Associate Director, Strategy at Publicis Groupe in El Segundo, CA

Company Description

WE ARE SAATCHI

We are part of a team that believes nothing is impossible and creates work that is truly original. Work that makes use unbreakable allies with the best brands on the planet. But to do that, we don’t focus on the work. We focus on attracting, encouraging & celebrating original people. So…

• We believe in One Team, One Dream. We have each other’s backs. We celebrate win & learn from fails.
• We act with Integrity and earn trust by being honest, straightforward & transparent.
• We embrace Diversity. Our diversity of people rewards us daily with energy and diversity of ideas.
• We act with Respect. We expect to be fully seen & heard. In return, you will be too.
• We Deliver. When we make promises to you or to clients, we back them up.
• We want to love our time at Saatchi. We want you to love your time here too. Only then will the work we create together be so damn good, people will say… it’s original.

Saatchi & Saatchi currently maintains a hybrid work policy to work in-office three days per week and remotely the other two days each week.

Overview

SAATCHI DIFFERENTIATOR

We build Fervor for brands… that intense, passionate feeling fans have for the brands they love. We do that by creating shifts in three long-held beliefs in marketing.

• Shift from short-term transactional relationships with targets to long-term value-building relationships with communities; a circle of people with shared beliefs, values & passions relevant to a brand.

• Shift from interrupting what people are interested in to becoming what they are interested in.

• Shift from marketing what brands make to marketing how people use what brands make to do the things they love.

THE ROLE OF STRATEGY AT SAATCHI

The role of strategy at Saatchi is to point imaginations & resources at the problems that matter most. Then, provide the intel & insights to help solve them. To accomplish that, we use our fascination with people & culture and our understanding of technology & data to drive creativity; insight led, data driven, technology enabled.

THE ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF STRATEGIC PLANNING (Auto Addicts)

This person will be the voice for car racing enthusiast culture in the agency. You must be in love with cars, going fast, getting your hands dirty under the hood and be a regular at Cars and Coffee events. You will be ingrained into the different subcultures of car culture, especially Drifting, NASCAR and Rally. Additionally, you will be an inspirational thinker and fearless collaborator who’s comfortable sharing POVs and leading strategic conversations with internal teams and clients. We’re looking for someone who is comfortable taking the initiative to create new ideas within the car enthusiast communities, be the lead on projects, and elevate the strategic thinking and creative work.

Responsibilities

• Smart & innovative ways to understand communities deeply

  • A deep understanding of research.
  • Help teams turn consumer research and culture into powerful insights.
  • Identify new tools and ways to use AI to uncover insights & cultural trends.
  • Be continuously tapped into brands’ communities – tracking culture, trends, and identifying opportunities for strategy and creative teams to activate.

• Build and maintain trust with creatives and clients

  • Be a trusted partner and source of inspiration for creative teams through relationships more than presentations.
  • Be able to turn the complex into a story and present it to clients, paving the way for better work to be sold.

• Love strategy. Love briefs. Love briefings.

  • Love writing and telling stories.
  • Seek ways to tell the simplest, most meaningful and relevant stories possible.

• Develop people and make those around you better

  • Challenge and elevate strategic thinking and approaches.
  • Ability to collaborate effectively with media, data, and comms planning teams.
  • Proactively identify opportunities and ways to bring thought leadership to agency teams and clients with regards to brand, messaging, and consumer and cultural trends.

• Be a problem solver

  • Sometimes the most creative thing you will do on a given day is remove a barrier or figure out how to go around it. And that’s ok. Creativity comes in many forms.

• Strategic management of all creative projects, from brief to execution

  • Need to be able to spin a lot of plates at the same time.
  • Should be comfortable leading projects with minimal supervision

Qualifications

• 6+ years of experience working in advertising, marketing, brand building, or other transferable experience with relevant skill sets (i.e., journalism, sociology, etc.).
• Hybrid role with three days in office (Tuesday-Thursday)
• Role is based in Los Angeles, CA or Dallas, TX
• Proven thought-leadership and ability to contribute strategic thinking
• Should either be an auto enthusiast or be willing to immerse in auto enthusiasm
• Experience with qual/quant research methods (tracking studies, focus groups, in-depth interviews, ethnographic research – any type of interviewing skills) with the ability to identify true insights
• Strong verbal and non-verbal communication skills
• Presentation skills (written and verbal) should be best in class
• Innate curiosity to want to understand people, culture and the world, overall, and, most importantly, a burning desire to dig into what makes them tick
• Must possess open-mindedness to new ideas and ways of looking at things
• Ability to collaborate effectively in cross-team settings

Additional Information

Our Publicis Groupe motto “Viva La Différence” means we’re better together, and we believe that our differences make us stronger. It means we honor and celebrate all identities, across all facets of intersectionality, and it underpins all that we do as an organization. We are focused on fostering belonging and creating equitable & inclusive experiences for all talent.

Compensation Range: $105,165.00 - $130,290.00 annually. This is the pay range the Company believes it will pay for this position at the time of this posting. Consistent with applicable law, compensation will be determined based on the skills, qualifications, and experience of the applicant along with the requirements of the position, and the Company reserves the right to modify this pay range at any time. Temporary roles may be eligible to participate in our freelancer/temporary employee medical plan through a third-party benefits administration system once certain criteria have been met. Temporary roles may also qualify for participation in our 401(k) plan after eligibility criteria have been met. For regular roles, the Company will offer medical coverage, dental, vision, disability, 401k, and paid time off. The Company anticipates the application deadline for this job posting will be 1/30/25.

If you require accommodation or assistance with the application or onboarding process specifically, please contact USMSTACompliance@publicis.com. All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

#DNI

Compensation Range: USD $105,165.00 - USD $158,290.00/Annually. This is the pay range the Company believes it will pay for this position at the time of this posting. Consistent with applicable law, compensation will be determined based on the skills, qualifications, and experience of the applicant along with the requirements of the position, and the Company reserves the right to modify this pay range at any time. Temporary roles may be eligible to participate in our freelancer/temporary employee medical plan through a third-party benefits administration system once certain criteria have been met. For regular roles, the Company will offer medical coverage, dental, vision, disability, 401k, and paid time off. The Company anticipates the application deadline for this job posting will be 12/1/2025.