Senior Brand & Communications Strategist

Baltimore preferred; US-remote candidates considered. Full-time
· Reports to the Chief Brand Officer.

Team members who live within commuting distance of Baltimore work on a hybrid schedule with regular in-person collaboration. Remote candidates must be based in the United States.

adeo is a woman-owned and run brand and communications agency for organizations at inflection points in disrupted, regulated and emerging markets.

We work exclusively with values-aligned clients across higher education, cannabis, renewable energy, arts and culture. Our engagements span brand strategy and identity, CPG, large-scale website strategy, design and development and strategic communications.

We use AI to improve operations and increase what our people can accomplish. Judgment, relationships and the standard of the work remain human responsibilities.

adeo's Senior Brand & Communications Strategist leads client engagements that require clear positioning, distinctive language and a practical path from strategy into execution.

This person turns research, business priorities, audience needs and stakeholder perspectives into strategic direction. They lead discovery, build positioning and verbal systems, guide clients and multidisciplinary teams as the work moves into design, websites, campaigns and communications.

This is a senior, hands-on role within a growing agency. It requires someone who can think at a high level, write exceptionally well, lead clients and remain accountable for how the work performs.

Our engagements span foundational brand strategy, identity development, verbal systems, CPG, large-scale websites and strategic communications.

The role requires strong fluency in both brand and marketing communications. The Senior Brand & Communications Strategist leads:

• Research and discovery
• Positioning and brand architecture
• Audience strategy
• Messaging hierarchies and verbal identity
• Language systems and copywriting
• Naming and narrative development
• Creative and communications briefs
• Campaign and activation planning

They will work closely with designers, content strategists, developers and other specialists as the work moves from strategy into execution, while remaining accountable for the coherence and quality of the strategic direction.

• Lead brand and communications engagements from discovery through strategic definition and activation.
• Define the central business, brand or communications problem and establish the strategic approach for solving it.
• Turn complex and sometimes contradictory information into a clear diagnosis and strategic direction.
• Develop positioning, brand architecture, audience strategy, messaging systems and related strategic foundations.
• Identify the decisions that matter most and maintain focus on them throughout the engagement.
• Pressure-test recommendations against business priorities, audience needs, market conditions, organizational realities and likely stakeholder response.
• Maintain the integrity of the strategy as it moves into language, design, digital experiences, activations and beyond.

• Build verbal identity systems that give organizations a clear, distinct and usable way to communicate.
• Develop positioning language, messaging hierarchies, value propositions, brand narratives, voice principles, naming systems and campaign platforms.
• Translate complex ideas into language that is clear, specific and credible without flattening their meaning.
• Guide writers and other contributors in applying verbal systems across channels and deliverables.
• Use AI for exploration, synthesis and operational leverage while maintaining human judgment over the thinking and the language.

• Translate brand strategy into practical marketing, communications and audience-engagement recommendations.
• Develop audience priorities, journey logic, channel roles, campaign frameworks and activation strategies.
• Understand how brand decisions operate across websites, campaigns, social platforms, thought leadership, earned media, internal communications, sales materials and other audience touchpoints.
• Identify when a communications problem is rooted in positioning, architecture, proof or organizational decision-making.
• Help clients distinguish between what they want to say and what an audience needs to understand, believe or do.
• Connect long-term brand direction with immediate business and communications priorities.

• Lead stakeholder interviews, workshops and other discovery activities.
• Review existing research, organizational materials, market information, audience data and prior strategic work.
• Determine what is useful, what is missing and what requires further examination.
• Synthesize qualitative and quantitative findings into clear implications.
• Separate evidence from assumption and make strategic inferences visible.
• Bring outside-category thinking into industries that have relied too heavily on familiar language and…