Vice President, Brand Strategist at Ogilvy in New York, NY

About Ogilvy

Ogilvy has been creating impact for brands through iconic, culture-changing, value-driving ideas since the company was founded by David Ogilvy more than 75 years ago. It builds on that rich legacy through Borderless Creativity—innovating at the intersection of intelligence, imagination and influence, with experts across advertising, sports & entertainment, PR & social, consulting, and health collaborating seamlessly across more than 120 offices spanning 90 countries. Ogilvy was named Network of the Year at the 2026 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity and ranks as the #1 global agency network for creative excellence and effectiveness by WARC for the fourth consecutive year, signifying its ability to deliver creative solutions that drive unreasonable impact for clients and communities. Ogilvy is part of WPP, the trusted growth partner for the world's leading brands. Powered by exceptional talent and our agentic marketing platform WPP Open, WPP unites cutting-edge media intelligence and data solutions, creativity, production, enterprise solutions and expert strategic counsel. For more information, visit Ogilvy.com, and follow us on LinkedIn, X,Instagram, andFacebook.

About WPP

WPP is the trusted growth partner for the world’s leading brands. We unite cutting-edge media intelligence and data solutions, world-class creativity, next-generation production, transformative enterprise solutions and expert strategic counsel in a single company – powered by exceptional talent and our agentic marketing platform, WPP Open, to help our clients navigate change, capture opportunity and deliver transformational growth. For more information, visit WPP.com.

OGILVY HEALTH: WE INSPIRE PEOPLE AND BRANDS TO IMPACT THE WORLD

Guided by this vision, Ogilvy Health, part of WPP, combines borderless creativity, scientific precision and cultural fluency to build healthcare’s most influential movements. We drive measurable impact and category-defining growth for brands ready to shape what’s next. Our approach is powered by fearless creativity that dares to be different, sparks emotional connections, and inspires action, ensuring cultural resonance. Scientific precision translates complex data into stories that resonate, while our impact-obsessed mindset focuses on delivering real-world outcomes.

For more information on us, visit OgilvyHealth.com, or follow Ogilvy Health on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, X, and Threads.

About The Role

At Ogilvy Health, brand strategy is where science, audience truth, creativity, and culture come together to create ideas that move people. Our strategists help define what brands stand for, why they matter, and how they can change behavior in meaningful ways.

We are seeking a Vice President, Brand Strategist who can serve as a strategic leader across assigned brand teams, helping shape the insights, positioning, creative briefs, workshops, and strategic narratives that guide our work. This is a role for someone who can move fluidly from deep research and brand architecture to creative inspiration and client influence.

The VP, Brand Strategist will be a trusted strategic partner to clients and internal teams, helping brands find sharper points of view, stronger audience relevance, and more compelling paths to growth. This person will also help mentor junior strategy talent, contribute to new business opportunities, and bring curiosity around emerging tools, technology, and AI-enabled ways of working.

This role is for a strategist who is both rigorous and generous: someone who can lead the room, strengthen the work, grow the team, and help build what comes next.

What You’ll Do

Brand Strategy Leadership

• Serve as a strategic lead across assigned brand teams, guiding the development of brand strategy, positioning, messaging, creative briefs, and strategic recommendations.
• Develop a deep understanding of assigned brands, categories, customer needs, competitive dynamics, and cultural context.
• Translate clinical complexity, market dynamics, and audience insight into clear, compelling brand stories.
• Help teams uncover the “contagious” strategic idea that can inspire creative development and drive meaningful behavior change.
• Ensure strategic thinking is embedded early and consistently across brand, creative, engagement, medical, account, and analytics workstreams.
• Bring a strong point of view to brand challenges while remaining collaborative, flexible, and open to building better ideas with others.

Client Partnership & Influence

• Serve as a primary strategic partner for assigned clients, building trusted relationships through clarity, confidence, and strategic leadership.
• Partner closely with Account, Creative, Medical Strategy, Engagement Strategy, Strategic Intelligence, and Analytics teams to deliver integrated strategic solutions.
• Facilitate client conversations, strategic workshops, and internal working sessions that help align teams around brand opportunities, audience needs, and creative direction.
• Help clients navigate complexity by turning research, data, science, and competitive context into actionable strategic direction.
• Identify opportunities to expand the strategic value we bring to clients, helping grow relationships and deepen Ogilvy Health’s role as a strategic partner.

Insight, Research & Strategic Development

• Lead and synthesize primary and secondary research to identify meaningful insights into HCP, patient, caregiver, and stakeholder beliefs, behaviors, needs, and barriers.
• Apply research, data, cultural foresight, and marketplace understanding to define strategic opportunities for brands.
• Partner within the Integrated Strategy team and other specialist teams to ensure strategic recommendations are grounded, differentiated, and actionable.
• Identify important cultural, category, and marketplace trends and translate them into potential implications for client businesses.
• Shape brand narratives that connect audience truth, scientific credibility, and creative opportunity.

Creative Strategy & Briefing

• Craft clear, inspiring creative briefs that give teams the strategic foundation, audience insight, and creative tension needed to develop powerful work.
• Partner with Creative teams throughout the development process, helping ensure ideas remain strategically grounded and brand-building.
• Brief teams in a way that inspires, focuses, and unlocks better creative thinking.
• Help evaluate creative ideas against strategic objectives, audience relevance, and brand ambition.
• Support the development of compelling presentations that bring strategic thinking to life with clarity and conviction.

New Business & Growth

• Contribute to new business opportunities by helping shape strategic insights, brand stories, pitch narratives, workshops, and presentation materials.
• Support senior strategy leaders in developing differentiated strategic approaches for pitches and organic growth opportunities.
• Bring fresh thinking to new business challenges, helping teams identify sharper audience truths, brand opportunities, and creative springboards.
• Help demonstrate the value of Ogilvy Health’s integrated strategy model to prospective and existing clients.
• Build confidence presenting strategic thinking in high-stakes internal and client-facing settings.

AI, Innovation & Modern Strategy

• Bring curiosity and fluency around how AI-enabled tools, emerging technologies, and new ways of working can strengthen the strategic process.
• Explore how platforms such as WPP Open and other AI-enabled tools can enhance audience understanding, competitive analysis, creative briefing, personalization, and strategic storytelling.
• Help identify smarter, faster, and more effective ways to turn data, research, and human insight into strategic opportunity.
• Champion responsible experimentation with AI across brand strategy workstreams.
• Inspire teams to see technology not as a shortcut, but as a way to sharpen thinking, expand possibilities, and elevate the quality of the work.

Talent, Team & Culture

• Mentor and develop junior strategists, helping them strengthen their strategic craft, presentation skills, creative briefing, and client confidence.
• Model what great strategy looks like: curious, collaborative, rigorous, imaginative, and generous.
• Help create an environment where strategy talent can learn, contribute, grow, and take ownership.
• Partner with senior strategy leadership to raise the standard of strategic output across assigned accounts.
• Foster a culture of curiosity, experimentation, collaboration, and continuous learning across strategy disciplines.

What You’ll Need

• 7+ years of experience in brand strategy, strategic planning, account planning, healthcare marketing, research, consulting, or a related strategic discipline.
• Significant experience in healthcare, pharmaceutical, biotech, wellness, or other regulated categories.
• Strong ability to translate science, data, research, and audience understanding into clear strategic direction.
• Experience developing brand positioning, messaging strategy, creative briefs, strategic workshops, research synthesis, and client presentations.
• Demonstrated ability to lead brand teams, partner with clients, and influence cross-functional teams.
• Strong understanding of HCP, patient, caregiver, and stakeholder audiences.
• Ability to identify meaningful insights from primary research, secondary research, competitive analysis, cultural trends, and marketplace dynamics.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to simplify complexity and tell a compelling strategic story.
• Strong facilitation and presentation skills, including comfort leading workshops and presenting to clients.
• Experience mentoring junior talent and helping elevate the strategic work of others.
• Curiosity about AI, emerging technologies, modern marketing platforms, and how they can enhance strategic thinking and brand-building.
• Proficiency in PowerPoint and the ability to create clear, compelling, executive-ready strategic presentations.
• Advanced degree or relevant experience in strategy, communications, psychology, sociology, marketing, life sciences, or a related field preferred.

How We'll Support You

Ogilvy celebrates its people. Fully. Enthusiastically. Unhesitatingly. We’ll empower you with the tools you’ll need to succeed. We’ll give you the autonomy to seek out new paths and better ways of doing things. We’ll support you with colleagues who are experts in their disciplines, drawn from across the Ogilvy network. And we’ll provide opportunities for you to do work of which you’ll be proud, with people you’ll be proud to call your teammates. 

#LI-SP1

The base salary range for this position at the time of this posting is indicated below. Individual compensation varies based on job-related factors, including location, business needs, level of responsibility, experience, and qualifications. We offer a competitive benefits package, click here for more details. Pay Range

$100,000—$230,000 USD

At Ogilvy, our people are at the heart of what we do: a creative agency that sparks game-changing ideas across culture and business through collaboration, integrity, and a celebration of self-expression.

We believe in building powerful teams with purpose - and we relentlessly curate transformative initiatives that make our commitment to fairness, and equity a reality.

Our ultimate mission is to leave a positive impact on the world, creating a better future for all, while supporting and uplifting the global communities we serve. This is central to our mantra of Borderless Creativity.

Ogilvy is an equal opportunity employer and considers applicants for all positions without discrimination or regard to particular characteristics. We are committed to fostering a culture of respect in which everyone feels they belong and has the same opportunities to progress in their careers.

If you need any assistance seeking a job opportunity, or if you need reasonable accommodation with the application process, please contact us at accommodations@ogilvy.com. Please note that this contact is only for candidates who are requesting accommodation. Emails for other purposes, including application status requests, will not receive a response.