Director, Strategy

Company description

Heartbeat is a full-service agency for healthcare Challenger Brands. Challengers are playing a high-stakes game—they must battle behemoth market leaders, upend ingrained treatment habits, or transform a “me-too” product into “yes-please.”

The agency is known for serving up distinctive strategies and differentiating approaches, ensuring clients’ market positions are uniquely owned. Heartbeat designs their organization around a 100% integration model, housing media, strategy, med comms, creative, technology, and even point of care/population health under the same roof for the tightest, most integrated campaigns possible. They price work based on outcomes, not outputs. Their innovative model delivers not only alignment, but powerful orchestration, greater efficiency, and maximum impact for every dollar spent—all the necessary elements for Challengers to triumph.

That’s the philosophy, here’s the creds: 250+ employees between NYC & LA; 6 agency leaders with decades of tenure; a pile of awards from the likes of the Mannys, MM&M Awards, OMMAs, and Clios; an industry-leading commitment to diversity and inclusion (with a Med Ad News D&I Champion nod to match); and a President who dared to be quoted as saying, “We celebrate people who stand up and say, ‘You know what?

This is dumb.' Damn straight.

How you’ll grow with us:

Director, Strategy is where you’ll start, but we’re always planning for where you’ll go. Strategy Directors are all expected to hone skills that will help build on their careers. Those skills include:

• Facilitating internal brainstorms and client workshops
• Identifying and pursuing organic growth opportunities within existing clients
• Partnering with clients on market research activities
• Overseeing development of measurement plans and developing meaningful or noteworthy insights based on both qualitative and quantitative analysis
• Contributing to the development of junior team members
• Managing complex projects independently and successfully
• Seamlessly collaborating with other departments, identifying opportunities for efficiencies in working relationships and cross-departmental processes and hand‑offs (e.g. Creative, Client Services, Media, Production, and Technology)

How you’ll strengthen the team:

Our team is looking for someone who demonstrates a strong work ethic, exceptional analytical skills, and a knack for converting insights into creative, actionable recommendations for our clients. Beyond that, here’s how you’ll make your mark:

• Developing strong client relationships as a key strategic and business partner
• Guiding the strategic direction with internal and external teams in relation to our clients’ brand development and marketing approach
• Gain a deep, holistic and evolving understanding of our client’s business objectives, challenges, threats and opportunities – including forward looking awareness of emerging competitive threats
• Developing a nuanced understanding of our clients’ customers’ wants, needs, and behaviors across the full customer journey
• Understanding and advocating for Heartbeat’s full suite of strategic offerings
• Formulating strategic recommendations ranging from brand positioning, marketing strategy and digital engagement strategy, and being able to communicate them clearly and effectively
• Developing POVs for our colleagues and clients around business-critical issues and trends
• Developing inspiring creative and execution briefs

What you’re bringing with you:

Across 7+ years of experience, you know what it takes to slay Strategy. These are the core skills you’ve totally nailed:

• Experience in strategy at a creative agency and/or consulting
• Experience in healthcare marketing, including both HCP and consumer
• Superb and persuasive communications skills, both written and verbal
• Strong analytical/logical thinking
• Able to simplify and clarify complex concepts
• Structured problem solving approach to address complex strategic/management issues
• Excellent analytical skills
• Ablility to become deeply immersed in our clients’ business on both a commercial and clinical/scientific level
• Ablility to develop strong client relationships and trust based on…