Associate Strategist

By good fortune and careful curation, the core of SRG is incredible people. Incredibly good at what they do. Incredibly nice. Incredibly passionate. Incredibly human. It adds up to an atmosphere where it’s safe to take chances, dream big, and help redefine what a next-century “agency” looks like. We are independent, privately held, and majority women-owned and led. While we have a long history, we are dedicated to evolving to meet the moment.

Position Description:

We’re looking for a creative and agile individual to join the Innovation team at Sterling-Rice Group (SRG) as an Associate Strategistin Colorado. The Innovation team at SRG is our consulting practice, and we’re usually working on brand strategy and new product innovation projects that leverage primary and secondary market research (both qualitative and quantitative). With a client list that includes Fortune 500 companies and small start-ups and spans food and beverage manufacturers, restaurants, and commodity boards, as well as lifestyle brands, health and wellness companies, and personal care manufacturers, we can assure you that you won’t get bored.

But enough about us! What about you and this role?

Responsibilities:

Here’s a glimpse of some of what you’d be spending your time on in the role of Associate Strategist:

• Planning, coordinating, and executing highly creative innovation sessions and workshops (both virtual and in-person) designed to generate new positioning and product ideas.
• Coordinating and analyzing qualitative research to uncover rich consumer insights to inspire brand positioning, innovation, and communications.
• Assisting in the development and writing of creative concepts for consumer testing.
• Assisting in the development and writing of strategic reports and recommendations.
• Working with designers, copywriters, culinarians, and other cross-functional team members to create and refine client deliverables.
• Tracking project plans, timelines, budgets, client billing, and other project management tasks.
• Client management, including regular client communication and briefing internal teams on all aspects of a client’s business and their key competitors.
• Leading portions of key presentations, stakeholder interviews, and meetings.

You’re likely a good fit for the role if:

• You are an insatiably curious contributor. You’re a sponge for information, and you enthusiastically welcome the opportunity to learn about new industries, companies, and methods, and you’re eager to share emerging trends and new learnings with your teammates.
• You make progress in the face of ambiguity. You’re not intimidated by a few question marks about what comes next (or if you are, you don’t let that stop you from moving forward!).
• You can handle the details. We’re a small team and we all need to zoom into the details and zoom out to see the big picture. You are comfortable coordinating the nitty gritty details while keeping the big picture in mind.
• You are a team player. You work well with others in team environments with a positive, flexible attitude.
• You are ready for business travel. Depending on the projects you’re working on, you might be traveling a bit for this role. Before the pandemic, we estimated about 25% travel per month, but it’s probably more like 15% these days.
• You are comfortable with Microsoft Office. We create PowerPoint presentations, write reports in Word documents, and collaborate in Outlook and Teams. If you’re already proficient in these, you’ll be ready to go on day one.

Desired Skills + Requirements:

• We’re on the lookout for individuals with a bachelor’s degree (or equivalent experience) and one to two years of professional experience, ideally in CPG, innovation, brand, and/or marketing. We’re a hybrid team that regularly works from home, but you’ll need to be able to come into our Boulder, Colorado office for client engagements and team meetings a couple of times per month.
• Local to Colorado’s Front Range
• Salary range is $50,000 - $60,000, commensurate with experience.

If your background and experience doesn’t fully align with the above requirements, but you’re excited about this role, please still apply! Part of what makes our team so awesome is the diversity of experience and backgrounds that people bring to our work.

Finally, if you haven’t already, take a spin through our website to learn more about SRG. If you’re hoping to work in advertising or communications, check out roles on our Career’s page that reference “Account.” On the Innovation team, we oftentimes work with our colleagues on the advertising side of the business, but advertising work predominantly lives with the Account, Media, and Creative teams at SRG.