Vice President, Strategy

unlockhealth; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 270,000; Full time

Job summary

Unlock Health is seeking a VP of Strategy to define and elevate strategic excellence for a portfolio of healthcare-focused clients. You will guide teams to uncover human truths behind business challenges, shape rigorous, differentiating narratives, and lead high-impact workshops with senior stakeholders.

This hybrid role operates from our Chicago or Nashville offices, with in-office presence and remote flexibility.

Qualifications

• 10-15 years of experience in strategy, consulting, or healthcare planning.
• Agency experience, with a strong understanding of how to operate and lead in a fast-paced, client-driven environment.
• Proven ability to shape strategic thinking at the highest level-bringing clarity to ambiguity and influencing senior stakeholders.
• Executive presence and strong communication skills, with the ability to build trust quickly.
• Exceptional storytelling and narrative development skills, with the ability to shape compelling strategic stories that inspire teams, clients, and creative work.
• Expertise leading high-impact workshops and facilitating strategic conversations across a range of audiences and organizational levels.
• Strong cross-functional relationship-building skills, with the ability to create trust and alignment across strategy, creative, media, analytics, client experience, and leadership teams.
• A demonstrated ability to mentor, develop, and elevate strategic talent.

Responsibilities

• Own and drive understanding of high-value client business problems—and how to solve them through insight-driven, effective, creative solutions
• Identify and define the human problem behind the business problem, translating audience insight into strategic opportunity and creative direction
• Lead strategy across multiple clients or a portfolio of accounts, setting direction and ensuring consistency and quality
• Serve as the primary strategic advisor to senior client stakeholders, building credibility through both expertise and perspective
• Build strong partnerships with creative teams to bring strategy to life-collaborating closely throughout the process to unlock bold, differentiated, and effective work
• Lead high-impact workshops, working sessions, and presentations across all levels of client organizations, aligning teams and driving decisions forward
• Mentor and develop strategists, senior strategists, and directors-strengthening talent and elevating overall capability
• Set and uphold a high bar for strategic output-driving quality, consistency, innovation, and measurable results
• Integrate and inspire across disciplines, with fluency in media, analytics, and creative to ensure connected, effective solutions
• Participate in pitches and new business efforts, shaping the strategic narrative and approach
• Evolve how we work by shaping methodologies, processes, and strategic approaches
• Foster a culture of curiosity, creativity, discipline, and generosity-raising the level of thinking across the organization
• Push teams and clients toward more ambitious thinking-using emotional intelligence to challenge, align, and move work forward
• Elevate strategic thinking across the organization, helping others build stronger problem-solving skills and sharper perspectives

Job description

The Role

As VP of Strategy, you set the standard for what great strategy looks like-and ensure the work lives up to it. You guide a portfolio of clients toward thinking that is rigorous, differentiated, and built to drive real impact.

At the heart of the role is the ability to find the human problem behind the business problem-uncovering the emotional, behavioral, and cultural truths that lead to more meaningful strategies and more effective creative work. You operate as a trusted advisor to senior client leadership, helping teams navigate complexity, challenge assumptions, and uncover new opportunities for growth.

Internally, you are a defining voice for strategic excellence. You elevate the quality of thinking, strengthen how we approach the work, and inspire teams to push toward more ambitious, insight-driven solutions. You connect business challenges to human insight, shape compelling strategic narratives, and help create work that is both effective and meaningful.

This is a role for someone who doesn't just contribute to great work-but defines it.

What You'll Do

• Own and drive understanding of high-value client business problems-and how to solve them through insight-driven, effective, creative solutions
• Identify and define the human problem behind the business problem, translating audience insight into strategic opportunity and creative direction
• Lead strategy across multiple clients or a portfolio of accounts, setting direction and ensuring consistency and quality
• Serve as the primary strategic advisor to senior client stakeholders, building credibility through both expertise and perspective
• Build strong partnerships with creative teams to bring strategy to life-collaborating closely throughout the process to unlock bold, differentiated, and effective work
• Lead high-impact workshops, working sessions, and presentations across all levels of client organizations, aligning teams and driving decisions forward
• Mentor and develop strategists, senior strategists, and directors-strengthening talent and elevating overall capability
• Set and uphold a high bar for strategic output-driving quality, consistency, innovation, and measurable results
• Integrate and inspire across disciplines, with fluency in media, analytics, and creative to ensure connected, effective solutions
• Participate in pitches and new business efforts, shaping the strategic narrative and approach
• Evolve how we work by shaping methodologies, processes, and strategic approaches
• Foster a culture of curiosity, creativity, discipline, and generosity-raising the level of thinking across the organization
• Push teams and clients toward more ambitious thinking-using emotional intelligence to challenge, align, and move work forward
• Elevate strategic thinking across the organization, helping others build stronger problem-solving skills and sharper perspectives

What You Bring

• 10-15 years of experience in strategy, consulting, or healthcare planning, with a track record of leading complex, high-impact work
• Agency experience, with a strong understanding of how to operate and lead in a fast-paced, client-driven environment
• Proven ability to shape strategic thinking at the highest level-bringing clarity to ambiguity and influencing senior stakeholders
• Executive presence and strong communication skills, with the ability to build trust quickly
• Exceptional storytelling and narrative development skills, with the ability to shape compelling strategic stories that inspire teams, clients, and creative work
• Expertise leading high-impact workshops and facilitating strategic conversations across a range of audiences and organizational levels
• Strong cross-functional relationship-building skills, with the ability to create trust and alignment across strategy, creative, media, analytics, client experience, and leadership teams
• A demonstrated ability to mentor, develop, and elevate strategic talent

This position operates under a hybrid work model from our Nashville or Chicago office, blending in-office and remote work. Employees are expected to maintain a regular in-office presence while also having the flexibility to work remotely. Exact schedules may vary by team and will be aligned with manager expectations and organizational needs.

About Us

Unlock Health is a full-service marketing communication agency, grounded in technology, built for healthcare-and integrated with a managed care consultancy with deep revenue strategy expertise. We brought together leading healthcare firms to solve a core challenge: aligning brand, marketing, technology, and revenue strategy so healthcare organizations can attract and retain patients, grow brand equity, and protect their margins. We help our clients do everything from patient acquisition and brand building, to simplifying complex martech ecosystems, and creating digital experiences. Our work is rooted in clarity, authenticity, and a deep understanding of what moves healthcare forward.

Equality Opportunit