Senior Brand Strategist

We’re looking for a Senior Brand Strategist to lead the development, evolution, and activation of key elements of our global brand strategy. This is a hands‑on strategic role that combines insight‑driven thinking with practical implementation. You will develop positioning, messaging, and brand frameworks while ensuring they are effectively embedded into campaigns, creative development, product marketing, and go‑to‑market activities across the organization. In this role, you will translate audience insights, market dynamics, business priorities, and competitive intelligence into clear, actionable strategies that strengthen differentiation and build brand relevance. You will serve as a trusted strategic partner to marketing, product, insights, and creative teams, helping stakeholders navigate complex brand questions and bring the strategy to life consistently across audiences, products, and markets. The ideal candidate is comfortable moving between high‑level strategic thinking and detailed execution. You can develop a clear point of view, build alignment across a matrixed organization, and translate complex ideas into compelling, practical direction for diverse stakeholders. This position is based in our New York office. We follow a hybrid policy of at least four days onsite. Morningstar’s hybrid work environment gives you the opportunity to collaborate in person each week, as we have found that we are at our best when we are purposefully together on a regular basis. In most of our locations, our hybrid work model is four days in the office each week. A range of other benefits is also available to enhance flexibility as needs change. No matter where you are, you will have the tools and resources to engage meaningfully with global colleagues. Key Responsibilities Brand Positioning and Messaging Lead the development and evolution of brand positioning, audience‑specific value propositions, messaging frameworks, and strategic narratives. Translate complex business strategies, product capabilities, audience needs, and market dynamics into differentiated and compelling brand stories. Develop practical messaging toolkits, strategic narratives, and enablement resources for use across campaigns, content, sales, product marketing, and other client‑facing communications. Establish clear guidance for adapting enterprise brand messaging across products, audiences, regions, and stages of the customer journey. Serve as a strategic advisor to internal teams, ensuring that brand voice, messaging, and storytelling remain consistent and relevant across touchpoints. Develop clear points of view and recommendations on emerging brand, audience, and market opportunities. Brand Activation and Creative Strategy Lead the translation of brand strategy into multi-channel campaigns, creative platforms, content, and go‑to‑market initiatives. Partner with integrated campaign, creative, design, content, and product marketing teams to establish strategic direction and ensure execution aligns with brand and business objectives. Develop and shape strategic and creative briefs that clearly articulate audience insights, business objectives, messaging priorities, and measures of success. Evaluate campaign concepts, content, and creative assets against the approved strategy, providing clear and actionable feedback. Identify opportunities to strengthen how the brand is expressed across the full client and customer experience. Help teams resolve complex or competing messaging needs while protecting the clarity and integrity of the broader brand strategy. Research, Insights, and Strategic Planning Partner with audience strategy, research, and insights teams to develop learning agendas and identify knowledge gaps related to brand perception, audience needs, and competitive differentiation. Lead the synthesis of audience research, market trends, competitive intelligence, and business priorities into clear strategic recommendations. Identify whitespace opportunities, emerging audience needs, and new messaging territories that can strengthen brand relevance and differentiation. Translate complex qualitative and quantitative findings into compelling strategic narratives for marketing and business stakeholders. Facilitate brand strategy workshops and working sessions that build alignment and move teams toward clear decisions. Maintain an informed perspective on industry, category, cultural, and marketing trends that could affect the brand’s position or reputation. Brand Architecture, Naming, and Governance Drive the development and evolution of brand architecture, ensuring clarity and cohesion across products, capabilities, sub‑brands, and solutions. Lead or provide strategic direction on product, solution, and program naming to support differentiation, consistency, and portfolio clarity. Develop naming frameworks, decision criteria, and recommendations in partnership with product, marketing, legal, compliance, and other stakeholders. Establish, evolve, and operationalize messaging standards, brand guidelines, and governance processes across the organization. Serve as a senior brand steward, helping teams apply brand strategy consistently while allowing for appropriate audience, product, and regional flexibility. Identify opportunities to simplify and improve brand systems, resources, and decision‑making processes. Provide strategic guidance on brand questions with potential implications for the broader portfolio or enterprise brand. Cross‑Functional Leadership and Influence Independently lead complex, cross‑functional brand strategy workstreams from initial research and framing through recommendation, alignment, and activation. Build alignment among marketing, product, sales, creative, compliance, and business stakeholders with different priorities and perspectives. Present strategic recommendations, frameworks, and points of view to senior marketing, product, and business leaders. Serve as a trusted strategic partner who can challenge assumptions, clarify ambiguous problems, and guide stakeholders toward actionable decisions. Manage external agency or research partners, when applicable, including briefing, feedback, deliverables, and strategic alignment. Share frameworks, tools, and best practices that strengthen brand strategy capabilities across the organization. Provide guidance and informal mentorship to colleagues contributing to brand‑related initiatives. Measurement and Optimization Define success measures for brand positioning, messaging, and activation initiatives in partnership with insights, analytics, and campaign teams. Monitor and interpret brand health, audience perception, campaign performance, and other relevant effectiveness measures. Translate performance findings into actionable recommendations for messaging, creative, audience strategy, and future brand initiatives. Establish feedback loops that connect audience response and campaign performance to ongoing brand strategy development. Assess the adoption and effectiveness of messaging frameworks, guidelines, and enablement resources across internal teams. Communicate findings and recommendations to senior stakeholders through clear, concise, and compelling presentations. Qualifications Seven or more years of progressive experience in brand strategy, integrated marketing strategy, product marketing, or related discipline. Demonstrated experience independently leading positioning, messaging, value proposition, brand architecture, andor naming initiatives. Proven ability to translate audience insights, market dynamics, business priorities, and complex product information into clear and differentiated brand strategies. Experience developing strategic and creative briefs and guiding the translation of strategy into campaigns, content, and client‑facing experiences. Strong strategic judgment and the ability to develop and defend a clear point of view while remaining open to new information and stakeholder perspectives. Demonstrated ability to lead complex, cross‑functional workstreams in a highly matrixed organization. Strong executive communication and presentation skills, with experience influencing senior stakeholders and building alignment across teams. Excellent analytical, research, writing, and storytelling skills, with the ability to simplify complex or technical ideas. Experience developing or applying brand governance systems, messaging guidelines, naming frameworks, or portfolio architecture. Ability to manage multiple strategic priorities, operate effectively through ambiguity, and move work forward with a high degree of independence. Strong attention to detail and an understanding of how legal, regulatory, and compliance considerations may affect brand messaging and activation. Experience working in a global organization or adapting strategy across regions and audiences is preferred. Experience in financial services, financial technology, enterprise technology, or another complex B2B regulated industry is preferred. Experience managing agency or research partners is preferred. Why Join Us? This role offers the opportunity to shape how the Morningstar brand is understood and experienced across audiences, products, and markets. As a Senior Brand Strategist, you will help define the strategic foundation for the stories we tell while ensuring that those stories are expressed clearly and consistently across campaigns, content, product naming, and client experiences. You will work across teams to solve complex brand challenges, influence important decisions, and build frameworks that strengthen both the relevance of our brand and the organization’s ability to bring it to life. Compensation and Benefits At Morningstar we believe people are at their best when they are at their healthiest. That’s why we champion your wellness through a wide range of programs that support all stages of your personal and professional life. Financial Health 100% 401k match up to 6% of salary Stock Ownership Potential Company provided life insurance - 1x salary + commission Physical Health Comprehensive health benefits (medical/dental/vision) including potential premium discounts and company-provided HSA contributions (up to $500-$2,000 annually) for specific plans and coverages Additional medical Wellness Incentives - up to $300-$600 annual Company-provided long- and short-term disability insurance Emotional Health Trust-Based Time Off 6-week Paid Sabbatical Program 6-Week Paid Family Caregiving Leave Competitive 8-24 Week Paid Parental Leave Adoption Assistance Leadership Coaching & Formal Mentorship Opportunities Annual Flex Stipend - $1000 annually to cover personal education & well-being expenses Tuition Reimbursement Social Health Charitable Matching Gifts program Dollars for Doers volunteer program Paid volunteering days 15+ Employee Resource & Affinity Groups Base Salary Compensation Range $112,938.00-$173,160.00 Incentive Target Percentage 20% Annual Morningstar's hybrid work environment gives you the opportunity to collaborate in-person each week as we've found that we're at our best when we're purposely together on a regular basis. In most of our locations, our hybrid work model is four days in-office each week. A range of other benefits are also available to enhance flexibility as needs change. No matter where you are, you'll have tools and resources to engage meaningfully with your global colleagues. 001_MstarInc Morningstar Inc. Legal Entity Morningstar is a global independent investment research and financial data company. Here, you'll help uncover what’s hidden, simplify what’s complex, and create insights that empower investor success. Company overview Morningstar Development Program Morningstar is strongly committed to creating and preserving equal opportunity for all employees and applicants. We make all employment decisions—including recruitment, hiring, compensation, training, promotion, transfer, discipline, termination, and other personnel matters—without regard to race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, protected veteran status, marital status, sexual orientation, genetic information, citizenship, gender identity and expression, parental status, or other legally protected characteristics or conduct. #J-18808-Ljbffr