Senior Associate, Strategy

Agency:

UM

Job Function:

Strategy and Planning

Job Subfunction:

Strategy

Job Description:

UM is a global media agency committed to Futureproofing our clients' businesses. We leverage the transformational power of rich business analytics and real-time intelligence to maximize growth and activate the full consumer journey across content and connections. As the leading global media network in IPG Mediabrands, UM operates in over 100 countries, with more than 3,000 people innovating on a roster of global clients including Accenture, American Express, GoPro, Johnson & Johnson, Levi Strauss & Co, Mattel, Sony, and Spotify. UM is globally headquartered in New York, with North American offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas, Chicago, Birmingham, Detroit, Montreal, and Toronto.

At UM, we know our employees are our greatest asset. We are committed to fostering a culture rooted in Diversity, Equity & Belonging, where everyone feels they belong, and their contributions are valued. We prioritize personal and professional growth, encourage an entrepreneurial spirit to pursue passion projects, and celebrate our people and community with moments of joy and spontaneity. Our leadership is dedicated to building a culture of care that permeates every element of the company from work flexibility to career planning to regular talent reviews, and more. Our DNA, for UM, helps guide us in all that we do:

Fearless: We bring our authentic selves to work and put our whole selves into the work

Optimistic: We approach challenges with empathy and curiosity, infusing joy into everything we do

Relentless: We’re unwavering in our pursuit of the right solution, eager to reimagine what’s possible

Unified: We band together to accomplish what we could not otherwise do alone

Masterful: We’re constantly growing in our craft, setting new standards for our industry and our world

We are proud to be named an AdAge Best Place to Work several times over, a Top Workplace in the US by Great Places to Work, a top 10 FORTUNE 2022 Best Workplaces in Advertising & Marketing and She Runs It’s 2021 Outstanding Company for Working Mothers. But feedback is most meaningful when it comes from our own people: over 90% of our employees say the agency is a great place to work and 95% say they are proud to work at UM.

Position Overview

We seek a junior strategist who will support the Strategy Director in developing communications strategy for key brands within our client portfolio. This role will identify insights across culture, category, consumer, and connections to form the basis for strategic planning. By focusing on why people think, feel and act the way that they do, the Sr. Associate, Strategy will help create communication strategies and ideas that build Cultural impact, Community relevance and Commerce connection for the brand.

Strategists at UM are ‘visionary architects’, building campaigns and insights at the intersection of science (data) and art (creativity), therefore this individual will be a strategic leader working in close partnership with team members across Planning, Analytics, Investment and Studios (content & partnerships) to deliver fully integrated campaigns. They will also collaborate with integrated client teams - including in-house creative, PR, etc.

This role will also secondarily support the Research Director on pursuing the ‘why’ and the ‘how’. They are responsible for ensuring projects are completed in a timely fashion, managing vendor relationships, and analyzing data to glean meaningful and actionable insights.

Responsibilities

• Become the expert and champion of UM’s proprietary data tools, syndicated research (Simmons-MRI, GWI, etc.) and have a knack for desktop research to uncover compelling insights within Culture, Communities and Commerce

• Support in the development of UM’s consumer profiling for core HVAs (high value audiences) including synthesis of consumer data and storytelling

• Maintain deep understanding of the business, brand, target audiences and category

• Support the Direction in developing Strategic Blueprints that articulate the insights, strategic pillars and media imperatives for campaigns

• Collaborate in the creation, selling and execution of activation ideas; Actively participate in ideation sessions with integrated planning team

• Assist in crafting RFPs (requests for proposals) that are both inspiring and strategic, and stay involved in evaluating/shaping partner submissions

• Partner with planning and investment teams to effectively pull-through strategy into media ideas and tactics

• Package insights, strategy, and activation ideas for simplicity and clarity and assist in crafting compelling narratives across any client-facing presentations

• Develop effective and inspiring working relationships within agency team and with senior clients

Required Skills and Experience

• Enthusiastic consumer of, and curiosity about, pop culture and the ever-changing media landscape

• Persuasive with outstanding written and oral communication skills

• Comfortable with pulling, analyzing and applying data to support their thinking

• Basic understanding of major desktop research tools (i.e. Google Trends) and qualitative research techniques

Desired Skills and Experience

• Previous experience at a media agency, creative agency or digital agency (1-2 years is ideal). That said, proven strategic comms ability and understanding of consumer behavior is most important, so please apply if you feel this is you.

• Demonstrated creativity

• Independent, efficient and prospers in fast paced environment

• Proven ability to simplify the complex and focus on the points that matter most





$65,000-$75,000

Omnicom’s policy requires employees to work in the office for a minimum of three days a week, unless additional in-office days are directed by their agency or manager. Our objective is to increase this requirement over time, and many of our agencies as well as Omnicom’s corporate group already require five days of in-office attendance.

Omnicom is committed to hiring and developing exceptional talent. We agree that talent is uniquely distributed, and we’re focused on developing inclusive teams that can bring the best solutions to everything we do. We strongly believe that celebrating what makes us different makes us better together. Join us—we look forward to getting to know you. We will process your personal data in accordance with our Recruitment Privacy Notice.

Link to Recruitment Privacy Notice: https://www.omc.com/privacy-notice

For US Job Seekers:

It is the policy of Omnicom and any of its affiliates to provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, religion, color, ethnic origin, gender, gender identity, age, marital status, veteran status, sexual orientation, disability, or any other basis prohibited by applicable federal, state, or local law. EOE/AA/M/D/V/F.