Vice President, Brand

At Ruder Finn, Brand Experience is where bold ideas meet business impact. We create integrated campaigns that connect brands with people through culture, creativity, earned influence, and unforgettable experiences. We believe the best work comes from curious minds, collaborative teams, and people who aren't afraid to challenge convention – or have some fun while doing it. We’re looking for a Vice President to lead client partnerships and integrated marketing communications programs for consumer brands across food, wellness, lifestyle, CPG, and retail brands.

This is a leadership role for someone who thrives at the intersection of strategy, creativity, and execution. You’ll serve as a trusted advisor to clients, inspire teams to think bigger, and guide programs that seamlessly bring together storytelling, media relations, influencer marketing, experiential activations, social, partnerships, and brand moments that spark conversation and drive results. The ideal candidate is an exceptional client counselor, a collaborative leader, and a strategic thinker who knows how to navigate complexity while keeping teams energized and focused.

You’ll oversee account growth, lead integrated planning, manage scopes and operations, mentor rising talent, and champion work that pushes beyond the expected. Just as importantly, you’ll help shape the culture of our practice. We value people who ask great questions, embrace new perspectives, experiment with fresh ideas, and believe that the strongest teams are built on trust, generosity, and a shared sense of purpose.

We work hard, celebrate wins, learn from every challenge, and genuinely enjoy creating great work together. If you’re energized by fast-moving brands, love turning insights into experiences, and want to help define what’s next for modern brand communications, we’d love to meet you.

• Serve as the strategic lead and day-to-day client partner across your account portfolio, bringing clear thinking, proactive recommendations, and trusted counsel that moves client business forward.
• Lead account strategy and execution across client priorities, ensuring programs are connected to the broader brand story, business goals, cultural moments, and measurable outcomes.
• Act as a senior counselor to clients, bringing a strong point of view, thoughtful recommendations, and steady guidance in real time.
• Own account health across staffing, workflow, budgets, projections, timelines, deliverables, and team priorities, ensuring work is well-run, well-resourced, and aligned to client expectations.
• Anticipate client needs, identify opportunities, solve challenges quickly, and bring answers — not just updates — to every interaction.
• Guide integrated earned media strategy for your portfolio, ensuring angles, pitches, and coverage support larger client objectives and brand narratives.
• Oversee the development of creative story angles and strategic pivots when the news cycle shifts, helping teams find fresh, relevant ways in.
• Provide senior-level guidance on media outreach across journalists, producers, editors, podcasters, Substack authors, bloggers, and relevant creators, while coaching teams to pitch with confidence and purpose.
• Build and maintain strong relationships across key media verticals, including consumer lifestyle, parenting, food, wellness, and broadcast, while helping junior team members grow their own networks.
• Bring a solutions-oriented mindset to every assignment, turning friction into opportunity, removing roadblocks, and pushing client programs forward with confidence.
• Manage, mentor, and develop junior team members, helping them strengthen client judgment, account management skills, strategic thinking, media instincts, and executive presence.
• Collaborate closely with internal creative, strategy, media, and account teams to ensure all work ladders up to the larger client strategy and delivers against shared goals.
• Contribute meaningfully to new business by bringing smart ideas, client leadership instincts, relevant category experience, and a strong understanding of what makes programs compelling and achievable.

• A bachelor's degree in…