Senior Strategist

twentysix; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 60,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work model

Dog- or cat-lovers encouraged

Job summary

VML is seeking a Senior Strategist to lead brand strategy for key clients, translating business challenges into growth-driven marketing solutions. You will guide strategic workstreams, mentor juniors, and collaborate with creative and account teams to drive client success.

The role emphasizes research-informed storytelling, data-driven recommendations, and active contribution to pitches and campaign evaluation in a hybrid environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Marketing, Advertising, Communications, Journalism or a related field.
• 5 - 7 years of brand strategy experience, ideally within an agency setting.
• Experience with a variety of clients across industries.
• Strong understanding of digital marketing and emerging technologies.
• Experience with brand positioning, messaging, and narrative development.
• High emotional intelligence to connect data with human insights.
• Proven ability to build strong client relationships and influence outcomes.
• Excellent communication, presentation and interpersonal skills.
• Demonstrated ability and interest to mentor junior team members.
• A passion for innovation and staying ahead of industry trends.

Responsibilities

• Develops and contributes to strategic approaches and outcomes that solve client challenges, aligned with objectives.
• Crafts clear strategic narratives and translates data into opportunities for the Creative Team.
• Demonstrates proficiency in qualitative and quantitative research and uses internal tools.
• Supports implementation of approved strategies and ensures effective execution.
• Makes strategic recommendations backed by data and cultural evidence.
• Contributes to award entries and measures campaign effectiveness.
• Identifies opportunities to grow client business and supports new business pitches.
• Assists in tracking progress and ensuring deliverables are completed on time.
• Engages in client meetings, presenting insights and building relationships.
• Collaborates with internal teams to deliver high-quality work on schedule.
• Mentors junior strategists to foster development.

Skills

Brand strategy

Client relationships

Mentorship

Communication

Storytelling

Education

Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Advertising, Communications, Journalism or related field

Job description

Who We Are

VML, part of WPP, is a leading creative company that combines brand experience, customer experience, and commerce, creating connected brands to drive growth. VML is celebrated for its innovative and human first, award-winning work for blue chip client partners including AstraZeneca, Colgate-Palmolive, Dell, Ford, Microsoft, Nestlé, The Coca-Cola Company, and Wendy's. The agency is recognized by the Forrester Wave™ Reports, as a Leader among Marketing Creative and Content Service Providers, Commerce Services, Global Digital Experience Services, Global Marketing Services and, most recently, Marketing Measurement & Optimization. In addition, VML’s specialist health network, VML Health, is one of the world’s largest and most awarded health agencies. VML’s global network is powered by 26,000 talented people across 55+ markets, with principal offices in Kansas City, New York, Detroit, London, São Paulo, Shanghai, Singapore, and Sydney.

About WPP

WPP is the trusted growth partner for the world’s leading brands. We unite cutting-edge media intelligence and data solutions, world-class creativity, next-generation production, transformative enterprise solutions and expert strategic counsel in a single company – powered by exceptional talent and our agentic marketing platform, WPP Open, to help our clients navigate change, capture opportunity and deliver transformational growth. For more information, visit WPP.com.

Job Summary:

The Senior Strategist is a key member of the VML Brand Strategy team, playing a significant role in the development and execution of innovative brand strategies for our key clients. This role requires a seasoned strategic thinker with a proven ability to translate business challenges into actionable marketing solutions, including ones the clients can’t see yet themselves. The Senior Strategist will lead strategic workstreams within engagements, collaborating with Creative and Account leadership, subject matter experts and client teams, mentoring junior strategists, and contributing to business growth for both VML and our clients. This individual will contribute to the strategy lifecycle, including supporting pitches and measuring campaign effectiveness.

Key Responsibilities:

• Strategic Contribution:
• Develops and contributes to strategic approaches and outcomes that effectively solve client challenges, ensuring alignment with business objectives and market environment.
• Strategic Craft:
• Develops compelling and insightful strategies and frameworks, craft clear, concise strategic narratives, and translates complex data into actionable opportunities, with the Creative Team a most critical audience
• Research Tools:
• Demonstrates proficiency in using various research methodologies (qualitative, quantitative) and actively utilizes VML tools/resources in addition to proactively learning about new tools/resources.
• Conducts and designs breakthrough research and analysis to identify key findings and deliver transformative analysis for our teams and clients.
• Strategic Activation Support:
• Supports the implementation of approved strategies, ensuring effective execution.
• Comfort making a Strategic recommendation and defending it with data and cultural evidence
• Awards & Recognition:
• Contributes to the writing of WARC 100 Award entries, such as Cannes Lions and Effies, showcasing the impact and effectiveness of the team's work.
• Measurement and Optimization:
• Using our internal Toolset, support strategy leadership in the building and demonstration of how our strategy and work creates demonstrable change to our client’s business in market.
• AI Engineering & Prompting:
• Understands the capabilities and limitations of AI in marketing and brand strategy
• Experiments with AI tools to enhance strategic development and execution, crystalize cultural trends, form hypotheses, and ultimately make our work more effectively human
• Business Development Contribution:
• Identifies and communicates opportunities to grow client business, contributing to the overall success of the agency. Supports new business pitches by developing strategic insights and contributing to presentations.
• Time Management Support:
• Assists in tracking progress and ensuring deliverables are completed on time.
• Client Engagement:
• Actively participates in client meetings, presenting strategic insights and recommendations, and building strong working relationships.
• Internal Collaboration:
• Collaborates effectively with internal teams, ensuring seamless communication, efficient workflow, and the delivery of high-quality work on time
• Mentorship & Guidance:
• Provides mentorship and guidance to junior strategists, fostering their professional development and contributing to a positive team environment.

Qualifications:

• Curious, collaborative, and proactive nature is a must.
• Bachelor's Degree in Marketing, Advertising, Communications, Journalism or a related field.
• 5 - 7 years of relevant industry experience in brand strategy, ideally within an agency setting.
• Experience working with a variety of clients across different industries
• Strong understanding of digital marketing and emerging technologies.
• Experience with brand positioning, messaging, and narrative development.
• High emotional intelligence to connect dots between data and the humans those data points represent
• Proven ability to contribute to strong client relationships
• Excellent communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills to effectively share a point of view both in conversation and in slides.
• Demonstrated ability and interest to mentor and guide junior team members.
• A passion for innovation and a commitment to staying ahead of industry trends.

Additional Considerations:

• Experience with specific industry verticals (e.g., CPG, Financial Services, Healthcare), previous work in human or animal health and/or B2B a big plus
• Active participation in industry organizations, events, and conversation
• Dog- or cat-lovers encouraged – and we love to see their pics!

_$60,000—$140,000 USDWe believe the best work happens when we're together, fostering creativity, collaboration, and connection. That's why we’ve adopted a hybrid approach, with teams in the office an average of four days a week. If you require accommodations or flexibility, please discuss this with the hiring team during the interview process.

WPP (VML) is an equal opportunity employer and considers applicants for all positions without discrimination or regard to characteristics. We are committed to fostering a culture of respect in which everyone feels they belong and has the same opportunities to progress in their careers.

We offer a competitive benefits package, click WPP Benefits for more details.

VML is a WPP agency (NYSE: WPP). For more information,please visit www.vml.com, andfollowalong on Instagram,LinkedIn, andX.