Director, Strategic Planning

Weber Shandwick; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 100,000 - 125,000; Full time

Job summary

Weber Shandwick, a leading global PR agency, is seeking a Director of Strategic Planning in Chicago. You will drive the strategic engine for CPG, food & beverage, and consumer accounts, shaping brand positioning and creative strategy across social and earned media.

You will guide daily creative strategy, insights generation, and cultural intelligence to elevate client work. The role emphasizes cross-functional collaboration and data‑driven storytelling.

Qualifications

• Proven experience in strategic planning, creative strategy, or account planning.
• Experience developing creative briefs, persuasive pitches, and cross‑platform strategies (social & earned).
• Familiarity with consumer data platforms and social listening tools.

Responsibilities

• Drive day-to-day creative strategy for key accounts, crafting brand narratives and messaging frameworks.
• Develop and evaluate primary quantitative and qualitative research to segment audiences and identify influencers.
• Read cultural trends to proactively reshape client assignments and advise on strategy.
• Translate data and trends into high-impact client reports and presentations for decision-making.
• Integrate AI tools into daily workflow and leverage data tools to inform strategies.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams and maintain strong agency relationships.

Skills

Strategic planning

Creative strategy

Cross-platform strategy

Analytical storytelling

Cultural Savvy

Curiosity & empathy

Agility

Future-forward mindset

Tools

Acxiom

Talkwalker

Mintel

Job description

Agency

Weber Shandwick

Job Function

Strategy and Planning

Job Subfunction

Strategy

Job Description

Weber Shandwick is more than a leading global PR agency - we’re an engagement agency working at the cutting edge of the new media landscape. We’re storytellers and content creators who engage people IN the story. Our success is built on a deep commitment to client service, creativity, collaboration, and our people. We engage stakeholders in new and creative ways to build brands and reputations that last.

About The Role

Weber Shandwick is seeking a Director of Strategic Planning to join our team. In this role, you will act as the strategic engine for a diverse range of CPG, food & beverage, brand, and consumer accounts, fueling their brand positioning and creative strategies. You will drive day-to-day creative strategy for key clients—including a major CPG brand—across both social and earned media.

This position is tied to our Chicago office, and Chicago area residency is highly preferred.

About You

You are an amazing creative thinker with a deep passion for culture, trends and business impact. Endlessly curious about consumer mindsets and the drivers of behavior change, you are a natural storyteller who relishes finding just the right words to make a point, are able to frame complex problems, can uncover succinct \"ah-ha\" insights, and can explain what it all means in a simple, compelling narrative. Open-minded, inclusive, and empathetic, you can seamlessly work across diverse media platforms and quickly pivot to adapt to the unpredictability of today’s fast-changing cultural and media environments.

What You'll Do

Creative & Brand Strategy: Drive the day-to-day creative strategy for key accounts, crafting brand narratives, creative briefs, and messaging frameworks that serve as a true \"north star\" for client communications.

Insight Generation & Research: Assist in the crafting and evaluation of primary quantitative and qualitative research to segment audiences, identify influencers, communities, and uncover actionable insights.

Cultural Intelligence: Read continuously to maintain a deep understanding of fast-moving cultural issues, leveraging emerging events and insights to proactively reshape client assignments.

Campaign Strategy & Storytelling: Translate performance data, emerging cultural trends, and real-time insights into actionable strategy, proactively reshape and optimize client assignments. You will build and deliver clear, high-impact client reports and presentations that drive decision-making.

Data & AI Integration: Seamlessly integrate Weber Shandwick’s proprietary AI tools into your daily workflow and leverage industry-standard subscription data tools (e.g., Acxiom, Talkwalker, Mintel) to inform and validate your strategies.

Cross-Functional Collaboration: Actively contribute to client meetings, creative brainstorms, and strategy sessions while cultivating fruitful relationships with creative and digital strategists, research/analytics experts, account teams, and junior strategists.

What You’ll Bring

Basic Qualifications

Proven professional experience in strategic planning, creative strategy, or account planning, ideally within an agency setting.

Demonstrated experience developing creative briefs, persuasive pitch decks, and cross-platform creative strategies (specifically across social and earned media).

Familiarity leveraging consumer data platforms and social listening tools (such as Acxiom, Talkwalker, Mintel).

Competencies

Analytical Storytelling: The ability to frame a problem, develop succinct \"ah-ha\" insights, and translate complex data into a simple, compelling story.

Cultural Savvy: A deep passion for and understanding of the nuances of culture and trends

Curiosity & Empathy: An open-minded, inclusive, and empathetic approach, driven by an endless curiosity about consumer behavior and mindsets.

Agility: The ability to pivot quickly and seamlessly navigate the unpredictability of fast-changing cultural environments.

Future-Forward Mindset: A proactive willingness to adopt and integrate emerging AI technology into your daily workflow.

$100,000-$125,000

Omnicom’s policy requires employees to work in the office for a minimum of three days a week, unless additional in-office days are directed by their agency or manager. Our objective is to increase this requirement over time, and many of our agencies as well as Omnicom’s corporate group already require five days of in-office attendance.

Omnicom is committed to hiring and developing exceptional talent. We agree that talent is uniquely distributed, and we’re focused on developing inclusive teams that can bring the best solutions to everything we do. We strongly believe that celebrating what makes us different makes us better together. Join us—we look forward to getting to know you. We will process your personal data in accordance with our Recruitment Privacy Notice.

Link to Recruitment Privacy Notice: https://www.omc.com/privacy-notice

For US Job Seekers

It is the policy of Omnicom and any of its affiliates to provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, religion, color, ethnic origin, gender, gender identity, age, marital status, veteran status, sexual orientation, disability, or any other basis prohibited by applicable federal, state, or local law. EOE/AA/M/D/V/F.

$100,000-$125,000