BuzzFeed is seeking an Associate Strategic Planning Director who will bridge the business-side and the creative-side of marketing to yield remarkable work for our clients. This new function within BuzzFeed will unleash the power of our unique audience insight and innovative approach to set the standard for branded content. This position reports to the VP, Strategic Planning, at BuzzFeed.

As an Associate Strategic Planning Director, you will develop the editorial vision of our clients’ branded content across a particular client segment or vertical. You will utilize BuzzFeed’s vast data and insights to provide the unique voice of the audience in creative development. You will have a disciplined approach to creative development, adding credibility and grounding to our plans that help us sell solutions, not products. You will translate client assignments into clear, motivating creative briefs for our content team. You will work closely with our content team to develop well-considered plans that clearly deliver against our clients’ asks. You are a thought leader in this space and can help BuzzFeed unlock the power of its unparalleled audience understanding to develop an original approach to strategic planning and creative development for brands.

Overview:

• Define the editorial vision of clients’ branded content with BuzzFeed and connect it to their brand foundations.
• Bring a disciplined approach to creative development, adding credibility and grounding to our plans that will help us sell solutions not products.
• Lead a team of strategic planners to translate and shape clients’ briefs, defining what they need, and ensuring our work delivers against objectives.
• Utilize BuzzFeed’s rich data, insight, and tech to become the unique voice of the audience in creative development.
• Design a framework within which our creative team can develop integrated content solutions with a clear through-line that rationalizes how and why our solutions work.

Responsibilities

• Develop clear, inspiring briefs that stimulate creative development and permit strong partnership with creative (content) team, bringing strategic focus to the work
• Through focus and definition, ensure higher quality, more consistent creative work that is both entertaining and memorable (performs well as content), and relevant to the consumer (performs well as advertising).
• Liaise with agency partners to ensure the work BuzzFeed creates is meaningfully connected to our clients’ broader plans so that everything works together in synergy.
• Work closely with our clients to create more strategic partnerships over time that unlock BuzzFeed’s value 
• Develop thought leadership and proprietary BuzzFeed methodology for branded content creation utilizing our unique data, technology, and approach
• Distill BuzzFeed’s vast audience knowledge into clear actionable consumer insights for our clients’ brands
• Design creative strategies that establish the structure within which our creative team can develop specific work
• Evaluate executions to determine whether they delivered against creative strategy

Requirements:

• Director-level Strategic Planning leader with 6+ years experience and incredible proven impact working in technology, advertising, digital media, or related fields
• Deep Creative agency experience developing both traditional and digital work in the strategy or planning department.
• Expertise in various dimensions of strategic planning: both brand planning (brand foundations and consumer insight) and communications planning (integrated connections planning that defines the role and connection of each element)
• Understanding of what makes brands grow, and how the new media landscape unlocks unique digital advantages for BuzzFeed
• Modern pop culture anthropologist with native understanding of internet culture
• Impeccable written and verbal communications skills with demonstrated ability to simplify the complex and write persuasive perspectives
• Empathetic team connector who can work with many different personality types and build consensus across teams. Ability to deliver effective feedback and earn respect of the creative team
• Strong point of view on what great branded content looks like
• Comfortable using data sources as diverse as revenue reports, Google Analytics, Facebook’s audience tools
• Agile problem solver with high change tolerance, and ability to manage many tasks in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment
• Endlessly curious with ability to quickly pick up and master new concepts
• Passion for content and Buzzfeed

About BuzzFeed

BuzzFeed is the leading independent digital media and tech company delivering news and entertainment content to a global audience. We have offices in 18 cities around the world and more than 1300 employees including reporters, video producers, data scientists, engineers, brand strategists, and more. We infuse hard work and fun though a culture of experimentation, teamwork, equality, and humble confidence. As an employee, you’ll enjoy perks like office events, snacks, career development courses, and no work on your birthday! But most importantly, you’ll work with inspiring colleagues to build tools and create content that helps connect people all over the world.