Senior Director, Brand Strategy

The CompanyICF is a mission-driven company filled with people who care deeply about improving the lives of others and making the world a better place. Our core values include Embracing Difference; we seek candidates who are passionate about building a culture that encourages, embraces, and hires dimensions of difference. @ ICF Next, we are fearless in finding new ways to solve problems, relentless in making sure it pays off for our clients and committed to making a positive change in the world. Join our community of mission-driven creatives, communicators, strategists, and technologists to challenge the status quo. We’re currently hiring a Senior Director, Brand Strategy to be our Brand Strategy team leader – someone who is insatiably curious and has a passion for uncovering brand and consumer connections based on deeply rooted truths and bringing to life ideas and campaigns that move the needle for our clients.The TeamYou’ll have the ability to make meaningful contributions to big name brands and Fortune 500 companies. Whether it’s deep diving into research and trends to identify unique human insights, guiding creative teams to produce breakthrough work that the world talks about, or developing brand platform or positioning for companies looking to realign themselves. You’ll work with people who are passionate about doing great work for our clients and invested in treating each other well. You’ll marry those qualities with an appreciation for process, best practices and the ability to lead clients, lead a brand strategy team and inspire our creative teams. The WorkYou are right for this role if you balance the science and art of brand strategy: understanding how to turn research data into insights, identifying customer attitudes and behaviors and serving as the voice of the customer in brand positioning and campaign development. This hire will be the most senior member of the brand strategy team, reporting directly to the SVP, Strategy. You’ll start out leading and developing brand strategy on two to three accounts and lead strategy on select new business efforts—ensuring that the agency is delivering a leading-edge strategic product for its clients, grounded in relevant data, trends and insights. You’ll also have the immediate support of (and responsibility for the growth and development of) a new-to-brand-strategy strategist.Reports to: Sr Partner, Integrated Comms Direct Reports: 1–3 Strategists, Senior Strategists, and/or Associate Strategy DirectorsGrowth Path: Strategy Director -> Group Strategy Director or VP, Director of Brand StrategyKey responsibilities:Lead strategy on key agency accounts, partnering with your peers in Account Service, Creative and Media to build and maintain great client relationships, leading to growth for our clients and the agency

Develop and lead a trends practice within the agency, ensuring the agency stays ahead of the curve on emerging and morphing industry trends, cultural shifts and consumer behavior

Serve as the lead strategist on various new business efforts, collaborating with agency and team leaders to respond to RFIs, RFPs and pitch assignments, including playing a leading role in pitch presentations

Partner with the SVP, Strategy to shape, evolve and articulate the overarching approach to brand strategy for the agency

Collaborate with Olson’s broader strategic capabilities like Analytics, Experience Strategy and Connections Strategy to craft stories that inspire clients and internal teams to solve marketing and business challenges in new and better ways; always finding the narrative and emotional connection in the data points

Develop and contribute to thought leadership initiatives for the agency, including but not limited to writing posts/articles and speaking at conferences and events

Partner with discipline leaders across the ICF Olson collective as needed on new business efforts, client projects and special requests where brand strategy expertise is required

Support Olson leadership in building an inspiring and energizing culture where creativity and smart thinking flourish

Required Qualifications:Bachelor’s Degree and 10+ years of experience working in marketing, brand consulting or a creative agency role with 7+ years as a brand strategist, account planner or client-side equivalent

Experience managing, mentoring and developing entry-level and mid-level strategists—helping them master core strategy/planning skills

Fluency and comfort with a wide range of marketing research tools and methodologies—from overseeing the design, execution and analysis of primary research projects (both quant and qual), to sourcing and blending 3rd party research, secondary and social listening, in order to shine a bright light on deeply buried truths

Experience designing and facilitating workshops, both client facing and internal

Preferred Qualifications:Demonstrated ability to identify industry and consumer trends as they develop and before they crest, and translate those happenings into meaningful brand strategy

Proven success leading brand strategy across multiple accounts in a variety of industries and categories

Energy and passion for pitching new business with experience leading pitches from a strategic perspective

Deep experience in leading foundational brand strategy/brand positioning/brand purpose work

An insatiable appetite for finding better ways to do things and the ability to inspire those around you to do the same

Working at ICFWorking at ICF means applying a passion for meaningful work with intellectual rigor to help solve the leading issues of our day. Smart, compassionate, innovative, committed, ICF employees tackle unprecedented challenges to benefit people, businesses, and governments around the globe. We believe in collaboration, mutual respect, open communication, and opportunity for growth.We can only solve the world's toughest challenges by building an inclusive workplace that allows everyone to thrive. We are an equal opportunity employer, committed to hiring regardless of any protected characteristic, such as race, ethnicity, national origin, color, sex, gender identity/expression, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability status, or military/veteran status. Together, our employees are empowered to share their expertise and collaborate with others to achieve personal and professional goals. For more information, please read our EEO & AA policy (https://www.icf.com/legal/equal-employment-opportunity) .COVID-19 Policy: New or prospective U.S. employees must provide proof of complete vaccination on the date of their commencement of employment. If selected for employment, you will provide proof of your full vaccination status, defined as vaccinated two weeks after receiving the requisite number of doses of a COVID-19 vaccine approved or authorized for emergency use by the FDA.Reasonable Accommodations are available, including, but not limited to, for disabled veterans, individuals with disabilities, and individuals with sincerely held religious beliefs, in all phases of the application and employment process. To request an accommodation please email icfcareercenter@icf.com and we will be happy to assist. All information you provide will be kept confidential and will be used only to the extent required to provide needed reasonable accommodations. Read more about non-discrimination: EEO is the law (https://www.eeoc.gov/sites/default/files/migratedfiles/employers/posterscreenreaderoptimized.pdf) and Pay Transparency Statement (https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ofccp/pdf/pay-transpEnglishunformattedESQA508c.pdf) . Minneapolis, MN (MN03)