clear and effective written and verbal communication skills
• Confidently delivers messages and exemplifies Kantar values

Technical / Analytical

• Command of marketing research methods, tools, and science
• Provides technical and analytical leadership for maximum client impact
• Ability to master business tools
• Interest / intellectual curiosity in learning the various Kantar solutions

salary range $140-150k

We provide a comprehensive, highly competitive benefits package, including

• Medical plans with comprehensive, affordable coverage for a range of health services
• Health Savings Account/FSA
• Dental, Vision and benefits to cover unique healthcare needs
• Wellness Program
• 401k with match
• Unlimited PTO

We shape the brands of tomorrow by better understanding people everywhere. By understanding people, we can understand what drives their decisions, actions, and aspirations on a global scale. And by amplifying our in-depth expertise of human understanding alongside ground-breaking technology, we can help brands find concrete insights that will help them succeed in our fast-paced, ever shifting world.

And because we know people, we like to make sure our own people are being looked after as well. Equality of opportunity for everyone is our highest priority and we support our colleagues to work in a way that supports their health and wellbeing. While we encourage teams to spend part of their working week in the office, we understand no one size fits all; our approach is flexible to ensure everybody feels included, accepted, and that we can win together. We’re dedicated to creating an inclusive culture and value the diversity of our people, clients, suppliers and communities, and we encourage applications from all backgrounds and sections of society. Even if you feel like you’re not an exact match, we’d love to receive your application and talk to you about this job or others at Kantar.

Privacy and Legal Statement

PRIVACY DISCLOSURE: Please note that by applying to this opportunity you consent to the personal data you provide to us to be processed and retained by The Kantar Group Limited (“Kantar”). Your details will be kept on our Internal ATS (Applicant Tracking System) for as long as is necessary for the purposes of recruitment, which may include your details being shared with the hiring manager