Creative & Brand Strategist (On-Call)

Organizations have never had more ways to reach people. More channels. More content. More data. More expertise. Yet influence remains scarce.

People decide what to trust. What to believe. What to adopt. What to join. What to ignore. The gap between what organizations intend and what people do is where growth is won or lost.

Thats where strategy matters. Were looking for a Creative & Brand Strategist to help organizations navigate that gap. This is a senior leadership role for a strategist who can transform complexity into clarity insight into direction and direction into ideas that create measurable impact.

Youll work across brand marketing customer experience communications digital transformation and organizational challenges - helping clients identify opportunities define strategic choices and create meaningful connections with the people they serve.

The Opportunity

As a Creative & Brand Strategist you will lead strategic development across integrated engagements that span brand campaign digital experience customer engagement and organizational transformation.

You will partner with researchers behavioral scientists consultants creatives technologists and client leaders to uncover what drives decisions and define what should happen next.

Youll be responsible for shaping the strategic foundation behind the work: identifying opportunities framing challenges developing positioning creating narratives and inspiring ideas that move people to action.

This role requires equal comfort in the boardroom workshop research review and creative briefing. You will influence executive stakeholders guide multidisciplinary teams and ensure strategy serves as a catalyst for both creativity and business outcomes.

What Youll Do

• Lead strategic direction across brands campaigns experiences and integrated initiatives.
• Translate research data and audience understanding into actionable insights and strategic recommendations.
• Develop brand positioning value propositions messaging frameworks narrative platforms and campaign strategies.
• Partner with research analytics and account teams to unlock audience drivers develop personas and segmentation strategies that drive program development and delivery.
• Contribute to developing key performance indicators and program evaluation approaches.
• Create clear inspiring briefs that drive exceptional creative and experience design work.
• Facilitate stakeholder workshops executive alignment sessions and strategic planning engagements.
• Identify emerging cultural behavioral and market shifts that create new opportunities for clients.
• Partner closely with research customer experience creative digital consulting and account teams to solve complex business challenges.
• Check for strategy and brand consistency in creative concepting and delivery.

What Were Looking For

You are a strategist first. You know how to uncover meaningful insights define compelling positions build persuasive narratives and create strategic direction that inspires action. You understand that brands are not simply communications systems - they are systems of meaning.

You see audiences as people not segments. You know how to connect human motivations with organizational goals. You can move comfortably between long-term brand building and immediate business priorities. Between analytical rigor and creative imagination. Between evidence intuition and judgment. Most importantly you know that strategy is not about having all the answers. Its about asking the questions that reveal opportunities others miss.

You Bring:

Professional Skills

• Significant experience in brand strategy communications planning creative strategy customer strategy consumer behavioral psychology consulting or a related discipline.
• A strong track record of leading strategic work across complex multidisciplinary engagements and with cross-functional marketing teams.
• Experience developing positioning messaging architectures audience personas narrative frameworks campaign strategies and creative briefs.
• Strong facilitation and stakeholder management skills including executive-level engagement.
• Exceptional communication storytelling and presentation abilities.
• Proven ability to align diverse stakeholders around strategic direction and organizational priorities
• Curiosity about culture behavior technology and the forces shaping how people make decisions
• Experience using AI as a tool to make our research and deliverables smarter and more efficient.
• Primary and secondary research experience and demonstrated ability to use the data to unlock insights that drive program design.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelors degree in marketing market research journalism sociology or related fields. (applicants can substitute one year of related experience for one year of education)
• 10 years of experience developing and leading brand communications customer experience or business strategies within agencies consultancies or client organizations.
• Must be able to pass a background check and secure public trust clearance.

What Success Looks Like

Success in this role is not measured by the number of strategies created. Its measured by the decisions those strategies enable.

You will:

• Help clients see opportunities they couldnt previously see.
• Bring clarity to ambiguity and alignment to complexity.
• Influence critical business brand and experience decisions.
• Elevate the quality of creative thinking across teams.
• Strengthen client relationships through trusted strategic leadership.
• Create work that earns attention builds trust drives participation and delivers meaningful outcomes.
• Build a stronger culture of strategic thinking across teams improving how opportunities are identified framed and brought to market.

Bot and Third-Party Applications

Please note that this application must be submitted directly by the applicant for consideration.Failure to do so may result in the application being excluded for consideration.Applicants needing an accommodation for disability or religious purposes in connection with the application process should contactfor assistance.

Working at ICF

Pay Range - There are multiple factors that are considered in determining final pay for a position including but not limited to relevant work experience skills certifications and competencies that align to the specified role geographic location education and certifications as well as contract provisions regarding labor categories that are specific to the position.

The pay range for this position based on full-time employment is: