Description
The VP of Integrated Client Strategy serves as a senior client leader and a trusted business advisor to C-suite stakeholders. This role is accountable for understanding each client’s business, competitive landscape, and growth agenda - and translating that understanding into clear, actionable marketing and media strategies that drive measurable business outcomes.
Rather than leading with media, this leader leads with the client’s business. They connect enterprise strategy to marketing execution by applying a strong command of data, analytics, digital ecosystems, and marketing technology to inform decision-making and unlock growth.
The VP brings a modern, consultative approach to client leadership - grounded in fluency across data, digital channels, AdTech/Mar Tech, and evolving consumer behavior - and uses that expertise to guide clients through increasingly complex marketing and transformation challenges.
As a senior orchestrator, this role aligns cross-functional capabilities (Media, Investment, Data & Insights, Technology, and Activation) around client priorities, ensuring solutions are not only innovative, but also relevant, practical, and tied to business impact. The role is equally responsible for strengthening executive relationships, driving long-term client value, and expanding agency partnerships.
PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES:
Client Leadership & Business Advisory
Serve as the primary senior partner to client executives, bringing a deep understanding of the client’s business model, category dynamics, and growth strategy.
Lead conversations beyond media - advising on business challenges, customer strategy, and marketing effectiveness.
Translate business objectives into clear marketing and media approaches, ensuring all recommendations are anchored in driving business outcomes.
Build credibility as a strategic operator who can connect marketing decisions to financial and operational impact.
Business-to-Media Translation
Synthesize client business strategies into integrated marketing frameworks that leverage data, digital channels, technology, and advanced analytics.
Ensure media and marketing strategies are informed by a holistic understanding of the customer journey, data signals, and performance drivers.
Guide clients in navigating complex topics such as measurement, attribution, identity, privacy, personalization, and AI - framing them in terms of business value, not technical complexity.
Partner with internal specialists to shape solutions, ensuring they are aligned to client priorities and outcomes rather than siloed capabilities.
Client Relationship Leadership & Growth
Own and deepen senior client relationships, building trust through proactive, business-first thinking and consistent delivery of value.
Identify opportunities to expand the agency’s role by aligning capabilities to evolving client needs and strategic priorities.
Drive organic growth by uncovering whitespace, introducing new solutions, and elevating the agency’s impact within the client organization.
Lead development of long-term client roadmaps that advance marketing maturity, data utilization, and overall business performance.
Cross-Functional Leadership & Orchestration
Act as the central integrator across Media, Investment, Data & Insights, Technology, and Activation teams to deliver cohesive, client-centric solutions.
Ensure teams are aligned to client business objectives, not just channel or discipline-specific goals.
Lead and mentor teams so that they operate with a consultative, business-oriented mindset, elevating the role of client leadership across the organization.
Foster a culture of accountability, curiosity, and continuous learning - particularly in areas of data, digital innovation, and technology.
Thought Leadership & Business Development
Play a leading role in new business and growth initiatives, bringing a strong point of view on how modern marketing drives business outcomes.
Contribute to thought leadership that reflects the evolving intersection of media, data, technology, and business strategy.
Support RFPs, pitches, and executive presentations with compelling, business-driven narratives.
Represent the agency as a forward-thinking partner in areas such as AI, measurement, personalization, and the future of marketing.
Operational & Financial Leadership
Oversee account health, including financial performance, resource alignment, and delivery quality.
Ensure that strategic ambition is matched by operational excellence and executional rigor.
Maintain accountability for client satisfaction, retention, and long-term partnership value.
REQUIREMENTS:
10–15 years of experience in media, marketing, consulting, or related fields, with significant leadership experience at the VP level.
Media agency experience required, with a strong track record of client leadership and business advisory.
Demonstrated ability to understand and translate business strategy into marketing and media approaches that drive measurable outcomes.
Deep fluency in digital media, data and analytics, marketing technology (Mar Tech), advertising technology (AdTech), and measurement frameworks.
Strong understanding of how data, technology, and digital channels intersect to influence customer behavior and business performance.
Proven success building and growing senior client relationships, including driving organic revenue expansion.
Exceptional communication and storytelling skills, with the ability to simplify complex topics into clear, business-relevant narratives.
Experience leading cross-functional teams and operating within a matrixed organization.
Strong commercial acumen, with the ability to connect marketing strategies to financial impact.
Highly collaborative, influential, and confident engaging with executive stakeholders.
Please Note
: This is a hybrid position requiring a combination of in-office work at our Chicago location and remote work from home. The specific schedule will be finalized upon hire. We are only looking for candidates in/around the Chicago Metro Area and do not offer relocation assistance.
WHY WORK AT NOVUS:
We Bring Brands To Where People Live Their Lives.
NOVUS is an independent local media planning and buying agency. We are focused on local media of all types including video, audio, OOH, digital, and print. We have carved out a unique position in the marketplace; with comprehensive data sets, proprietary tools and some of the best strategists in the industry, NOVUS builds and executes plans that achieve remarkable results.
NOVUS provides a collaborative work environment, with career advancement potential and offers an array of benefits as well as considerable time off allowances. Additionally, as a mid-sized agency, team members have direct exposure to senior management on a regular basis and they get the opportunity to work on a range of assignments with significant responsibilities. By joining one of the premier media companies in the industry, you'll be part of a team that is passionate, engaged, forward-thinking and seizing opportunities daily.
Position Salary
We are committed to providing salary ranges for all open positions. Please note that the specific compensation for this role will be determined based on your experience, qualifications, location, and internal equity considerations. The salary range for this position is: $165,000 - $225,000. This range reflects the base salary for this position.
NOVUS Benefits
NOVUS offers a full array of health care and wellness benefits, which currently includes medical, prescription, dental, vision, life and accidental death & dismemberment insurances, short and long-term disability, pre-tax flexible spending accounts, a health savings account, legal services, identity theft protection and an employee assistance program. Eligible employees are those that are full-time salaried or part-time salaried employees working 30 hours per week or more, as well as those whose eligibility is required by applicable state law. A group retirement savings plan is also available to all salaried employees. While the Company continually seeks to improve upon and add to its current benefits suite, it believes you will find the benefit programs as comprehensive as any in the industry.
A Word on Diversity
Novus Media is committed to a policy of Equal Employment Opportunity and will not discriminate against and applicant or employee of the Company, on the basis of race, religion, ethnicity, national origin, ancestry, marital or family status, age, gender identity or expression, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or any other characteristic protected by law. Our agency is committed to creating a workplace where every employee feels welcomed, respected, and valued. We embrace diversity in all its forms, and we strongly encourage people from a variety of backgrounds to apply.