Associate Director, Commerce Strategy

Business Overview 

If you are looking for a people-first organization that can offer you the career you crave, UM is your home. We are the destination of choice for the world’s best talent, where every individual is empowered to unleash their limitless potential and do the best work of their careers.  

We are always searching for passionate team members who love media and live and breathe our core values of Curiosity, Courage, and Community. We seek out those who aren’t afraid to ask the tough questions, are excited to explore the nuances, and are hungry for personal growth and continuous learning. People who thrive at UM are collaborators by nature who pursue diverse perspectives because they understand that true innovation is driven by inclusivity. As a people-first agency, we provide the information, tools and technology, career development, and empowerment our people need to realize their potential and achieve their career ambitions.   

A global media network within the IPG Mediabrands family, UM operates in over 100 countries, with 3,000+ people innovating on a roster of powerful brands and our client campaigns have been recognized by the industry’s most competitive global showcases like Cannes Lions, Festival of Media Global, and WARC.   

As a result of our people-first commitment, UM has been celebrated as a FORTUNE Best Workplace in Advertising & Marketing in the US, a Campaign Best Place to Work in EMEA, a Campaign Asia Diverse & Inclusive Workplace in APAC, a top 3 agency in LATAM by The Effies, and ranked the number one agency in both Canada and MENAT by RECMA. 

Position Overview

This proactive and enthusiastic individual is responsible for developing truly integrated, cross-channel strategic communications strategies. By focusing on why people think, feel and act the way that they do, the Strategy Director helps create media strategies and award-winning ideas that influence perceptions and encourage engagement. 

Responsibilities

• Maintain a deep understanding of the business, target audiences and wider communications environment
• Identify and build target audiences, test their viability, and determine scalability using syndicated and proprietary tools (i.e. MRI-Simmons, Helixa, primary research)
• Understand and integrate client and creative agency research; stay on top of industry trends
• Write POVs on topics relevant to our key clients and agency
• Enter industry competitions (i.e. Young Lions) to represent UM and grow as a strategist
• Apply syndicated and proprietary data to develop key insights across culture, the category, and customers with actionable media implications
• Support the translation of complex concepts into simple, powerful narratives and present strategic recommendations to the client; Package strategic ideas with clarity for presentation
• Develop the strategic positioning for a given product by considering category, consumer, and competitive context
• Develop effective and inspiring relationships with UM teams, including strategy, research, analytics, planning, activation, and digital teams
• Work closely with the Planning Team to translate the campaign strategy and ideas into actionable media implications
• Improve a current process or way of doing something (internally or for the client) by challenging the conventional way of thinking
• Ability to manage and develop the skillsets of junior strategy team members

Required Skills and Experience

• Proficient in Powerpoint, Word, and Excel
• Experience with research and analyzing data
• UM does not require candidates to have a college degree

Desired Skills and Experience

• 7+ years of media strategy, strategic communications, or related role
• Enthusiastic, curious, and strategic
• Independent, efficient, and prospers in a fast-paced environment
• Great written and oral communication
• Great relationship skills

We See You  

At IPG Mediabrands, we are unified behind a commitment to fostering a culture of inclusion and belonging. Together, we shine through a set of shared values and behaviors. We take pride in our responsibility to our clients, communities, and to each other. We embrace differences and recognize the unique value that each of us brings to our community.  

We encourage you to apply, as unique backgrounds, perspectives, and lived experiences are welcomed.   

We See You at IPG Mediabrands. 

Wage and Benefits