Senior Brand Strategist

We’re looking to light a match (or two, or three) with the right Senior Brand Strategist, one with experience in corporate brand identity and rebranding — a strategic thinker with a solid track record of solving complex problems, creating clever ideas, cross-functional collaboration and rebranding growing organizations. This fire starter is responsible for leading projects and clients as well as working directly on consumer and brand research across a wide range of industries. Matchstic has four main offerings: brand strategy, writing, naming and design, all in service of our focused expertise in launching and refreshing brand identities. Once you’re warmed up on brand strategy, you’ll share in brand messaging work, adding copywriting and brand naming skills as the embers you’ll fan into flames. We believe in close collaboration with our clients, so plan on working directly with C-level executives, leading them through the brand definition and expression process. This role reports directly to our Brand Strategy Director. Visa Sponsorship is not a fire we can light, so applicants will need to be authorized to work in the U.S. and currently reside in the U.S. Where We Work This full-time opportunity is a fully remote position, or possibly a hybrid role based in Atlanta, and may include some client travel as well as occasional in-person Matchstic team meetings. What We Offer Health, dental and vision insurance for US-based employees Paid time off Matchstic Chapstic (limited time offer) Paid Maternity and Paternity Leave Company-provided equipment (laptop, monitor, software, etc) Monthly fitness budget 401K benefits after 12 months of employment Responsibilities As a part of this role, you will lead, develop and present strategy work as a result of deep project understanding, objective thinking, persuasive rationale and emotive language. This includes: Facilitating, guiding or conducting research (approach, distillation, insights) Conducting, coordinating and reviewing brand and competitive audits Leading discovery activities (immersions, research, interviews, client meetings, working sessions) Developing and recommending brand architecture (when needed) Authoring strategy briefs (core ideas, positioning, personality, personas, value proposition) Briefing internal teams around strategy and positioning, empowering them to create boundary-pushing identity systems and brand applications (digital, print, environmental, packaging, experiential) Confidently lead C-level clients on multiple projects simultaneously and hold responsibility for the executed deliverables Pivoting in real time to command trust and confidence with internal and external audiences Using and expand your strategy expertise across a wide range of industries and engagements Flexing your copywriting savvy as you lead and own the strategy phase, as well as later in the process when you craft the strategy portion of our client-facing brand guidelines Providing strategic input for other areas as needed, such as visual and verbal check ins, to ensure adherence to and proper interpretation of strategy Demonstrating experience leading (preferred), or analyzing and supporting both qualitative and quantitative research efforts for companies large and small. Ideally this includes, but is not limited to: determining right-fit research programs, developing research guides, writing interview and survey questions, partnering with sourcing and primary research vendors Must Haves This role is senior-level (several years of agency experience are preferred, however, we are most interested in relevant branding experience and skill sets). You could be a good fit if you have: Experience in the corporate rebrand process from research to launch to management. Solid understanding of a creative agency business and what it takes to successfully lead clients, building genuine rapport, respect and trust with C-level contacts An understanding of how brand strategy permeates the entire branding process, from design and messaging to applications A knack for listening more than talking Demonstrated ability to balance vision and execution of high-quality work with practical business objectives, project process, requirements, and deadlines A love for collaboration, leveraging perspectives of strategists, writers, namers, designers and project managers on our team, with the ability to thoughtfully and respectfully consider feedback internally and externally and standing up for the best work, together Strong self-leadership, with the ability to pivot and thrive in a reasonable yet fast-paced environment, going deep in a wide variety of industries Stellar communication skills and plenty of experience leading presentations and facilitating sessions with clients Excellent attention to detail, so much so that your application should include the word ethereal somewhere Ability to successfully manage multiple projects simultaneously, handling a fast-paced work environment and changing priorities Courage and confidence in applying your skills and abilities to deliver radically relevant work A desire for autonomy and growth as a thought leader and influential voice An honoring of our core values of Courage, Truth, and Harmony and their guiding principles. More on that later. A positive, proactive, solutions-oriented mindset A proven ability to review reams of data and turn disparate data points into meaningful insights (in fact, be sure to mention what Matchstic project is your favorite one in your application) How we hire First we have a short phone call, campfire style. Tell us a quick story and hear one. Are we both feeling like this could be a fit? The best way to prepare for this is to spend some time reflecting on all of the experiences you've had and the things you've done to bring you to the point you're at today. Next, we’ll gather a variety of people including team members you’ll work directly with for a video call. This time allows both of us to get a sense of what it’s like to work together and explore the kinds of work you might do. Be prepared to share your POV on brand strategy as well as a few examples of your brand related work in a formal ”ish” presentation. We hope to come away with a picture of your collaborative style, problem solving ethos, process, and strategic thinking output. The remainder of this time together is yours. What do you need to know from us? Finally, we’ll meet to share our values and culture in hopes you can assess if Matchstic is a place you can thrive and grow. Be prepared to share how you have interacted in certain situations and how you might grow and improve the Matchstic culture. This may be followed-up with a short and fairly compensated test project. After each step we will communicate with you our decision to move forward or stop the process. FYI - We think our hiring process is a tiny bit radical and generally takes more time than most companies spend. Thanks for your patience. We hope it's meaningful for you. Diversity and Inclusion Commitment We believe that in order to serve our clients well, our team must bring a diversity of backgrounds, identities, and perspectives to the table and see this open role as an opportunity to expand the collective experience of our group. We are an equal opportunity employer that is firmly committed to building a more diverse and inclusive workplace. Matchstic does not discriminate in recruitment or employment on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, orientation, nationality, age, disability, status, or other non-merit factor. Work Culture We are strategic creatives and creative strategists having fun doing work that empowers passionate clients. It’s a level of work that requires commitment and follow-through in our work-life. We are learning that you can bring your distinct values, points of view, skills, and abilities from wherever you are. And, we all succeed when we take care of each other. We help growing brands become radically relevant.

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