Lead Brand Strategist

About the Role

We are seeking a Lead Brand Strategist who excels at extracting profound audience insights and transforming them into precise brand positioning, compelling messaging, and strategic guidance for brand and digital projects. This role is ideal for an individual energized by research, synthesis, and linking data to impactful outcomes. The Lead Brand Strategist will spearhead research and strategy phases for brand initiatives, collaborating closely with creative directors to translate foundations into innovative brand and digital solutions. They will also integrate brand strategy with digital presence across web and marketing platforms, working alongside UX, content, and creative teams to ensure consistency in execution.

This position involves partnering with mission-driven organizations such as the American Kidney Fund, Rainforest Trust, Urban Institute, CFP Board, Operation Smile, and The Wilderness Society, crafting brand and digital strategies that engage audiences and drive measurable results.

Key Responsibilities

• Direct brand discovery through stakeholder interviews, workshops, and research.
• Design and implement qualitative and quantitative user and market research to discover audience motivations, perceptions, and needs.
• Synthesize research data into actionable strategic tools including audience personas, brand narratives, positioning, value propositions, and messaging strategies based on evidence.
• Define brand platforms covering mission, vision, values, personality, and messaging hierarchy; collaborate with creative directors to translate these into visual and verbal identity.
• Expand brand strategy into digital strategy, guiding web experience and marketing efforts alongside UX, content, and creative teams.
• Ensure all creative and digital outputs remain faithful to research and strategic foundations throughout engagements.
• Innovate research and strategy practices by incorporating AI and data-informed methods to sharpen insights and accelerate synthesis.
• Cultivate strong client relationships by facilitating workshops, presenting findings, and steering decision-making with clarity and assurance.
• Support business development by contributing to strategy-related proposals and expanding service offerings.
• Continuously refine research and strategy processes for greater effectiveness.

Candidate Profile

• Committed to rigorous research design focused on answering essential questions and valuing evidence over intuition.
• Possesses strategic vision connecting audience insights to clear positioning and messaging based on sound evidence.
• Skilled at synthesizing complex, sometimes contradictory data into definitive, justified strategic direction.
• Operates as a collaborative partner with creative directors, providing strategic guidance while respecting roles.
• Communicates confidently, managing workshops, crafting briefs, and delivering presentations with poise.
• Leads empathetically by listening intently, synthesizing complexity, and exercising emotional intelligence.
• Curious and driven to explore data and human insights to inform every strategy recommendation.

Essential Qualifications

• At least 10 years of experience leading brand strategy projects with a hands-on focus on research.
• Proven expertise designing and executing research via surveys, interviews, and focus groups, and translating findings into strategic frameworks.
• Experienced in developing strategy documentation including personas, audience segmentation, competitive analysis, positioning, and messaging architectures.
• Adept at collaborating with creative direction, clearly articulating strategic intent to enable effective creative execution.
• Understanding of how brand strategy interfaces with digital strategy concerning web and marketing channels, though not expected to manage wireframing or sitemap creation.
• Strong oral and written communication skills.
• Experience nurturing client relationships and developing account growth strategies.
• Agency experience is advantageous.

Company Culture and Benefits

Our company embraces a culture summarized by the motto, "Everyone deserves to come to work and be happy," which reflects our dedication to quality, nurturing employee strengths, fostering innovation and creative freedom, and respecting life outside work. Benefits include:

• Health, vision, and dental insurance funded by the company.
• Pre-tax Flexible Spending Account (FSA).
• Profit sharing plans.
• Four weeks of paid time off initially, increasing to five weeks after three years.
• Company-paid short- and long-term disability insurance.
• Life and accidental death & dismemberment (AD&D) insurance covered by the company.
• Eleven paid holidays annually.
• 401(k) plan with company matching contributions.
• Bonuses for referring new business.
• Opportunities for professional development.
• Flexible scheduling.
• Pre-tax DC Metro SmartBenefits for commuting.

Compensation

Salary ranges from $110,000 to $130,000 per year, depending on experience.

About Us

We are a Washington, DC-based digital agency with a national footprint, emphasizing strategy-first approaches. We collaborate with nonprofits, associations, and mission-driven companies to foster meaningful audience connections. Proudly certified as an LGBTBE business and committed to equal opportunity employment, we believe diverse perspectives produce stronger work and greater impact.