VP Strategy Director

Agency

Mc Cann

Strategy and Planning

Strategy

VP, Brand Strategy Director

Location:

New York City

Department: XBC Strategy

Reports To:

Liron Reznik, EVP, Head of Strategy NA, McCann XBC

McCann XBC - the agency unit dedicated to serving the Mastercard account - is seeking a Brand Strategy Director with deep expertise in modern-day social-first brand building and a strong track record working with luxury, premium, and affluent audiences and brands. This role sits at the intersection of brand strategy, cultural intelligence, social storytelling, and business growth.

The ideal candidate understands the inner workings of growing a brand in an affluent audience space, and how luxury brands must evolve in a socially driven landscape. They are equally comfortable shaping long-term brand strategy efforts, leading integrated campaigns, guiding creative development, and translating social behavior into actionable strategic opportunities.

This person will serve as a senior strategic lead across key client initiatives, helping build cultural relevance, emotional resonance, and measurable business impact across social ecosystems for Mastercard.

• Lead development of integrated brand strategies towards affluent and luxury-focused audiences that are a key target group for Mastercard to perform well with. Develop a strong understanding of affluent passion areas and opportunities within across travel, wellness, music, sports and other premium lifestyle categories.
• Create clear strategic frameworks, audience architectures, messaging platforms, and go-to-market strategies.
• Translate business objectives into culturally relevant and commercially effective brand initiatives.
• Identify whitespace opportunities, emerging consumer behaviors, and evolving luxury trends.

• Develop social-first strategic frameworks that align the Mastercard brand with platform behavior and audience expectations.
• Lead social ecosystem planning across Instagram, Tik Tok, You Tube, Linked In, Pinterest, emerging platforms, and private/community-driven channels.
• Shape creator, influencer, partnership, and community strategies that feel premium, authentic, and brand-right.
• Guide content strategies that balance aspiration, exclusivity, storytelling, and engagement.
• Apply social listening, trend analysis, and cultural intelligence to strategic recommendations.

• Serve as a senior strategic advisor to executive-level clients and marketing leadership teams.
• Lead strategic workshops, brand audits and insight presentations.
• Build trusted client relationships through thoughtful leadership, clear communication, and proactive problem solving.
• Present strategic recommendations with executive presence and persuasive storytelling.

• Partner closely with creative, business leadership, media, PR, influencer, experiential, and production teams to ensure strategic alignment.
• Inspire creative teams through compelling briefs, cultural insights, and clear strategic direction.
• Support agency thought leadership.

• 8+ years of experience in brand strategy and social strategy within an agency, consultancy or luxury brand.
• Proven experience leading strategy for luxury, affluent, or premium-positioned brands.
• Strong understanding of social platforms, creator ecosystems, and evolving digital culture.
• Demonstrated ability to connect brand storytelling with measurable business outcomes.
• Experience managing senior-level client relationships and presenting to executive stakeholders.
• Strong portfolio of strategic thinking across integrated campaigns, brand platforms, and social initiatives.

• Experience in luxury retail, travel or other premium lifestyle sectors.
• Familiarity with affluent audience segmentation, luxury consumer behavior, and cultural trend forecasting.
• Experience with social listening and analytics platforms.
• Understanding of paid social, performance metrics, and integrated media strategy.

• Strategic thinking and brand vision
• Deep social and cultural fluency
• Executive…