Spatial Experience Strategist (Physical Retail) [AQ-19044]

Aquent; Campbell (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Aquent Studios, a global creative studio, seeks a visionary strategist to shape the future of physical retail spaces. You will generate big ideas, map insights into actionable blueprints, and guide design teams to deliver engaging in-store experiences from concept to opening.

Leveraging research on consumer behavior and global retail trends, you’ll articulate narratives and strategies that influence store windows, layouts, and interactive elements, ensuring maximum engagement for millions of

Qualifications

• 4–7+ years in brand strategy, retail design strategy, experiential marketing, or agency-side design strategy.
• Strategy-focused mindset with ability to synthesize complex ideas and write persuasive briefs.
• Active passion for physical retail, visual merchandising, window display trends, and omnichannel store technology.
• Strong narrative building and deck creation using Keynote, Google Slides, Figma, or Miro for leadership or clients.

Responsibilities

• Architect end-to-end customer journey maps and experience frameworks for physical retail environments.
• Define spatial strategies influencing visitor movement, traffic flow, discovery zones, and navigation.
• Articulate the why behind spatial installations, conceptualizing features and store experiences, window displays, and interactive elements.
• Create narrative-driven spatial strategies and vision decks aligning business objectives with customer moments.
• Serve as SME on global retail innovation, emerging store design directions, and shopper expectations.
• Monitor and report on upcoming retail trends including window design, experiential visual merchandising, spatial technology, and community-focused models.
• Translate insights into briefs for Spatial Designers, Graphic Designers, and Prototypers.
• Collaborate with creative production teams to maintain strategic intent through execution.

Skills

Brand strategy

Retail design strategy

Experiential marketing

Brief writing

Tools

Keynote

Google Slides

Figma

Miro

Job description

Aquent Studios is proud to partner with a global leader in technology innovation, a company at the forefront of redefining industry standards and dedicated to creating exceptional user experiences. This is an extraordinary opportunity to help shape the future of physical retail experiences, forging magical connections between groundbreaking technology and its users. If you are ready to be at the heart of a transformative project, leading the strategic conceptualization and design execution for high-impact physical environments, this is your chance to launch unique new retail experiences from concept to opening, directly influencing how millions interact with innovative products.

We are seeking a visionary strategist to define the future of physical retail spaces. This pivotal role is not about drafting spatial layouts or CAD drawings; it’s about generating BIG IDEAS, concepting and mapping them out, uncovering deep insights, and setting the strategic direction for engaging brick‑and‑mortar experiences like no other. You will analyze consumer behavior and track global retail trends—from cutting‑edge storefront window displays to interactive store concepts—translating deep research into actionable strategic blueprints. Your work will directly guide creative design teams on what to build and why, ensuring every in‑store interaction creates maximum engagement and leaves a lasting impression.

Key Responsibilities

• Architect end-to-end customer journey maps and experience frameworks tailored for physical retail environments.
• Define spatial strategies that strategically influence visitor movement, optimizing traffic flow, discovery zones, and navigation throughout the store footprint.
• Establish the “why” behind spatial installations, conceptualizing features and store experiences, window displays, and interactive elements.
• Map out narrative-driven spatial strategies and present compelling vision decks that bridge business objectives with memorable customer moments.
• Act as the internal Subject Matter Expert (SME) on global retail innovation, emergent store design directions, and evolving shopper expectations.
• Continually monitor and report on “what’s next” in retail, including window design trends, experiential visual merchandising, spatial technology, and community‑centric retail models.
• Translate qualitative and quantitative insights into clear, inspiring briefs for Spatial Designers, Graphic Designers, and Prototypers.
• Partner closely with Spatial Designers, Graphic Designers, Prototypers, and creative production teams to ensure strategic intent is preserved throughout execution.

Required Qualifications

• 4–7+ years of experience in brand strategy, retail design strategy, experiential marketing, or agency-side design strategy.
• A strategy-focused mindset over an execution-focused one, with proven ability to synthesize complex ideas and write persuasive briefs.
• Deep passion for physical retail, with an active pulse on visual merchandising, window display trends, and omnichannel store technology.
• Outstanding skills in narrative building and deck creation using tools such as Keynote, Google Slides, Figma, or Miro, to pitch strategic concepts clearly to leadership or clients.

Preferred Qualifications

• Comfort either conducting or interpreting qualitative consumer research, industry reports, and observational insights to inform strategic recommendations.
• Experience utilizing, synthesizing, or conducting primary and secondary research (such as consumer behavior trends, store walkthroughs, competitive analysis, or foot‑traffic data) to ground strategic decisions in solid evidence.
• Ability to establish success metrics (KPIs) for experiential initiatives and evaluate performance using post‑occupancy studies.

Client Description

Aquent Studios is a global creative studio that delivers scale, speed and efficiency to the world’s most recognized brands. We create the work that matters the most to them—work that has a real impact on their business. As an Aquent Studios team member, you’ll have the opportunity to engage with the largest and most influential companies in the world, solving design challenges and extending their brands across tactic types and platforms, including digital design, UI/UX, video, motion, content, print design, web development, and more. If you want to do work that matters in a collaborative setting that values ingenuity and personal growth, you have found the right place!

Compensation Range: $120,000-$210,000 DOE

The range provided is our reasonable estimate of the compensation for this role. The actual amount may be higher or lower, based on factors such as experience, knowledge, skills, abilities and location.