Strategy Director

Department: Social Media Strategy

Employment Type: Full Time

Location: Minneapolis, MN

Description

At The Social Lights, we're a band of creative and energetic problem solvers who love nothing more than to help brands and individuals powerfully connect to their consumer utilizing the power of social media. In other words, our superpower decoding culture to activate social fandoms.

The Director of Strategy has a relentless curiosity, is people-obsessed, identifies patterns and connects the dots. This leader and mentor on the Strategy team is capable of synthesizing a wide range of research and data inputs, crafting resonant audience insights and delivering meaningful findings and key takeaways in client presentations. A Director of Strategy is a master reductionist and simplifier who crafts a persuasive point of view. This role works seamlessly with cross-disciplinary partners and will nurture a culture of collaboration, modeling and mentoring advanced strategic skills to teams.

Key Responsibilities

The Director of Strategy will be responsible for leading strategy on multiple accounts, while helping to grow direct reports and contribute to driving the Strategy discipline forward. To be successful, this person must be a self-starter, have a growth mindset, possess a penchant for solving problems and be adept at knowing where to focus and invest time. This person will have a passion for deeply understanding our clients' brands, business challenges and growth objectives and will work to build strong client relationships.

Social Strategy Capability

• Own and oversee strategy projects for multiple work streams and clients within the agency from inception to completion ultimately resulting in breakthrough, energizing and effective work in the marketplace
• Demonstrate proficiency in authoring strategies that are insightful, thought-provoking, inspirational and identify irresistible problems to solve
• Champion the voice of our social audiences by representing their wants, needs and understanding the ways they connect to the world around them
• Balance strategic rigor with a bias for action, ultimately turning knowledge into insight and insight into action
• Showcase storytelling wizardry by developing powerful narratives that simplify complicated or unfamiliar topics in ways that are clear, human and easy for others (clients and internal teams) to understand; deliver insights in fresh, new ways and present strategic concepts in an engaging, captivating and persuasive manner.
• Demonstrate presentation prowess by presenting ideas in a compelling and inspiring manner, anticipating questions that may arise and being fully prepared with thoughts that go well-beyond what is written on a slide; ultimately helping internal and external partners see the value The Social Lights offers and how our ideas directly solve the challenge at hand.
• Contribute to building the agency's relationship with key clients in concert with the account team and cross-disciplinary leads by effectively understanding each client's strategy and business objectives. Create strategic, highly engaging, innovative, and best-in-class strategy work to deliver on the client's goals.
• Provide strategic counsel for clients as needed
• Participate in new business development as requested
• Perform essential duties as assigned from time to time to meet changing needs of the agency

People Management

• Work with direct reports to set measurable annual objectives, conduct bi-weekly check-ins and scheduled employee reviews, and provide continual and specific feedback to help each employee continue on their path to growth
• Develop direct reports through ongoing coaching, skills development and encourage participation and/or memberships that foster growth and development
• Identify and champion growth opportunities for direct reports

Skills, Knowledge and Expertise

• Bachelor's Degree in Advertising, Journalism, Public Relations, Marketing or relevant field of study
• 10+ years of experience in brand strategy, creative strategy and/or social strategy. 5+ years social media experience, 3+ years of experience in client-facing role
• Previous advertising agency experience desired
• Strong understanding of the creative process (ideation to execution)
• Stellar writing, editing and proofreading skills
• Excellent time management, organization, and prioritization skills
• Able to maintain confidentiality with business relations, personnel matters and proprietary matters
• Proficient in the Google Suite: Docs, Slides, Sheets
• Proficient in Keynote and Powerpoint
• Proficient in the Adobe Suite
• Proficient in social listening tools and MRI-Simmons a plus

** This job description is not designed to cover or encompass a comprehensive listing of required activities, duties, or responsibilities. Specific functions may change, or additional ones may be assigned during the course of employment

Benefits

• Medical Insurance
• Dental Insurance
• HSA w/matching
• 401k w/matching
• Paid Time Off
• Technology Enablement
• Summer Hours + Flexible Work Options
• Pet-Friendly