Director, Strategic Planning

Resolute Digital, a Weber Shandwick Company; Chicago, Northern (IL, KY); Hybrid; USD 100,000 - 125,000; Full time

Job summary

Weber Shandwick in Chicago is seeking a Director of Strategic Planning to drive day-to-day creative strategy for a diverse portfolio of CPG, food & beverage, brand, and consumer accounts, shaping brand positioning and messaging across social and earned media.

The role emphasizes cultural intelligence, insights generation, and collaboration with cross-functional teams, with a focus on integrating AI tools and data to inform strategy. Chicago-area residency is highly preferred.

Qualifications

• Proven professional experience in strategic planning, creative strategy, or account planning.
• Experience developing creative briefs, persuasive pitch decks, and cross-platform strategies across social and earned media.
• Familiarity with consumer data platforms and social listening tools such as Acxiom, Talkwalker, Mintel.

Responsibilities

• Drive day-to-day creative strategy for key accounts, crafting brand narratives, briefs, and messaging frameworks.
• Assist in crafting and evaluating primary quantitative and qualitative research to segment audiences and identify influencers.
• Read cultural trends and leverage insights to proactively reshape client assignments.
• Translate data and trends into actionable strategy with high-impact client reports and presentations.
• Integrate proprietary AI tools and analytics data into the workflow to inform strategies.
• Collaborate across creative, digital, research, and account teams in client meetings and strategy sessions.

Skills

Strategic planning

Creative strategy

Account planning

Pitch decks

Tools

Acxiom

Talkwalker

Mintel

Job description

Chicago, Illinois, United States of America

Who We Are

Weber Shandwick is more than a leading global PR agency –we’rean engagement agency working at thecutting edgeof the new media landscape.We’restorytellers 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 seekingaDirector of Strategic Planning to join our team. In this role, you will act as the strategic engine for a diverse range ofCPG, food & beverage, brand, andconsumeraccounts, fueling their brand positioning and creative strategies. You will driveday-to-day creative strategy for key clients—including a majorCPGbrand—across both social and earned media.

This position is tied to ourChicagooffice, andChicagoarea residency is highly preferred.

About You

You are an amazing creative thinker with a deep passion forculture,trendsand business impact.Endlessly curious about consumer mindsets and the drivers of behavior change, you area natural storyteller who relishes finding just the right words to make a point,areable to frame complex problems,canuncover succinct “ah-ha” insights, andcanexplain 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 culturaland mediaenvironments.

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,identifyinfluencers,communities,and uncover actionable insights.
• Cultural Intelligence:Read continuously tomaintaina 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 re-shaping andoptimizingclient 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 andvalidateyour 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, oraccount planning, ideally within an agency setting.
• Demonstrated experience developingcreative briefs,persuasive pitchdecks, and cross-platform creative strategies (specifically across social and earned media).
• Familiarityleveragingconsumer data platforms and social listening tools (such asAcxiom,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 ofculture 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.

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.

New York, New York, United States of America