VP, Brand Strategy

The Vice President, Brand Strategy is a leadership position within the CG Life strategy group responsible for the development and implementation of strategic initiatives for clients in life sciences and biopharma – in particular, supporting clients in the rare disease and precision medicine space. This person enjoys working in fast-paced environments and is motivated by the challenge of creating compelling narratives that differentiate our client's brands, products, and services in ways that are meaningful and engaging for their audiences. This person is also motivated by the opportunity to develop and mentor junior members of the strategy team and others within the organization.

The VP, Brand Strategy plays a key role in building and maintaining strong client relationships, leveraging their deep industry experience and expertise to provide guidance and drive impactful strategic solutions. They are also heavily involved in the agency's new business development efforts, contributing to and presenting new business proposals that align with CG Life's growth goals.

Additionally, the VP, Brand Strategy collaborates closely with other department leads to research, build, enable, and advocate for positioning and communication structures that form the basis for client communication efforts. This includes creative campaigns, marketing messaging, content, public relations, sales collateral, and corporate communications. Their focus is on ensuring market differentiation, customer relevance, and consistency of voice across all communication channels.

Key Responsibilities, including but not limited to:

Business Impact:

• Identifies opportunities and can cross-sell CG Life’s capabilities to new business and current clients
• Assists the Client Service team in determining the client’s offerings, strategic direction, and how to guide them toward achieving their goals
• Secures new strategic initiatives with existing clients and prospects by developing and/or reviewing new business proposals and presentations
• Extensive experience leading or participating in new business efforts, including strategy and pitch story flow development
• Responsible for organic growth initiatives/opportunities, financial or otherwise, on a defined industry segment or client portfolio while meeting/exceeding revenue goals
• Establishes the agency’s role as a trusted and strategic-minded partner while owning and managing the day-to-day client strategy and relationship for multiple accounts

Industry Expertise:

• Acts as an agency resource and consultant for a range of strategic initiatives, including positioning, analytics, internal engagement, communications strategy, creative brief development, and brand planning ideation
• Champions the use of agency strategy development methodologies/tools/processes and has deep experience collaborating with Digital and Engagement strategy leaders within the organization
• Broad experience working with scientific experts (internal or external) and translating science into strategic outputs for clients
• Provides leadership and guidance to internal teams based on the strategy, brief, and knowledge of the client and its industry
• Independently develops strategy decks and other relevant outputs based on discovery activities, research outputs, and other client-provided background documents
• Leads client workshops and discovery sessions (either onsite or online) to advance a range of client and strategy deliverables
• Stays current on evolving platforms, trends, and implications for client strategies

Leadership:

• Creates and directs innovative and thoughtful strategic solutions to complex communication challenges on behalf of clients
• Champions the role of strategy to establish strong and successful brands and to inspire and support the development of creative ideas
• Establishes sound and effective working relationships internally and with clients
• Leads and facilitates (with the Account team) planning efforts for clients
• Drives the development of compelling, single-minded strategies and briefs
• Proactively develops recommendations in partnership with the Client Service team based on discovery findings, client intentions, and key audience insights, then validates positions through testing with customers and internal stakeholders (if needed)

Communication:

• Demonstrates success at working with cross-functional teams and building strong internal and external relationships
• Able to communicate and defend strategic recommendations to the client
• Effectively leads client meetings and presentations on key stakeholder interview findings, competitive audit findings, positioning, and/or communication strategy

People Management

• Manage and mentor other team members, responsible for goal setting, performance management, career growth, etc.
• Recognizes staff potential and guides employees in identifying challenging and stretching tasks based on interests and organizational needs to achieve career goals
• Monitors the progress of direct reports and stays involved with their development by being a good source of feedback, guidance, and encouragement

Requirements

Qualifications and Skills:

• Ability to identify and pursue growth opportunities to expand strategic services to clients
• Strong leadership and proven team management skills
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Demonstrated experience developing and implementing strategic communications programs in the healthcare and life sciences sectors to raise the visibility of brands, products, technologies, and client thought leaders
• Extensive experience with client-facing presence and interaction with C-Suite level

What We will be Looking for:

• 10+ years of experience in strategic planning or brand management in pharma, life sciences, or healthcare agency or a similar healthcare/biopharma organization
• Proven experience in leading and managing teams, providing strategic direction, and fostering a collaborative environment
• Experience building and maintaining strong client relationships, understanding client needs, and leading the development of strategic initiatives that exceed expectations
• Experience driving thought leadership in strategic planning and marketing approaches for life science or healthcare clients – rare disease experience is a plus

Reports To:Senior Vice President of Strategy

Benefits

We are proud to offer a comprehensive benefits package to all of our employees:

• Medical, Dental & Vision Insurance. We cover a generous portion of employee contributions
• 401K plan. We invest in present and future you, which is why we offer a generous match and immediate vesting on our plan
• Parental Leave. Generous paid time off for parents to bond with their newest addition
• Professional Development. Each employee has an annual budget to allocate to professional development opportunities. Employees are encouraged to take a workshop, attend a webinar, join associations, and do anything else that will help them grow in their careers.
• Sabbatical Program. Enjoy 4 weeks of paid leave following 6 years of service to pursue travel, time with family, and drive in a new hobby; the options are endless!
• And more! We offer flexible time off, life insurance, STD & LTD, a robust employee assistance program, and more!

This job posting is intended for direct applicants only; please, no outside recruiters.