Head of Marketing Strategy
Marketing Chicago, IL
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Description
Smithbucklin, a 650-person, employee-owned professional services company with more than 70 years of success serving the association market, with primary offices in Chicago and Washington, D.C., is looking for a Head of Marketing Strategyto join ourMarketing & Communications Servicesunit in our Chicago office.
We're looking for a Head of Marketing Strategy who thrives on helping clients connect strategy to action (or the reverse!) - while also strengthening how marketing strategy is developed, planned, and executed consistently across our client portfolios.
In this role, you'll design and lead a standardized approach to marketing strategy and campaign planning that brings consistency, focus, and measurable impact. You'll work closely with client leads and creative teams to develop processed and tools for developing integrated marketing plans, guide decision-making, and elevate strategic thinking.
You may periodically embed with a client team during key planning moments-such as annual planning, major campaign development, or transformation initiatives-to provide hands-on strategic leadership, training, and quality assurance. This role is ideal for a highly experienced strategist who enjoys shaping frameworks, facilitating complex conversations, mentoring teams, and seeing smart strategies come to life in real-world execution.
At Smithbucklin, we embody a culture driven by optimism, ambition, expertise, and thoughtfulness, where every team member is empowered to exceed expectations and deliver exceptional results for our clients. Join us in shaping the future of association management, where our values serve as the cornerstone of our success.
What You Will Do:
Lead the development and evolution of a standardized marketing strategy and campaign planning framework that can be adapted across industries and professions.
Partner with marketing, content and creative team members to shape integrated marketing plans grounded in audience insight, business objectives, and clear measurement.
Embed with client teams at critical moments (e.g., annual planning, major launches, optimization efforts) to guide strategy development and ensure best-practice application.
Conduct audits of client marketing plans and programs, identifying opportunities for efficiency and improved performance.
Design and facilitate training sessions, workshops, and working sessions that elevate client and internal teams' strategy and planning capabilities.
Lead &/or contribute in evaluating and adopting marketing technology tools that support planning, automation, measurement, and performance tracking.
Evaluate current platforms and practices to establish strategies to ensure campaigns are measurable, data-informed, and optimized over time.
Document and share best practices, frameworks, and learnings to build a repeatable, scalable approach to marketing excellence.
Success in This Role Looks Like:
Our client teams consistently produce stronger, more focused, and more measurable marketing plans.
Teams adopt and apply standardized strategy and planning frameworks with confidence.
Constituents value you as a trusted strategic advisor, as well as a planner.
Marketing technology is better aligned to strategy and planning workflows.
Our team delivers marketing strategy that is repeatable, scalable, and differentiated.
This Role Might Be for You If You...
Appreciate the opportunity to work with senior leaders and help guide complex conversations.
Bring structure and clarity to situations that may not have a clear starting point.
Know how to turn a strategic direction into a plan that supports measurable outcomes.
Value collaboration and are comfortable working across a wide range of industries and client @types.
Balance attention to detail with a steady focus on broader strategic goals.
Communicate directly, ask thoughtful questions, and look for practical solutions that teams can apply.
Basic Qualifications:
12-15+ years of experience in marketing strategy, brand planning, or integrated campaign development- in a professional services field - ideally within an agency or client-facing consulting environment.
Proven experience creating, leading, and scaling marketing planning frameworks that improve consistency and results across teams or clients.
Strong background in integrated marketing (digital, content, email, paid media, social).
Experience advising on or working with marketing technology platforms (e.g., HubSpot, Salesforce, Marketo, Google Analytics, or similar).
Exceptional facilitation, presentation, and client advisory skills, you're comfortable leading senior-level discussions and workshops.
A strong balance of strategic vision and practical execution, you can think conceptually while guiding real-world planning decisions.
Curiosity and adaptability, you enjoy working across industries, audiences, and evolving tools.
A collaborative, solution-oriented mindset and an ability to partner to bring strategies to life.
Where Do You Fit?Whether you are just beginning your career or are a mid- or senior-level professional, working at Smithbucklin will offer you countless opportunities to develop transferable skills, acquire meaningful knowledge and gain rich experiences at an accelerated pace. By working collaboratively with smart, ambitious, multi-talented, genuine and hardworking colleagues, you will build meaningful, deep and enduring relationships that will serve you well throughout your career, regardless of your chosen path. In addition, as a 100 percent employee-owned company, Smithbucklin offers all of our people - regardless of position or compensation - an equal chance to experience the fulfillment and reap the benefits of ownership. As owners, our employees control the destiny of Smithbucklin and are unified in the goal of building a great, enduring company.
Smithbucklin is a hybrid work environment with in-office days established as Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Employees will work a standard 40-hour week, with the possibility of additional hours based on project deadlines. Smithbucklin considers several factors when determining compensation, including a candidate's recent coursework, training, experience, and certifications, among other considerations. The expected pay for this role is $175,000-195,000.
Equal Employment OpportunityAt Smithbucklin, Equal Employment Opportunity is our commitment and goal. All qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, national origin, gender, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, marital status or any other protected status designated by federal, state or local law. Applicants are encouraged to confidentially self-identify when applying. Employment is contingent upon successful completion of a reference and background investigation based on position.
Smithbucklin will not sponsor applicants for work visas and as a precondition of employment. You must be authorized to work in the United States permanently.
