VP, Strategy Director (Retail)

We are in relentless pursuit of an equitable and inspiring workplace that is respectful of all, reflects and represents the world in which we live, and fosters trust, collaboration and belonging. Consistent with this approach, we hire the best qualified candidates for all positions. The VP, Strategy Director will lead strategy for a major retail client, turning business challenges, consumer insights, and cultural trends into clear opportunities that inspire creative work and drive brand growth. The role combines senior client counsel, integrated strategic leadership, cross-functional collaboration, business development, and mentorship. The ideal candidate is an experienced, culturally fluent strategy leader who can simplify complexity, build trusted relationships, inspire teams, and deliver inclusive, high-impact work. The Opportunity Were looking for a curious, culturally attuned, and collaborative strategy leader to help shape the future of a leading retail brand. As VP, Strategy Director, youll be the senior strategic lead for one of the agencys key client relationships. Youll partner closely with clients and integrated agency teams to turn complex business challenges into meaningful human opportunitiesand those opportunities into ideas that earn attention, inspire action, and drive brand growth. This is a role for someone who loves getting close to the work while also seeing the bigger picture. Youll set the strategic vision, inspire ambitious creative thinking, build trusted client relationships, and mentor the next generation of strategy talent. Youll also play an important role in strengthening and growing the business, ensuring our strategic contribution continues to evolve alongside our clients needs. What Youll DoShape the Strategy Lead integrated strategy across brand, purpose, reputation, and cultural initiatives.Help clients uncover the human problem behind a business challenge and define how communications can create meaningful change.Turn research, cultural intelligence, social listening and business data into clear, actionable strategic opportunities.Develop compelling strategic frameworks, narratives, and creative briefs that inspire breakthrough ideas.Guide annual planning and goal-setting, helping clients align around a clear vision and roadmap for success.Identify shifts in consumer behavior, culture, retail, fashion, and lifestyle that can unlock new opportunities for the brand.Ensure inclusivity is embedded throughout the strategic process and that the work resonates with diverse, intersectional audiences. Inspire the Work Be a close, trusted partner to creative teams from the first spark of an idea through launch and optimization.Create the strategic conditions for work that is culturally relevant, emotionally resonant, and impossible to ignore.Keep ideas grounded in the brief while giving teams the space and inspiration to take the work somewhere unexpected.Ensure audience, channel, measurement, and activation plans connect back to the central strategy.Interpret campaign results and identify opportunities to optimize the work, extend successful platforms, and build long-term brand equity. Build Strong Partnerships Serve as a trusted strategic advisor to senior clients, bringing clarity, confidence, and a strong point of view to the table.Develop deep relationships across the clients marketing organization and broader agency-partner ecosystem.Lead strategic conversations, workshops, and presentations that create alignment and help clients make confident decisions.Proactively identify opportunities to expand the agencys impact and deepen the client relationship.Partner with account leadership to protect, strengthen, and grow the business. Bring People Together Collaborate across creative, account, production, earned media, influencer, digital, social, technology, experience, and data and intelligence teams.Connect different disciplines and perspectives around a s