Sr. Director, Activation Delivery

Chadwick Martin Bailey, Inc.; Boston (MA); Hybrid; USD 130,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Travel up to 15%

ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan)

Job summary

Chadwick Martin Bailey in Boston, MA, seeks a Senior Director of Activation Delivery to transform research and insights into clear strategies and executive-ready narratives. You will collaborate across client intelligence, data sources, and studies to guide clients from insight to action.

You'll balance strategic thinking with hands-on execution, coach colleagues, and lead high-impact activations while driving business outcomes for diverse brands.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent professional experience.
• 10+ years of experience in market research, insights or strategy consulting.
• 4+ years of activation, innovation, and/or strategic consulting preferred.
• Ability to translate research into strategic recommendations and actionable client solutions.

Responsibilities

• Lead strategic activation engagements translating market research and customer insights into business strategies, executive narratives, and organizational action.
• Coach and enable teams to lead more standard approaches, strengthening thinking, storytelling, and confidence.
• Partner with clients to define business challenges, understand context, and shape consulting approaches that answer the business questions that matter.
• Curate and synthesize insights into clear strategic recommendations and actionable next steps.
• Lead the development of executive-ready deliverables including presentations, workshops, and activation plans.
• Provide strategic oversight throughout project execution by reviewing deliverables and elevating outputs.

Skills

Writing skills

Executive presentation

Facilitation

Verbal communication

Stakeholder influence

Project leadership

AI curiosity

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Job description

About Us

CMB is a full-service custom market research and strategy firm based in Boston, Massachusetts.As a Top 25 Insights & Analytics company, we’re known for our relentless business-decision focus and cutting-edge creativity. Our passion is helping the world’s leading brands engage, innovate, and grow.We invest in ongoing AI-driven solutions and combine this withthe best of advanced analytics, consumer psychology, and market strategyto tackle game-changing initiatives and business challenges for our clients.

What about our culture?Simply put, our people are our power.At CMB,we’reproud to becertified as a Great Place to Work, a recognition that reflects the diverse, inclusive, and collaborative environment our team creates every day. We bring together bright perspectives and curious minds who challenge assumptions, share ideas, and push one another to be better.

Innovation is deeply embedded in how we work. That commitment has earned us recognition as one of theGRIT Top 50 Most Innovative Companies, and itshows updaily in how we approachresearch,insights, and client impact. At CMB,you’llhave meaningful opportunities to achieve your full potential — from learning new skills and expanding yourexpertiseto advancing your career in an environment where you are supported, valued, and encouraged to innovate.

Our benefits say a lot about how much we value our employees: we offer a fully paid sabbatical, an annual wellness stipend, paid time off to volunteer, generous medical plans, a 401k match, and more. Every employee also gets to enjoy anemployeestock ownership plan (ESOP).

ESOP?Yes, we are 100% employee owned!An ESOP isa qualified retirement plan,similar toa 401k, but youdon’thave to make anyfinancialcontributionstoparticipatein the rewards.Whenwe eachwork hard to provide exceptional service and deliverables to our clients, the positive performance of the company increases the value of our stock and enables the accumulation of wealth for all our employee-owners.

About the Position

The Senior Director, Activation Delivery sits at the intersection of market research and strategy. This role partners with clients and internal teams to transform research and insights into clear strategies, compelling stories, and actionable business decisions. Working across client intelligence, 3rd party data, and custom studies, this leader synthesizes complex inputs, uncovers the implications that matter most, and develops executive-ready narratives and experiences that help clients align stakeholders and activate insights across their organizations.

From brand strategy to innovation, portfolio strategy, organizational performance, customer segmentation, and commercialization, this role helps clients move confidently from insight to action. Success comes from balancing strategic thinking with hands-on execution while serving as a trusted advisor to clients and a coach to colleagues. A core part of this role is strengthening CMB’s ability to consistently deliver high-quality activation work, combining hands-on execution with coaching, practical tools, and repeatable ways of working that build capability across teams. This role can be hybrid in Boston, or remote in the US.

About You

You enjoy helping clients answer their toughest business questions. You naturally connect research, business context, and human behavior into stories that inspire action. Whether facilitating an executive workshop, shaping a strategic narrative, or coaching a team through a live engagement, you know when to step in directly and when to guide others so they can confidently lead the work themselves.

You are equally comfortable interpreting qualitative and quantitative research, challenging assumptions, and translating insights into practical business recommendations. Clients value your judgment, colleagues seek your partnership, and you are energized by helping organizations activate insights, not just report them.

About Your Background

You've built your career in market research, insights consulting, brand strategy, innovation, or a related consulting discipline. You enjoy remaining hands-on while leading complex engagements, mentoring teams, and partnering with senior clients. You thrive in collaborative environments where curiosity, strategic thinking, storytelling, facilitation, and continuous learning are highly valued. You understand research deeply, but your career has increasingly focused on what happens after the research, translating insights into strategy, facilitating decisions, activating findings, and helping organizations put what they learn into practice.

Responsibilities and Expectations

Essential Duties

• Lead strategic activation engagements that translate market research and customer insights into business strategies, executive narratives, and organizational action
• Play a leading role in complex, strategic activation engagements while coaching and enabling teams to lead more standard approaches, helping colleagues strengthen their thinking, storytelling, and confidence along the way.
• Partner with clients to define business challenges, understand organizational context, and shape consulting approaches that answer the business questions that matter most.
• Curate and synthesize insights from research, client materials, market context, and business inputs into clear strategic recommendations, while strengthening teams’ curation, synthesis, and prioritization skills.
• Lead the development of executive-ready deliverables including presentations, strategic narratives, workshops, selling stories, one-pagers, activation plans, toolkits, thought leadership, videos, and other client communications, while guiding teams to strengthen the quality, clarity, and strategic value of their outputs.
• Take ownership of strategic storytelling by translating research into compelling 'so what' implications, recommendations, and actionable next steps.
• Lead client presentations, executive discussions, and activation workshops that build alignment, facilitate decision-making, and move organizations from insight to action.
• Serve as a trusted strategic advisor by coaching clients through ambiguity and helping them navigate stakeholder dynamics and determine practical paths forward.
• Develop project workplans, provide leadership across multiple consulting workstreams, and ensure successful delivery against scope, timeline, quality, and objectives.
• Provide strategic oversight throughout project execution by reviewing deliverables, ensuring analytical rigor, and elevating outputs to be insightful, relevant, and client-ready.
• Support proposal development, solution design, thought leadership, and business development opportunities.
• Partner with Activation leadership to strengthen and scale methodologies, templates, workflows, tools, and delivery best practices that enable teams to execute activation work more consistently and effectively.
• Drive continuous improvement through AI and emerging technologies while maintaining exceptional quality.
• Build deep expertise in clients, industries, market dynamics, research methodologies, and CMB capabilities.
• Support additional strategic initiatives and special projects as assigned.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent professional experience.
• Minimum of 10 years of experience in market research, insights consulting, strategy consulting, brand strategy, innovation, customer insights, strategic activation, or a related consulting discipline.
• 4+ years of experience with activation, innovation, and/or strategic consulting preferred.
• Track record of working beyond traditional research delivery to shape strategic recommendations, facilitate stakeholder decisions, develop activation approaches, and help clients apply insights within their organizations.
• Demonstrated ability to synthesize qualitative and quantitative research into compelling business stories, strategic recommendations, and actionable client solutions.
• Exceptional writing, executive presentation, facilitation, and verbal communication skills.
• Experience leading executive workshops, client presentations, and influencing senior stakeholders across complex organizations.
• Strong project leadership skills with the ability to manage multiple complex client engagements simultaneously.
• Experience coaching, mentoring, and developing colleagues while leading through influence in a collaborative environment.
• Curiosity about markets, consumer behavior, business strategy, and emerging technologies, including AI, with a commitment to continuous learning and innovation.

Travel

• up to 15%

*No agencyassistanceneeded*

*No visa/work authorization available*

Why You'll Love Working at CMB

Employment with Chadwick Martin Bailey, Inc. is contingent upon successful completion of a background check.

Chadwick Martin Bailey (CMB) is an Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity Employer committed to fostering a diverse, inclusive, and respectful workplace free from discrimination, harassment, and retaliation. We encourage candidates from all backgrounds and experiences to apply, including individuals from historically and structurally marginalized groups. Research shows that many qualified candidates apply only when they meet every listed qualification, even though few applicants meet 100% of the criteria. If this role aligns with your experience and interests, we encourage you to apply.

CMB considers all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law. We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations throughout the application and interview process, during employment, and in accessing employment benefits and privileges. If you require an accommodation, please contact [e-mail]

The annual base salary range for this position is $130,000 - $150,000 plusbonus, benefits, and an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP). The base salary is dependent on a variety of factors including (but not limited to) experience,expertise, skills, and employee's location.