Job Details

Updated: October 2, 2025
Location: Santa Monica, CA, United States

The SVP Strategy Lead is able to work and balance all sides of the agency/client relationship by translating customer and scientific insights into a strategic point of view that can ground a team, lead to insightful strategic creative, adhere to measurable brand objectives and ultimately, elate clients.

Key Responsibilities:

• Discipline Leadership. The SVP Strategic Lead oversees the Brand and Customer Experience Strategy disciplines ensuring best-in-class strategic leadership of accounts, realizing the potential of brands through business-driving customer and scientific insights. Leadership of direct-report team members is critical to the success and scale of this position.
• Strategic Leadership. The SVP Strategic Lead works proactively in ensuring agency value by leveraging brand, consumer and market insights into the development of a superior brand strategy and creative brand story that is unique to the marketplace. The SVP Strategy Lead has an ability to create a brand gestalt that depicts a unified strategy that clients, creatives and media can rally behind.
• Strategic Collaborator and Innovator. In partnership with Syneos Health comms centralized services, the SVP Strategic Lead works to advance the strategic prowess of GSW-LA and Syneos Health by partnering with new business, innovation, and Kinetic to strengthen the agency's strategic capabilities and enhance client value. The SVP Strategic Lead also taps into the vast resources of Syneos Health Clinical and Commercial teams to fulfill on the role's strategic responsibilities and realize the value proposition of Syneos Health.
• Research Savvy. The SVP Strategy Lead offers teams and clients a new perspective on the value of research as the collaborative interface between the agency, brand team and market research vendor. The SVP Strategy Lead ensures that appropriate research methods are employed, and insights are garnered to meet agency and client objectives in launching and building successful brands.
• Bring Brand to Life. The SVP Strategy Lead uses human truths and business strategy to drive the brand creation process. Through strong collaboration with the Creative team, this role ensures that communications are on-strategy and emotionally resonate with all audiences throughout the brand creation or creative development process.

Requirements:

• BS/BA (preferably in fields related to communication, analysis and/or critical thinking, such as journalism, liberal arts, human behavior sciences).
• 15 years marketing and advertising experience, at least 10 of which are in a planning and strategy role within an agency with direct client-facing and creative-facing responsibilities.
• Bachelor's degree required. Graduate degree preferred in behavioral sciences, business marketing and/or advertising.
• Previous supervisory experience, esp. in building, staffing and mentoring subordinates.

The annual base salary for this position ranges from $200,000 to $230,000. The base salary range represents the anticipated low and high of the Syneos Health range for this position. Actual salary will vary based on various factors such as the candidate's qualifications, skills, competencies, and proficiency for the role.

Syneos Health is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, age, religion, marital status, ethnicity, national origin, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, protected veteran status, disability or any other legally protected status and will not be discriminated against.