strategist /
account planner

location

MKE, NSH, or PDX

role description

Manifesto is seeking a driven, passionate and curious Strategist/Planner who lives for uncovering human insights, trends and cultural phenomena to inform our creative approach. This role will work with multiple teams across the agency leading research, interviews, focus groups and client immersion sessions.

Reporting to the Director of Strategy, the candidate will thrive working in a fast-paced environment, leading complex problem solving and working to quickly “get under the hood” of our brand partners, with the chance to affect the course of many of the agency’s projects. As both a left-brained and right-brained thinker, the successful candidate will have the ability to mine key insights, as well as develop audience segmentation and persona work, create brand messaging and framework development, and articulate compelling creative briefs to inform our work.

As a curious consumer of emerging trends, technology and culture, the Strategist/Planner will help bring clarity, brevity and simplification to complex business challenges.

This role will also help to support and drive new business through consulting and championing these services to existing and new agency accounts.

primary responsibilities

Planning research and discovery for both prospective and existing clients
Leading focus groups and interviews with key stakeholders
Managing quantitative research and partners
Participating/leading whiteboard and brainstorming sessions with clients
Audience segmentation and persona development
Brand values development
Brand strategy, positioning, messaging and narrative development
Trend tracking and cultural insight development
Involvement in writing/creating strategy and content for RFP responses
Agency thought leadership content development

key characteristics

Innate curiosity for both the bigger picture and the micro-level detail
The ability to think on your feet and juggle multiple projects
An entrepreneurial and ingenious attitude
An appetite for learning and embracing differing perspectives
Cultural relevance and knowledge of emerging trends and technology across key verticals
Hunger for what’s next and new; not just in culture, but new mediums, channels and design
Self reliant; as a nimble team, we’re all doers, and often work with quick turnaround times and tight deadlines
The ability to collaborate and use (sometimes limited) tools, resources and partners to accomplish project or organizational goals
Positivity and can-do attitude required, calm and collected in the face of pressures
Whip smart, yet humble
Obsessive attention to detail
A sense of humor, and the ability to not take oneself too seriously

qualifications & background

Bachelor's Degree
A proven track record in developing research and strategic plans
A good knowledge of the media and how strategy planning influences it
Excellent written and verbal communication skills
The ability to make complex subjects understandable
The flexibility to work over a number of projects and balance a broad workload
Demonstrated written, presentation, analysis, verbal and critical thinking skills
Proficiency with Apple products, as well as Google Suite
5 years+ experience with branding and campaign strategy
Experience using and deploying multiple research tools and systems