Strategy Director- WPP Unite

Sage Global Services Limited

New York (NY)

On-site

USD 125,000 - 155,000

Full time

9 hours ago

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Benefits offered by this job

Unlimited PTO

Medical/Dental/Vision

401K match

Leave options

Disability & life insurance

Headspace subscription

Wellness stipend

Job summary

Barrows, part of WPP Unite, is seeking an experienced Strategy Director to lead integrated, commerce-forward strategy across brand, creative, media, data, shopper, and retail. You will translate objectives into clear strategic direction, uncover consumer opportunities, and develop frameworks that drive growth.

The role requires 10+ years in strategy and proven ability to deliver across an integrated agency environment, with senior client leadership and strong storytelling skills.

Qualifications

10+ years in strategy, planning, integrated marketing, advertising, media, shopper marketing, commerce, or a related discipline.
Proven experience developing integrated strategies across brand, creative, media, commerce, shopper, retail, and data.
Strong presentation, storytelling, communication, and client-management skills.
Experience leading across an integrated agency environment with cross-functional teams.

Responsibilities

Translate business objectives into clear strategic direction.
Develop integrated strategic frameworks for brand, creative, media, retail, and data.
Lead and align cross-disciplinary teams around KPIs and shared strategy.
Present strategic recommendations to senior clients and stakeholders.

Skills

Strategy

Integrated marketing

Media strategy

Client leadership

Presentation skills

Tools

MRI-Simmons

Mintel

YPulse

Job description

There’s never been a more exciting time in marketing, as media and commerce continue to merge to drive meaningful consumer experiences. As one of the most innovative CPG companies in the world, Unilever, the maker of iconic brands such as Dove, Hellmann’s, TRESemmé, Degree and many others, is adapting to this rapidly changing landscape with the help of WPP and its unparalleled network of agencies.

The newly-created unit, WPP Unite, will be the pioneering force at this intersection, led by two of WPP’s most dynamic agencies: GroupM and Barrows, operating as ONE end to end strategy, design, and execution powerhouse.

GroupM will bring their media thought-leadership and performance expertise, combined with the retail and commercial expertise of Barrows to deliver integrated, end-to-end programs for the entire Unilever portfolio of iconic, household brands. True to its name, the team operates with a unified vision, from initial strategy to final execution, leveraging our collective expertise in design, engineering, and media integration to craft world-class brand programming.

WPP Unite, comprised of the best talent in the industry, will pioneer a truly integrated agency model and drive unprecedented growth for Unilever in the years to come.

Barrows

Barrows brings 40 years of expertise in retail design and marketing, and excels in leveraging insights and cutting-edge digital strategies to create engaging omni-channel experiences.

As a key part of WPP Unite, Barrows will help shape the future of commerce marketing across renowned brand categories and retailers, and drive meaningful results for one of the world’s leading consumer goods companies.

We are seeking an experienced Strategy Director to lead integrated, commerce-forward strategy across brand, creative, media, data, shopper, and retail. This role will be responsible for translating business and marketing objectives into clear strategic direction, uncovering consumer and shopper opportunities, and developing integrated frameworks that drive meaningful behavior change and business growth.

The Strategy Director will serve as a senior strategic partner to clients and internal teams, connecting insights, culture, commerce, media, creative, and retail into a unified approach. The ideal candidate is a strategic thinker who can move seamlessly from identifying the business challenge to developing the strategy, brief, and activation framework that inspires impactful work.

Integrated Strategy & Business Leadership

Identify and articulate business and marketing objectives, critical barriers to growth, and the strategic tasks required to overcome them.
Translate complex business challenges into clear, actionable strategic direction that informs ideas, communications, and activation.
Develop bespoke integrated strategic frameworks defining when, where, and how brands should engage consumers and shoppers for maximum impact.
Lead strategy across the client ecosystem, including paid, owned, and earned channels, ensuring a connected consumer and commerce journey.
Partner with Data Strategy to uncover consumer, shopper, category, cultural, and marketplace insights that inform growth opportunities and behavior change.
Lead and collaborate with Integrated Account Teams to align creative, media, retail, data, commerce, and account partners around a unified strategy and shared KPIs.
Act as a senior strategic advisor to clients, bringing a strong point of view and connecting strategy to measurable business outcomes.

Strategic Development & Creative Thinking

Generate strategic thought starters and culturally relevant ideas that can earn attention and create meaningful consumer engagement.
Develop and champion strategic platforms that inspire breakthrough creative and integrated activation.
Lead the development of clear, inspiring briefs across creative, media, retail, commerce, and other agency disciplines.
Partner with creative and brand strategy teams to ensure ideas are audience-driven, commerce-forward, and strategically aligned.
Identify when ideas or executions are not delivering against the defined strategic task and clearly articulate what must be true for them to succeed.
Present and sell strategic recommendations and ideas internally and to senior client stakeholders.

Integrated Capabilities

Data Strategy

Collaborate with Data Strategy teams on growth mining, community development, audience intelligence, and insight generation.
Leverage research and intelligence platforms such as MRI-Simmons, Mintel, YPulse, Infegy, Kantar Retail IQ, and Circana to understand consumer, shopper, cultural, category, and media dynamics.
Translate data and research into actionable insights, strategic opportunities, and compelling business narratives.

Commerce & Shopper Strategy

Articulate how brand strategy comes to life at shelf, online, and across key retail customers.
Identify and prioritize retailers based on consumer insight, shopper behavior, business opportunity, and growth potential.
Develop customer-specific strategic briefs in partnership with customer leads and planners.
Incorporate distinct shopper insights and retail priorities into integrated strategies and activation plans.
Understand the role of in-store, ecommerce, retail media, promotions, and customer marketing in driving conversion and growth.

Media Strategy

Maintain a strong understanding of the media landscape, planning and buying processes, key partners, audience strategies, and emerging media best practices.
Direct media strategy, including budget allocation and the role of channels across the consumer journey.
Evaluate national programs, media tactics, and channel plans against the agreed-upon strategy and objectives.
Identify opportunities to optimize media plans and recommend alternatives when plans do not adequately address the strategic task.
Partner with media teams to ensure media strategy is integrated with creative, commerce, shopper, and brand priorities.

Brand & Creative Strategy

Partner with creative and brand strategy teams to ensure work is audience-led, culturally relevant, commerce-forward, and strategically grounded.
Establish the strategic foundation for creative development and ensure ideas ladder back to the business challenge.
Provide constructive strategic direction throughout the creative development process.
Connect brand-building objectives with shopper, commerce, and conversion opportunities.

Requirements

10+ years of experience in strategy, planning, integrated marketing, advertising, media, shopper marketing, commerce, or a related discipline.
Proven experience developing integrated strategies across brand, creative, media, commerce, shopper, retail, and data.
Strong understanding of consumer and shopper behavior, customer/retailer dynamics, and the path to purchase.
Demonstrated ability to translate business objectives and complex data into clear strategic frameworks, actionable insights, and compelling briefs.
Experience working within an integrated agency environment and collaborating across multiple disciplines and agency partners.
Strong understanding of media strategy and channel planning, including digital, social, retail media, and emerging channels.
Experience developing strategies that connect brand building with commerce and business growth.
Familiarity with consumer, shopper, retail, cultural, and media research tools such as MRI-Simmons, Mintel, YPulse, Infegy, Kantar Retail IQ, and Circana.
Demonstrated ability to influence and collaborate with senior clients and cross-functional leadership teams.
Exceptional presentation, storytelling, communication, and client-management skills.
Ability to move comfortably between big-picture strategic thinking and detailed executional direction.
Strong commercial acumen with the ability to connect strategy to measurable business outcomes and KPIs.
Proven ability to lead through ambiguity, identify opportunities, and develop solutions in a fast-paced, highly collaborative environment.
Ability to work in the office 3 days a week.