Associate Director, New Business Strategy; Influencer Marketing

Associate Director, New Business Strategy (Influencer Marketing)

United States

At Viral Nation
, we specialize in building social-first ecosystems for brands to connect with the modern consumer journey. Our integrated solutions align strategy, talent, media, and technology with culturally relevant creativity to scale the world’s fastest-growing digital brands. Viral Nation offers a fluid, creative, and growth-oriented environment that will support your ambitions to apply your talents in an open, collaborative, and fast-paced culture.

Our ability to stay at the forefront of the industry has fuelled our success and will guide us in paving the path forward. We’re driven to push boundaries and think beyond today to deliver strategies, and we’re just getting started.

While we continuously exceed our goals, we need your help – our success is only as great as our people. Strong performance leads to high expectations, and we must keep raising the bar!

The Associate Director, Strategy is an elite strategic leader who independently runs senior-level strategy work across both client and business growth and ongoing delivery. They turn culture, data, and business challenge into strategy that earns attention and drives growth. As a strong day-to-day senior partner, they present and sell strategic thinking with confidence, and act as a cultural lead within the team, bringing fresh thinking on platforms, subcultures, creator behavior, and emerging consumer signals into every strategic recommendation.

This role owns the quality and delivery of major projects or work streams within a larger account or business context, and remains hands-on across research, synthesis, briefing, planning, and deck development. The Associate Director mentors and may manage junior team members, helps guide key strategic decisions, drives constant innovation in our strategic approach, and contributes to the evolution of frameworks, ways of working, and team standards.

They are a critical connector across COEs, ensuring strategy is sharp, on-brief, and driving measurable outcomes for our clients and our business.

What You'll Do Here:

Strategic Output & Ownership

• Independently lead senior-level strategy work end-to-end across client and business growth opportunities and ongoing account delivery.
• Turn qualitative and quantitative insights into clear, actionable recommendations that drive measurable outcomes for clients and the business.
• Own the quality and delivery of strategic work across major projects or work streams within larger accounts or business contexts.
• Architect integrated, social-first strategies with fluency across Influencer, Community Management, Earned, Experiential, and Owned, with a clear POV on how each lever drives audience, business, and brand outcomes.
• Partner with clients to define the true nature of the business problem before solutioning, translating data-backed recommendations into clear direction that drives real creator performance.
• Define KPIs, measurement frameworks, and success metrics for strategic recommendations in alignment with Business Intelligence, and continuously adapt strategy based on performance and market shifts.
• Recommend strategic direction and help guide key decisions on assigned accounts, pitches, and work streams.
• Drive constant strategic innovation by introducing new frameworks, tools, and points of view that elevate the team’s output.

Client Partnership & Business Growth

• Serve as a strong day-to-day senior client partner, alongside client services, presenting and selling strategic thinking confidently to mid-senior and executive client stakeholders.
• Lead strategy across major RFPs, proposals, pitches, and existing client expansion opportunities.
• Identify and capitalize on client expansion opportunities through deep account intimacy and a clear view of client business challenges.
• Translate complex business challenges into innovative, social-first solutions that demonstrate clear client and commercial value.
• Partner with Sales, Client Service, Business Intelligence, and senior leadership to articulate Viral Nation’s competitive advantages and shape compelling strategic narratives.

Team Development &…