Creative Strategist

Responsibilities:

Strategic Leadership & Insight Generation

• Unpack client goals, business context, competitive landscape, and category positioning
• Translate client goals into insights and strategic guardrails that guide the Accounts, Creative, and Production teams.
• Lead client brief dissection and strategic planning sessions, applying strategic frameworks like

Design Thinking (Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, Test) to all creative initiatives.

• Conduct in-depth audience and trend research to uncover potent, actionable consumer insights that inform strategy and creative concepts.
• Develop robust, evidence-based strategy documents, creative briefs, and strategic narratives that articulate the "why" behind the "what."

Essentially: You ensure that the creative starts from truth, not guesswork.

Creative Concept Development

• Collaborate closely with the Creative, Accounts and Production teams to brainstorm and develop innovative, feasible, and impactful experiential concepts (e.g., interactive installations, large-scale events, immersive branded environments) that connect a client’s brand, story, and audience needs
• Ensure all creative output is aligned with the client's brand identity, marketing objectives, budget, and the core strategic insights derived from HCD.
• Make sure all concepts have a reason for being — rooted in insight, impact, and experience design principles

Experience Mapping & Journey Design 

In this role, you will define:

• The end-to-end attendee journey
• Desired emotional states at each moment
• Core interactions
• Content engagement points
• Behavior change or brand takeaways

Essentially, you will build the “attendee POV” blueprint that the rest of the team executes against.

Cross-Functional Collaboration and Facilitation 

• Act as the strategic link between Account Management, Creative, and Production teams, ensuring seamless integration from concept through execution.
• Mentor junior team members on strategic development, research methodologies, and presentation best practices.
• In this role, you will often lead:

o  Kickoff workshops 

o  Stakeholder interviews 

o  Creative alignment conversations 

o  Internal brainstorms 

o  Client work sessions 

New Business Presentation & Pitching

• Must possess skill to serve effectively as the lead presenter for high-stakes new business pitches and client strategy reviews.
• Design and deliver polished, persuasive, and visually stunning presentations that clearly communicate complex strategic and creative ideas, captivate clients, and ultimately win new business.
• Articulate the value proposition of experiential marketing, demonstrating how our ideas will drive measurable business results.

Measurement & Success Frameworks

You will help define, in partnership with Accounts team:

• What success looks like (beyond vanity metrics)
• KPIs tied to experience goals
• Feedback loops and post-event learnings

Qualifications & Experience

• 5 years of progressive experience in strategic planning, creative strategy, or a similar role, ideally within an experiential marketing agency, event production firm, or a related field.
• Demonstrated expertise in Human-Centered Design (HCD) or Design Thinking methodologies and their practical application in marketing and product/service development.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with a portfolio of strategy decks and/or conceptual work that showcases clarity and innovative thinking.
• Proven track record of winning new business through outstanding presentation skills and the ability to command a room, tell a story, and build rapport with senior client stakeholders.
• High proficiency in presentation software (e.g., Google Slides, PowerPoint, Keynote) and the ability to direct design for maximum visual impact.
• A strong understanding of current event production capabilities, marketing technology--including an awareness of the evolution of AI integration in our field, and emerging cultural/consumer trends.

Skills

• Exceptional storytelling and deck-building skills
• Ability to synthesize complex information into simple, actionable insights
• Strong workshop facilitation and interviewing abilities
• Comfort collaborating across creative, accounts, and production
• Keen understanding of consumer behavior and experience design
• Strategic rigor with a creative, intuitive mind
• Confident presenter, persuasive communicator

Mindset 

• Human-centered: Obsesses over understanding audiences
• Insightful: Sees patterns others miss
• Collaborative: Loves shaping ideas with multidisciplinary teams
• Curious: Constantly pushes thinking, digs deeper, asks why
• Flexible: Able to pivot between high-level strategy and hands-on deck writing
• Creative: Thrives in a playful, imaginative, experiential-first environment

This is a full-time position based in our Portland Office. Competitive salary, 401(k) and employee benefits package. Manifold is a growth company with a strong commitment to teamwork and developing our employees while providing high quality client interaction.

At Manifold, we are dedicated to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace where innovation thrives and every employee can excel. We proudly stand as an equal opportunity employer and welcome individuals from all backgrounds. Our commitment extends to ensuring equal employment opportunities regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity, or veteran status. If you require any accommodations due to a disability or special need, please indicate your requirements within your application, and our team will be in touch to assist.