Brand Planning Executive Director

At Wray Ward, the Brand Planning Executive Director (BPED) is a senior, client-facing marketing and communications leader responsible for overseeing both the Creative Strategy and Brand Strategy teams. This role unifies audience insight, brand foundation, and creative expression to ensure a cohesive, insight-driven approach across all client work.

The BPED assesses customer and market behavior to develop brand platforms, audience definitions, and messaging strategies that drive meaningful business outcomes. Serving as the voice of the customer, they guide work from foundational brand strategy through creative strategy, briefing, and communications planning-ensuring alignment between brand intent and creative execution.

Partnering closely with Account Management, Creative leadership, and executive stakeholders, this role shapes both the strategic and creative direction of the agency's work. They establish consistency and rigor across key deliverables, including Brand Platforms, Playbooks, Architecture, and creative briefs, while inspiring teams to translate insights into impactful ideas that move both our clients and their audiences forward.

The BPED is an integral member of brand teams that helps establish and evolve messaging strategies. The BPED works closely with the Chief Creative Officer, Chief Client Officer and Creative Directors to help guide and inspire Creative deliverables . The BPED establishes definition and consistency for agency deliverables of creative strategy and briefs.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities as Brand Planning Executive Director

• Ultimately accountable for the outputs of the brand planning function at Wray Ward inclusive of Brand Strategy and Creative Strategy.
• Collaborates with Chief Client Officer to ensure the profitability of work, assignments and in making recommendations for the growth or reduction of the Brand Planning Team based on performance, revenue and decisions that are in the best interest of Wray Ward
• Work as a member of the Wray Ward brand teams with the Account Management team that focuses on agency brands with integrated and annual communications planning
• Identifies opportunities for deeper connection between the brand and customer throughout every stage of the journey
• Provide leadership and guidance for creative expression and annual communications planning, and represent the voice of the customer throughout the planning process from messaging development to creative and communications implementation.
• Works with the brand team to recommend messaging strategies for solving communications challenges while demonstrating a passion for creative excellence and inspiring customer-centric solutions. Leverages Brand Strategy work to inform Creative Strategy
• Partners with Account Management and Creative Directors to lead ideation sessions associated with brand and creative strategy development
• Actively seek out exemplary brands, informing and educating teams on brand best practices
• Oversee roster of clients who participate in Creative Expression
• Articulate Creative Strategy, writes the brief, conducts briefings and supports creative presentations with creative strategy set up/expression of the brief (concepts) to clients
  • Work closely with Account Management to ensure alignment with the client as well as with Creative Director as brand consultant during creative recommendation development
• Evaluate creative recommendations based on strategic alignment with the creative strategy/brief and the audience definition insights, join creative presentations, and leads set up of work
• Serve as a resource to all brand team members as the information intersection of the brand positioning and the audience definition
• Collaborate with Communications Planning and provide recommended brand and creative strategies for propelling the brand forward in meeting its communication objectives
  • Help initiate the communications planning process with Creative and Brand Strategy development
• Serve a consultative role in annual communications planning and assess recommendations for alignment with brand strategy and audience definition
• Work with Business Development to co-author creative strategy, creative expression and connections planning solution RFPs.
• Oversee, manage, mentor and train for growth other Creative and Brand Strategy department members

Communication Skills

• Demonstrate excellent written, verbal and listening skills
• Communicate in a coherent, personable and professional manner
• Be comfortable and adept in representing WW with clients' senior management
• Demonstrate outstanding presentation skills in formal and informal settings, and be an excellent leader
• Demonstrate team leadership with self-assuredness as well as sensitivity
• Maintain a candid professional relationship with other WW employees, working closely with Account Management

Additional Responsibilities

• Uphold the Wray Ward brand, culture, values and work ethic
• Passionately embody the agency brand, culture and values
• Inspire a contagious passion for strategic, creative solutions
• Show resourcefulness, agility and resilience in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment

Requirements

• 15-20 years in brand management, marketing strategy, account planning, strategic planning and research
• Insights, strategy, and account planning and marketing strategy experience with an agency preferred
• Bachelor's degree in marketing, strategy, business, communications, psychology or sociology

This job description serves as an overall summary of responsibilities for the position outlined. Please note it is subject to change with specific expectations associated with the position.


Culture Alignment

At Wray Ward, we firmly believe that internal and client relationships are key to our success. Certain attitudes define how we work and are important in what we seek for our culture and mission. Our key agency attitudes are:

• WE, NOT ME - We check our egos at the door. As a result, we thrive in a positive, collaborative atmosphere that welcomes diverse professionals and invites everyone to contribute their best.
• ASK "WHAT IF?" - Always going beyond what is and considering what could be, we create unexpected possibilities that differentiate our brands and accelerate their success.
• BE FEARLESS - Creativity demands that we hold nothing back. So we mutually support each other in speaking up, taking risks and courageously contributing audacious, unedited, unconventional ideas.
• NAIL IT - Everything we do is about results. We not only achieve our clients' goals, but also continually exceed their expectations. Every person here shares individual responsibility for their own, our agency's and our clients' success.

Our 39,000-square-foot home promotes collaboration and productivity through inspired meeting areas, offering natural light, vibrant colors, patterns and textures. Homelike elements are found in every corner, from the open-air roof-deck to our game room with foosball, ping-pong, Connect Five, classic board games and cornhole. Brightly colored throw pillows on sofas and our town hall meeting space, smart entertainment systems and live plants are scattered throughout. From holiday parties to movie nights, bowling and dodgeball teams to yoga and walking groups, we have a warm and inviting culture. Our office ushers us in, and it welcomes us home.

Our Mission

We are a community of catalysts using insights, strategy and creativity to transform spaces into stories and materials into experiences.

Candidates must possess authorization to work in the United States, as it is not the practice of Wray Ward to sponsor individuals for work visas. Wray Ward participates in E-Verify and will provide the federal government with your Form I-9 information to confirm that you are authorized to work in the United States.


At Wray Ward, we strongly believe that a diverse staff and inclusive culture will greatly enrich our work, our business, our industry and our lives. We are committed to an intentional approach to listening, understanding and talking, and to using our individual and collective talent, voices and influence to drive change.


Wray Ward is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, sex, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, status as a veteran and basis of disability or any other federal, state or local protected class.