What is the role?

We are looking for a Strategist to join our growing Strategic Planning team in the Central Region.

The Strategy team’s role in the agency is to power more creative and effective solutions to our client’s business problems. We do this through asking questions like:

Who are we speaking to? It is a Strategists job to be the voice of the consumer/ customer – whether that’s a parent buying snacks or an Innovation Director buying tech solutions. They use a range of qualitative and quantitative research methods to get to know the target, their attitudes and behaviors.

What’s the context? Strategy’s role is to understand the market, competitor, and cultural trends to build a solid picture of potential barriers that could stand in the way and opportunities that could unlock success.

Why would anyone care? It might sound harsh but it’s a critical question to inform earned thinking for clients. Strategists need to understand the value and potential value that clients’ brands can bring to consumers lives, to culture and to conversations.

And when they have the answers to these questions, they distill it all down into single-minded strategy that provides direction and inspiration for colleagues to develop creative campaigns that get results for clients.

It sounds easy and when it’s done right it looks easy too, but it’s not! It takes a while to learn how to take research output from information to insights and build up an understanding of how brands work, but you will receive training and opportunities to build your skills on the job and lots of support from your team.

What will you be doing?

You will be the day-to-day research lead on a diverse set of client partners.

• Developing and actioning research plans
• Conducting qualitative and quantitative research
• Crafting insights based on research
• Developing a strong understanding of your client and their target audience
• Working with the strategy team to articulate findings and related insights
• Providing strategic insights to your assigned clients
• Supporting with pitch preparation and new business activities
• Attending client meetings
• Maintaining a knowledge of industry trends

NOTE: This is a hybrid role with the expectation that this person will work from the Chicago office 2-3 times a week.

The Weber Shandwick Collective recognizes that your health and wellbeing are a priority. This is why we offer a full suite of benefits including:

• Medical
• Dental
• Vision
• 401k (with employer match)
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Juice Money - $60 monthly reimbursement to be used towards purchases that nourish your health, mind, body, and soul
• MyDays – Flexible holiday schedules
• Short-Term Disability
• Paid Employee Family Leave
• Family Building Benefit

Weber Shandwick is proud to be an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. Weber Shandwick recruits qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, gender, age, ethnic or national origin, protected veteran status, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status or citizenship status.

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