Heart+Mind Strategies is seeking a Senior Strategist to join our team of global human decision-making experts. This role is part business consultant, part communications planner, part insights creator, and part trend watcher. We look at the interconnectedness of the human system, understanding the cultural forces and market dynamics that impact human choice, helping us reframe brands, issues, or organizations through the human story.  

PURPOSE OF THE POSITION

It is the job of a Senior Strategist to identify business issues that must be addressed for the client, and partner with our insights team to shape insights in order to inform, develop, and direct the implementation of the strategy. The Senior Strategist translates insights into ideas and frameworks to guide the client’s thinking about their brand, product or experience.  

The ability to interact with prospective clients is a must as Senior Strategists are expected to provide significant support in business development activities though category scans, capabilities presentations, proposal development, and engagement design. 

Reporting to the Group Strategy Director, and multi-tasking over several projects, the role is a busy one, ensuring quality is never compromised. Senior Strategists have a passion for understanding business issues in the context of the human system. Analyzing insights to ensure strategic solutions create powerful opportunities for brands to weave themselves more meaningfully into people’s lives. This role must thrive in a collaborative environment, while also being comfortable working alone.   

TYPICAL ACTIVITIES

• Shapes the overall project approach incorporating consumer and business perspective to meet objectives. 
• Frames the project and business challenge and creates the strategic path that drives to the solution.  
• Synthesizes primary and secondary research from user, business and competitive/analogous industries to generate ideas for business opportunities, value propositions, positioning and product/service solution. 
• Consults with clients to create and direct innovative and thoughtful strategic solutions to complex brand and communications challenges. 
• Produces cohesive and intelligent narratives, frameworks, and plans to bring success to our clients’ endeavors. 
• Analyzes client’s business and needs and recommends revenue-driving opportunities for strategic projects; develops proposals for the work, including processes, tools, deliverables and timeframes.  
• Partners with business development leaders to go after and win new accounts and/or projects. 
• Analyzes data and models to develop business strategies based on market intelligence, primary research, and category trends.  
• Presents to senior stakeholders and facilitates client workshops. 
• Works collaboratively with other stakeholders to ensure quality of project deliverables.  

IDEAL CANDIDATES HAVE:

• Ten or more years of insights and planning experience. 
• The flexibility to work over several projects and balance your workload. 
• Flexible, collaborative and welcoming of differing perspectives. 
• Proven ability to work within a fast-paced, collaborative, consultative process to uncover insights and opportunities that inform clients’ business and communication decisions, as well as the design of products, services, and experiences. 
• Strong brand planning experience running research and strategy projects including brand architecture, value proposition, positioning, and communication architecture. 
• Strong business acumen and experience with business strategy group or professional service experience a plus. 
• Experience interviewing, moderating, facilitating client and consumer interviews. 
• Experience facilitating client synthesis and/or workshops to evolve client thinking, create solutions, and align on business/marketing goals. 
• Proven ability to use qualitative and quantitative research to develop strategies. 

If you are interested in this position, please submit a cover letter and resume to heartandmind_careers@heartandmindstrategies.com 

ABOUT US

Heart+Mind Strategies is a research-led consulting firm that uncovers how people think, feel and make decisions, and uses that to help clients apply these insights to achieve their specific goals.  Our scientific approach to understanding how individual and societal values influence decision-making is why many leading global brands and organizations work with us.

We are headquartered in Reston, VA.