Strategist

co: is a creative and strategic transformation partner for purpose-led organizations. We help our clients put purpose into practice — not just defining what they stand for, but also infusing it into everything they do, inside and outside their organization. Because it’s not just good for the world, but because it’s good for business too.

The role

We’re looking for a Strategist to join our growing team. In this role you will work across our key strategic disciplines of brand, business and futures strategy, and across various industries including tech (B2B & B2C), financial services, healthcare, retail, recycling, conservation and more.

Who you are

You are an innately curious strategist with a desire to be part of a dynamic team who delve deep into complex and important strategic questions, seeking definitive answers for a top tier set of clients. You have a passion for getting to the heart of the problem, and have experience using key strategic tools and processes to unearth insights and craft stories. You are comfortable in the room with senior, often C-Suite clients, and can flex your strategic skills into areas that may be new to you – the client, the ask, the subject matter, the category.

You have experience working on at least 2 of these major brand strategy endeavours: brand story and positioning, brand architecture, messaging, futures thinking and circular systems development. And you have worked in at least one, and maybe more, of the following disciplines: business strategy, brand strategy, design strategy, sustainability strategy, futures. Alternatively, you’ve completed an MBA or MA in design, strategy or innovation and are eager to put those skillsinto practice.

You’re someone with a desire to make a positive impact on the world, and see crafting meaningful and purpose driven brand strategy as a way to do that.

What you'll do

Working alongside fellow strategists and members of our creative and client engagement team, you’ll help our clients solve a wide variety of business problems: What’s their core purpose? How should they better tell their story? Who is their target audience, and what are their unmet needs? What are the threats and opportunities they’re facing, and how should they prepare and innovate in the face of them? Though no two projects are the same, you can expect to:

Undearth and synthesize insights: You'll support the team, and especially the senior strategist and director, to gather and synthesize the relevant inputs to craft meaningful strategies. This may include extensive desk research, qual and quant research, stakeholder and expert interviews, analyzing client and third party data, and more.

Craft brand stories, architectures and propel action: Using our purpose definition and action oriented approach, you’ll support in crafting compelling brand stories, purposes and messaging that bring clarity to teams and businesses, and then use that as a platform to ideate new concepts, products, solutions, activations. You’ll develop brand architectures and create compelling rationales for how to simplify and optimize brands, and futures strategies that galvanize the direction a business needs to move in.

Support daily and weekly project progress: As the strategist on the team, you’ll ensure that you’re completing the tasks to make the project run smoothly day-to-day, including having increasing awareness of what needs to happen next to get to success, and working closely in partnership with the senior strategist and director to get there.

Pitch in on new business: You will support with both organic and net new growth needs, by helping to identify opportunities with existing clients, and supporting on new business pitches with tasks such as research, crafting narratives and helping to think through approach. 

What you've done

- Have 2-3+ years experience in relevant industries or environments, such as brand strategy, business consulting, brand planning, experiential marketing, product marketing, (consultant or client-side), or have an MBA or MA in design, strategy or innovation

- Developed a strong knowledge of strategic tools and best practices, including but not limited to methodologies for research, portfolio and brand architecture, story and positioning development, messaging and naming, activation, circularity, futures thinking 

- Demonstrated the ability to synthesize large quantities of data (from sources such as qual and quant, primary and secondary research, exec interviews) to highlight actionable insights and resulting recommendations.

- Rolled up your sleeves and worked collaboratively with teams to reach a shared goal

- Demonstrated ability to support the development of strategic thinking, write proposals, and work under tight deadlines in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment.

- Developed excellent communication skills and a high level of attention to detail.

- Cultivated an interest in new business and creating relationships that lead to organic growth.

Caring for our community

The co: community is deeply committed to continuing to build a diverse and inclusive workplace for all to thrive. We value and honor those with different backgrounds, unique perspectives, and believe that inclusive organizations build better teams and produce better work. We are a people-centered business that seeks to create safe spaces, lead by example, and make a positive impact on the world.

co: is proud to be an equal-opportunity employer and we value a diverse workforce. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, socioeconomic status, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.

Our working model

We support different modes of working – be it hybrid, remote first or otherwise, and we are constantly experimenting with new approaches to ensure that the model we are working within is fulfilling to our teams and clients.

For those based in New York, we have two anchor days per week. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, we ask that everyone comes to the office. For those that do not live in NYC, we ask that they come to New York for one week per quarter and travel for client meetings.