Vice President, Brand & Cultural Strategist

Job Description

Who We Are:

160over90 is a full-service cultural marketing agency. An integrated part of the Endeavor network, which includes entertainment agency WME and sports, fashion and events leader IMG, 160over90's cultural insight, access and influence helps brands stay connected to what their consumers care about most. With offices in seven countries around the world, 160over90's expertise spans experiential, creative, public relations, digital, social, impact, influence, higher education and more.

Endeavor is a global sports and entertainment company, home to many of the world's most dynamic and engaging storytellers, brands, live events, and experiences. The Endeavor network specializes in talent representation through entertainment agency WME; sports operations and advisory, event management, media production and distribution, and brand licensing through IMG; live event experiences and hospitality through On Location; full-service marketing through global cultural marketing agency 160over90; and sports data and technology through IMG ARENA and OpenBet. Endeavor is also the majority owner of TKO Group Holdings (NYSE: TKO), a premium sports and entertainment company comprising UFC and WWE.

The Role and What You'll Do:

First and foremost, you're serially curious; about brands, about people and the world around us. How all of it is changing and evolving. You're plugged into culture; Interested and inspired by the now and next with a love and deep understanding of brands and how to sculpt them. Simply put, you love to ask (and understand) why.

You appreciate the value of others, nurturing those who work for you, inspiring those who work with you. Powering the collective that gets us to bigger and better; that gets us to wow. When in doubt, you do, valuing courage over comfort. And you always give a damn. About the client, the agency, the people and the work.

Success in this role requires the intellectual curiosity to dive deep and stay at the forefront of cultural and category dynamics, the emotional intelligence to question and understand consumer behaviour and the collaborative spirit to work closely with internal creative, account, and project management teams. It also requires a degree of experience, product excellence and management skills allied to a certain confidence, gravitas and way with words (written and spoken) that means clients and colleagues alike, listen.

Intrigued?

This is a senior strategy role within the agency directly reporting into a co-lead of strategy for the agency. Your profile and experience should reflect that with primary responsibilities across Brand Strategy, Cultural Strategy, People Management, Business Development and Strategy Product & Thought Development. Open to NYC-based candidates.

As such, your core responsibilities will be:
• Leading and enhancing how the Strategy Department integrates with and services the agency; developing ways to improve our product, people, processes and performance to the benefit of the agency as a whole.
• Building and managing a dynamic pod of brand strategy leads and their direct reports; helping to coach up the broader Strategy team (as well as departments we collaborate with) to reach their/our full potential.
• Overseeing, enhancing and developing our brand strategy offering; enabling and supporting strategy sell-through and growth in book of business across direct reports.
• Bringing strategic leadership and rigor to the business development process (both new and organic); directing and/or authoring quick turn strategies to support major new business pitches for the agency.
• Creating thought leadership designed to support agency marketing, prospecting and organic client growth; navigating the broader organization (within 160/90 and Endeavor) to unearth unique POVs on culture.
• Acting as a key representative of the Strategy team and leader within the agency; providing a senior point of escalation ­– demonstrating an ability to solve complex challenges with limited oversight

You Have These:

Whether you're a loud force of nature or a quiet powerhouse, you must bring confidence and perspective to all you do.
• 10+ years of strategy experience at creative agencies and/or specialist agencies (experiential/pr/digital, partnerships etc.) or brand-side or maybe both!
• 4+ years of senior leadership experience over a wide portfolio of diverse clients across a global network.
• Substantial experience developing brand strategy across multiple categories (higher-ed experience a plus)
• Exceptional presenter and storyteller
• Comfort and confidence in presenting work and selling ''the thinking'' to C-suite audiences.
• Proven experience in leading a team and in developing, supporting and nurturing junior staff.
• Ability to thrive in a large, complex (and atypical) organization, managing diverse stakeholders and building stronger relationships and deeper connections within the Endeavor network.
• Entrepreneurial nature; ability to proactively adapt ways of working within an evolving agency model
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to develop a clear, compelling POV that sells strategy (internally and externally).
• The soft skills of strategy: emotional intelligence, curiosity, empathy, and collaboration.
• A strong portfolio of breakthrough strategies that cross categories and drive results. Experience as both a maker of great work and an instigator of it.
• A proven track record for winning business, building business outward and elevating the profile and profitability of the strategy department within an agency and/or client account.
• Extensive experience with a variety of research tools and methodologies.
• As for your qualifications, we care more about you and your work than your school.

How we work:

Endeavor is at the center of sports, media, entertainment, and fashion and is a largely relationship-based business. To foster an environment of collaboration, develop our future talent, and build on relationships across leadership, peers, and teams, we work from the office 4 days per week. We see immeasurable value internally and throughout the core of the businesses we support.

Don't meet every single requirement? We are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, authentic workplace, so if you're excited about this role but your past experience doesn't align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

Endeavor unites and brings people together in our love of sport, culture, and entertainment. We understand this can only be accomplished when we lead with a lens of diversity, equity, and inclusion in everything we do. As a global company that drives culture, we strive to reflect the world's diverse voices.  

Endeavor is an equal opportunities employer and encourages applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates regardless of sex, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, or religion or belief.

Jobcode: Reference SBJ-g47197-3-142-200-102-42 in your application.