Director, CX Strategy

Strategy & Transformation


USA - Remote - Maryland

About the job

The purpose of this role is to sit near the top of our organisation and provide Business Consulting, Transformational Consulting and Product consulting for clients. They lead a team of strategists that execute programmes for clients. The role is the primary lead in setting the vision of the relationship with a client, the vision for the client on their go to market approach and the roadmap to how to make those two things work best together.

Merkle is a leading technology-enabled, data-driven customer experience management (CXM) company. For over 30 years, Fortune 1,000 companies and leading nonprofit organizations have partnered with us to build and maximize the value of their customer portfolios. With more than 9,600 smart, dedicated people in more than 50 offices around the world, we are still growing at a rate that outpaces the market, with 2019 net revenue of $1.1 billion.

We are champions for meaningful progress and we strive to be a force for good—for our people, for our clients, for the industry and for our society. We keep our people at the center, creating space for growth, understanding and learning so they can thrive. We embed diversity, in our mindset, in our solutions and in our teams to empower an inclusive, equitable and culturally fluent environment. Building this culture within our teams makes us better collaborators with each other and with our clients, driving better outcomes for all. Merkle is an agency of dentsu.

As Director, Customer Strategy you will join a team of talented and experienced marketers who focus on helping Merkle clients achieve their business goals. 

In this role you will be a key member of our client account team and will ensure that the programs we execute are based on a deep understanding of our client’s business and strategic objectives.  You’ll appreciate the importance of strong relationships and become a trusted advisor to the client and Merkle account team. You will be a person who thrives in both analytic as well as creative thinking and will be nimble in solving for client problems.  As a leader your skills and passion for communicating strategy will get others to believe in the ideas that you present and follow that belief through to execution. 

At Merkle “Strategy” means a key idea that is informed, executable and provides results.  Those ideas need to be applicable to a variety of client scenarios and must cross any service that is necessary to achieve the client objective.  As a Director in the Customer Strategy team you will demonstrate experience in planning across media and channels, development and management of campaigns that generate measurable ROI and have the ability to work across many of our core vertical markets (Insurance, Financial Services, Non-Profit, Retail, Automotive, Travel, Media and Entertainment, B2B, High Tech) 

To be successful in this role you’ll have a strong passion for problem solving, and a deep understanding of how businesses, brands and customers interact, with an advanced understanding of the rapidly evolving role that data and technology play in this relationship. You must possess the ability to identify business growth opportunities and develop strategic recommendations to support the growth of client relationships. 

Key Responsibilities:

  • Lead the building, development, and delivery of strategic omni-channel marketing plans. 

  • Act as a subject matter expert and be able to translate new technology - particularly in the areas of digital marketing and CRM - into new marketing ideas for the client. 

  • Show a strong understanding of differences in marketing to customers in different verticals and environments. 

  • Develop trusted, long-term relationships with key client contacts and executives. 

  • Ensure meaningful client value is delivered through a mix of best-practice solutions, skills, capabilities, and original thinking. 

  • Collaborate with team leadership (account management, operations, creative, analytics etc.), and partner agencies to turn ideas into executable plans 

  • Identify key data points and measurements to show the impact of our approach and strategy on the client’s business. 

Qualifications:

  • Bachelor’s Degree required.

  • 8-12 years’ experience in data driven marketing – specifically CRM, email, online/offline media and 3- 5+ years working in an agency or consulting firm. 

  • Proven experience in developing solutions to support the sale of new services to clients. 

  • Hands-on skills using data and research to drive decisions –proficiency in Excel and research tools a plus. 

  • Strong writing, presentation and client facing communication skills. Experience translating data analysis into actionable marketing recommendations and presentations – proficiency in PowerPoint is a must. 

  • Attention to detail and the ability to incorporate internal and external feedback on an iterative basis. 

  • Superior multi-tasking, networking, time management and inter-personal skills. 

  • Self-starter high intellectual curiosity, drive, determination, and persuasion skills. 

  • Comfort and experience working within a highly matrixed organization in roles with a wide degree of latitude. 

  • Average 20%-30% travel (contingent on comfort level of client)  

Perks:

  • Work remotely from home or from one of our many offices within the continental US

  • Flexible Vacation Policy

  • Generous Medical, Dental and Vision Coverage

  • 401k with company match

  • 22 US paid holidays

  • Career development and learning opportunities

  • Inclusive work culture and focus on DEI

The anticipated salary range for this position is $113,000-$182,850. Salary is based on a variety of factors including relevant experience, knowledge, skills and other factors permitted by law. A range of medical, dental, vision, 401(k) matching, paid time off, and other benefits also are available. For more information about dentsu benefits, please visitwww.dentsubenefitsplus.com.

#LI-MM2 #LI-REMOTE

Merkle is a leading data-driven, technology-enabled, global performance marketing agency that specializes in the delivery of unique, personalized customer experiences across platforms and devices. For more than 30 years, Fortune 1000 companies and leading nonprofit organizations have partnered with Merkle to maximize the value of their customer portfolios. The agency’s heritage in data, technology, and analytics forms the foundation for its unmatched skills in understanding consumer insights that drive people-based marketing strategies. Its combined strengths in performance media, customer experience, customer relationship management, loyalty, and enterprise marketing technology drive improved marketing results and competitive advantage. With 16,000+ employees, Merkle is headquartered in Columbia, Maryland, with additional offices in the US, Europe, and Asia. In 2016, the agency joined the Dentsu Aegis Network.

The Senior Manager operates as a key member of our Transformation & Consulting team helping to ensure that the recommendations we deliver are based on our deep understanding of our client’s business and strategic objectives.  You must also show the ability to build strong relationships in order to become a trusted advisor to the client and Merkle team.  This role requires you to be analytical as well as creative in your thought process and have the ability to be nimble in your thinking about client problems.  As a key contributor inside of a team you must also demonstrate the capability to get others to believe in the ideas that you present and follow that belief through to execution.

The ideal candidate for this position must have a strong passion for problem solving and a deep understanding of how businesses, brands and customers interact, with an advanced understanding of the rapidly evolving role that data and technology play in this relationship. Candidates must possess the ability to support business growth opportunities and develop strategic recommendations to support the growth of client relationships.

Key Responsibilities

  • Partner with Consulting delivery leads to drive individual consulting workstreams and deliverables related to organizational strategy and operating model design, often in coordination with concurrent Merkle data, technology, and experience delivery teams.
  • Plan and facilitate client discovery through techniques such as client interviews, document review, surveys / questionnaires, or marketing data analysis
  • Help clients assess organizational readiness for omnichannel personalization or other marketing transformation initiatives
  • Support ideation, planning, and delivery of organizational strategy consulting engagements with our clients, which may include marketing process assessment and design, evaluation and redesign of marketing (or other related) functions, competencies, roles and responsibilities, recommendations around decision-making and governance, etc. based on assessment of client gaps against our maturity models
  • Support delivery of change management strategy, planning, and implementation efforts, including empathy maps, change roadmaps, skills assessment, training plans, test and learn plans, playbooks, KPI alignment, ways of working feedback & monitoring
  • Facilitate and drive client meetings and discussions, define consulting project objectives and engagement approach
  • Facilitate discovery sessions, client workshops, deliverable reviews, and manage overall day to day delivery efforts for consulting engagements
  • Support operating model and organizational change thought leadership and practice development efforts
  • Support overall delivery and success of Merkle’s transformation consulting engagements which may include:
    • Support discovery, visioning, prioritization, roadmap or recommendation alignment workshops
    • Support development of customer use cases (B2B, B2C, B2B2C)
    • Support market and competitive research to uncover trends, benchmarks, and best practices to inform recommendations
  • Support executive-level presentations, synthesizing discovery findings into common themes that drive client recommendations and decision-making
  • Create multi-year roadmaps to guide client implementation, in consultation with data and technology teams, to identify key dependencies and sequencing of recommendations
  • Ensure meaningful client value is delivered through a mix of best-practice solutions, skills, capabilities, and original thinking.
  • Identify key data points and measurements to show the impact of our approach and strategy on the client’s business.
  • Support business development activities including identification, proposal development, and other pursuit activities.
  • Collaborate and develop relationships with internal Merkle teams (account management, technology, B2B, analytics etc.) to understand the feasibility of cross-channel recommendations/plans.

Qualifications

  • Bachelor’s Degree required.
  • 7+ years of cross industry consulting experience in digital transformation roles or integrated marketing strategy.
  • 5+ years working in a top tier consulting firm and/or digital marketing agency.
  • Demonstrated understanding of end-to-end consulting approach to solve client problems - from design/develop to execution of strategy.
  • Prior experience assessing and recommending optimal team structures or process structures to facilitate integrated marketing program execution
  • Familiarity with the application of agile methodology to marketing
  • Hands on delivery experience with organizational strategy, design, and implementation, business process design, change management consulting (highly preferred).
  • Experience in leading and delivering complex projects by providing actionable solutions for clients.
  • Hands-on skills using data and research to drive decisions. Some knowledge of data and analytics strategy.
  • Strong writing, presentation and client facing communication skills.
  • Experience translating data analysis into actionable marketing recommendations and presentations – proficiency in PowerPoint required.
  • Self-starter with high intellectual curiosity, drive, determination, and persuasion skills.
  • Problem-solving mindset; thrives in ambiguous and fast-moving environments, as well as in informal, loosely structured, and creative work environments.
  • Comfort and experience working within a highly matrixed organization in roles with a wide degree of latitude.
  • Average 20%-30% travel (contingent on comfort level of client)

Benefits and Perks

  • Work remotely from home or from one of our many offices within the continental US
  • Flexible Vacation Policy
  • Generous Medical, Dental and Vision Coverage
  • 401k with company match
  • 19 paid holidays
  • Career development and learning opportunities
  • Inclusive work culture and focus on DEI

The anticipated salary range for this position is $94,000 - $152,375. Salary is based on a variety of factors including relevant experience, knowledge, skills and other factors permitted by law. A range of medical, dental, vision, 401(k) matching, paid time off, and other benefits also are available. For more information about dentsu benefits, please visitwww.dentsubenefitsplus.com.

#LI-MM2 #LI-REMOTE

Merkle is a leading technology-enabled, data-driven customer experience management (CXM) company. For over 30 years, Fortune 1,000 companies and leading nonprofit organizations have partnered with us to build and maximize the value of their customer portfolios. With more than 9,600 smart, dedicated people in more than 50 offices around the world, we are still growing at a rate that outpaces the market, with 2019 net revenue of $1.1 billion.

We are champions for meaningful progress and we strive to be a force for good—for our people, for our clients, for the industry and for our society. We keep our people at the center, creating space for growth, understanding and learning so they can thrive. We embed diversity, in our mindset, in our solutions and in our teams to empower an inclusive, equitable and culturally fluent environment. Building this culture within our teams makes us better collaborators with each other and with our clients, driving better outcomes for all. Merkle is an agency of dentsu.

As Director, Customer Strategy you will join a team of talented and experienced marketers who focus on helping Merkle clients achieve their business goals. 

In this role you will be a key member of our client account team and will ensure that the programs we execute are based on a deep understanding of our client’s business and strategic objectives.  You’ll appreciate the importance of strong relationships and become a trusted advisor to the client and Merkle account team. You will be a person who thrives in both analytic as well as creative thinking and will be nimble in solving for client problems.  As a leader your skills and passion for communicating strategy will get others to believe in the ideas that you present and follow that belief through to execution. 

At Merkle “Strategy” means a key idea that is informed, executable and provides results.  Those ideas need to be applicable to a variety of client scenarios and must cross any service that is necessary to achieve the client objective.  As a Director in the Customer Strategy team you will demonstrate experience in planning across media and channels, development and management of campaigns that generate measurable ROI and have the ability to work across many of our core vertical markets (Insurance, Financial Services, Non-Profit, Retail, Automotive, Travel, Media and Entertainment, B2B, High Tech) 

To be successful in this role you’ll have a strong passion for problem solving, and a deep understanding of how businesses, brands and customers interact, with an advanced understanding of the rapidly evolving role that data and technology play in this relationship. You must possess the ability to identify business growth opportunities and develop strategic recommendations to support the growth of client relationships. 

Key Responsibilities:

  • Lead the building, development, and delivery of strategic omni-channel marketing plans. 

  • Act as a subject matter expert and be able to translate new technology - particularly in the areas of digital marketing and CRM - into new marketing ideas for the client. 

  • Show a strong understanding of differences in marketing to customers in different verticals and environments. 

  • Develop trusted, long-term relationships with key client contacts and executives. 

  • Ensure meaningful client value is delivered through a mix of best-practice solutions, skills, capabilities, and original thinking. 

  • Collaborate with team leadership (account management, operations, creative, analytics etc.), and partner agencies to turn ideas into executable plans 

  • Identify key data points and measurements to show the impact of our approach and strategy on the client’s business. 

Qualifications:

  • Bachelor’s Degree required.

  • 8-12 years’ experience in data driven marketing – specifically CRM, email, online/offline media and 3- 5+ years working in an agency or consulting firm. 

  • Proven experience in developing solutions to support the sale of new services to clients. 

  • Hands-on skills using data and research to drive decisions –proficiency in Excel and research tools a plus. 

  • Strong writing, presentation and client facing communication skills. Experience translating data analysis into actionable marketing recommendations and presentations – proficiency in PowerPoint is a must. 

  • Attention to detail and the ability to incorporate internal and external

  • feedback on an iterative basis. 

  • Superior multi-tasking, networking, time management and inter-personal skills. 

  • Self-starter high intellectual curiosity, drive, determination, and persuasion skills. 

  • Comfort and experience working within a highly matrixed organization in roles with a wide degree of latitude. 

  • Average 20%-30% travel (contingent on comfort level of client)  

Perks:

  • Work remotely from home or from one of our many offices within the continental US

  • Flexible Vacation Policy

  • Generous Medical, Dental and Vision Coverage

  • 401k with company match

  • 22 US paid holidays

  • Career development and learning opportunities

  • Inclusive work culture and focus on DEI

The anticipated salary range for this position is $113,000-$182,850. Salary is based on a variety of factors including relevant experience, knowledge, skills and other factors permitted by law. A range of medical, dental, vision, 401(k) matching, paid time off, and other benefits also are available. For more information about dentsu benefits, please visitwww.dentsubenefitsplus.com.

#LI-MM2 #LI-REMOTE #LI-MERKLE

Beware of Job Scams

We are aware of several scams targeting job seekers and candidates. Please be vigilant. All communication throughout the recruitment process will be from an official member of the dentsu recruitment team, using corporate email addresses (e.g., @dentsu.com or @merkle.com). We will never ask you to send money or vouchers to secure employment. If you suspect you have been a victim of a scam, please report the incident to your bank, local police, or fraud protection authority immediately. Additionally, you can report the scam to us at jobfraud@dentsu.com so we can take appropriate action to request the website is taken down. Please note that Merkle and dentsu are not responsible for any losses incurred as a result of these scams. We advise all individuals to exercise caution and verify the authenticity of any job offers or communications received.