Associate Director

About the Role

As an Associate Director, Strategy, you’ll deliver customer-centric, spatial, and retail strategic expertise for one of our top-tier technology clients. You will bring hardware and digital products to life through best-in-class events, global trade shows, pop-ups, in-store activations, and on-device content working closely with internal leadership to turn brand campaigns into welcoming interactive experiences. We are looking for a dynamic candidate to champion the "phygital" (physical + digital) landscape who is passionate about creating immersive environments and seeking new opportunities to create impactful work in an ever-evolving space. Your job is to define how our clients’ brands live, behave, and sell in the real world—and how those moments seamlessly connect to the purchase journey.

Responsibilities:

• Evaluate client objectives and product roadmaps to design compelling physical footprints, defining how attendees move through a space—whether it is a global trade show booth or a local retail pop-up.
• Develop retail engagement strategies that drive product understanding and consideration, specifically for consumer electronics, phones, wearables, and smart home devices. Go beyond the data. Determine how people actually move through spaces to identify friction points and "magic moments" with these devices in a physical space.
• Strategize the connection between physical events and digital ecosystems, ensuring on-ground activations are amplified socially and digitally to drive earned media and long-term loyalty.
• Define what "success" looks like across the various experiences. Move beyond foot traffic to measure dwell time, sentiment, and digital behavior and conversions.
• Lead the strategic narrative for new business pitches within the experiential and retail sector, translating complex business challenges into innovative, spatial strategic visions that win work.
• Identify and pursue proactive growth opportunities within the US market to expand the agency's experiential portfolio.
• Cultivate strong relationships with senior marketing leaders at prospective client organizations, acting as a trusted advisor on the future of retail and events.
• Collaborate hand-in-glove with Creative Directors, Technologists, and Fabrication partners to ensure strategic concepts are feasible, buildable, and impactful.
• Champion high standards for interactive design, pushing the boundaries of what is possible in physical brand activations.

About You

The essentials:

• 7 - 9 years of experience in strategy, specifically at least 5 years in experiential marketing, brand activation, and/or retail strategy.
• Must be based in the US (California or New York preferred).
• Current or recent experience working in an agency environment.
• Deep knowledge of consumer electronics, hardware, or tech brands, with an understanding of how to market a physical product in a physical space.
• Strong spatial awareness with the ability to look at a floor plan or a render and identify user journeys, dwell times, and engagement opportunities.
• Understand how to design for dopamine, belonging, and memory, not just for aesthetic appeal.
• Led or supported strategy for major global rollouts or high-impact "drop" culture activations.
• A proven track record of successfully winning new business and leading or supporting complex pitch processes for events or experiential agencies.
• Exceptional ability to articulate complex ideas (like AI integration or ecosystem connectivity) into simple, human-centric physical experiences.
• Resilience and adaptability to work in a fast-paced environment where event deadlines are immovable.

Not a must, but a plus:

• Experience working specifically with large-scale tech ecosystems.
• BA/BS/MA degree in marketing, business, communications, or a related field.
• A portfolio demonstrating success in major trade shows (e.g., CES, MWC) or large-scale retail installations.

At Monks, we believe in fostering an environment where a diversity of perspectives can thrive. We proactively work to design hiring processes that promote equity and inclusion while mitigating bias. We celebrate diversity and are committed to building a team that reflects the communities we serve. We welcome and encourage qualified applicants, from all backgrounds, who are excited to contribute to our mission.

This role is subject to our Return to Office (RTO) policy. If you reside within a commutable distance of one of our office locations, you will be expected to work from the office a set number of days per week. The specific details, including the number of required office days, will be in accordance with the company’s then-current RTO policy, which is subject to change from time to time.

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