Senior Strategy Consultant
17 days ago
New York
Job DescriptionDescription: About Indie Founded in 2018, Indie Consulting is a fast-growing, strategy-led marketing consultancy that partners with some of the most exciting brands in CPG and beyond! We foster an empowering environment built on creativity and dedication, helping our clients tell their stories with clarity and impact. At Indie, we’ve created a collaborative culture where professional and personal growth is the norm. Our team leads with empathy, supports one another, and strives to deliver meaningful results that leave things better than we found them. If you’re energized by smart strategy, great people, and real opportunities for growth, we’d love to meet you! The Role The Senior Strategy Consultant, Digital Shelf is a hybrid strategist and practitioner who sits at the intersection of content strategy, retailer optimization, and AI-era discoverability. This role is designed for someone who thinks in frameworks but isn’t afraid to get hands-on — writing a brief, auditing a PDP, or refining written copy themselves when the work calls for it. You’ll lead strategic expertise across the digital shelf landscape. You’ll advise on how brands show up across the full commerce ecosystem — from retailer PDPs on Amazon, Walmart, and Target, to brand-owned and D2C digital experiences — and how that content must evolve to perform in a world increasingly shaped by AI search, answer engines, and agentic commerce. This role is ideal for someone who has built a real point of view on the digital shelf — not just as a channel, but as a brand expression — and who can translate that POV into content principles, creative briefs, and measurable results. Key Responsibilities: Digital Shelf Strategy & Client Leadership • Lead end-to-end digital shelf strategy engagements for Indie clients across CPG and retail categories, from discovery and audit through framework development and activation., • Serve as a senior day-to-day strategic partner to client stakeholders, leading working sessions, presenting recommendations, and guiding decisions with confidence and clarity., • Develop strategic frameworks that define best-in-class content standards across retailer PDPs, brand-owned sites, and D2C experiences — and translate those standards into actionable direction for client and creative teams., • Proactively identify opportunities, competitive gaps, and optimization priorities across a client’s digital shelf footprint. Written & Visual Content Strategy • Own written content strategy across the full 7OA stack: title and SKL optimization, bullet copy, below-the-fold product descriptions, A+ premium narrative, and brand store storytelling., • Develop and brief visual content with precision — including supplementary images, A+ module creative direction, brand store art, and super shoot-ready shot lists. You don’t need to be a designer; you need to be able to brief one clearly and hold them to a standard., • Write and review content yourself when needed — SKLs, content briefs, principle frameworks, and playbooks are all in scope. This is a hybrid role; you’ll direct others and get hands-on in equal measure., • Translate content strategy into production-ready briefs that enable execution teams, photographers, and content agencies to deliver on-brief, on-time, and on-brand. AI Discoverability, AEO & Search Strategy • Advise clients on how AI-driven search, answer engine optimization (AEO), and large language model discoverability affect how their products are found, surfaced, and chosen — across retailer search and AI-assisted commerce experiences alike., • Apply AEO principles directly to written content strategy — including how product descriptions, benefit copy, and structured content affect a brand’s visibility in AI-generated answers, zero-click results, and agentic shopping flows., • Stay current on the evolving search and discoverability landscape — retailer algorithm updates, Amazon search changes, Google Shopping integrations, emerging AI commerce surfaces — and translate that knowledge into practical, actionable client guidance., • Champion content architecture and metadata strategy as foundational to digital shelf performance, not an afterthought to creative execution. Retailer & Platform Expertise • Demonstrate fluency across major retailer ecosystems — Amazon (7OA, A+ premium, brand store, Vendor and Seller Central), Walmart, Target, and emerging platforms — with a familiarity for how each platform’s content requirements, algorithms, and shopper behaviors differ., • Apply best-practice standards across brand-owned and D2C digital experiences as well as retail environments, understanding how content strategy must shift between owned and retail contexts., • Conduct competitive audits and shelf analyses to identify gaps, benchmark performance, and surface insight that sharpens strategy. Mentorship & Team Leadership • Manage and mentor junior strategy team members, providing guidance on thinking, structure, and client communication, • Delegate work thoughtfully, balancing clear direction with autonomy to support team growth, • Model strong ownership, accountability, and professionalism across engagements Operate with Ownership & Strategic Judgment • Identify risks early and lead the development of practical, creative solutions, • Make informed decisions that balance client success, team capacity, and operational realities, • Maintain a high bar for quality, clarity, and follow-through in all work Requirements: Key Responsibilities: Digital Shelf Strategy & Client Leadership • Lead end-to-end digital shelf strategy engagements for Indie clients across CPG and retail categories, from discovery and audit through framework development and activation., • Serve as a senior day-to-day strategic partner to client stakeholders, leading working sessions, presenting recommendations, and guiding decisions with confidence and clarity., • Develop strategic frameworks that define best-in-class content standards across retailer PDPs, brand-owned sites, and D2C experiences — and translate those standards into actionable direction for client and creative teams., • Proactively identify opportunities, competitive gaps, and optimization priorities across a client’s digital shelf footprint. Written & Visual Content Strategy • Own written content strategy across the full 7OA stack: title and SKL optimization, bullet copy, below-the-fold product descriptions, A+ premium narrative, and brand store storytelling., • Develop and brief visual content with precision — including supplementary images, A+ module creative direction, brand store art, and super shoot-ready shot lists. You don’t need to be a designer; you need to be able to brief one clearly and hold them to a standard., • Write and review content yourself when needed — SKLs, content briefs, principle frameworks, and playbooks are all in scope. This is a hybrid role; you’ll direct others and get hands-on in equal measure., • Translate content strategy into production-ready briefs that enable execution teams, photographers, and content agencies to deliver on-brief, on-time, and on-brand. AI Discoverability, AEO & Search Strategy • Advise clients on how AI-driven search, answer engine optimization (AEO), and large language model discoverability affect how their products are found, surfaced, and chosen — across retailer search and AI-assisted commerce experiences alike., • Apply AEO principles directly to written content strategy — including how product descriptions, benefit copy, and structured content affect a brand’s visibility in AI-generated answers, zero-click results, and agentic shopping flows., • Stay current on the evolving search and discoverability landscape — retailer algorithm updates, Amazon search changes, Google Shopping integrations, emerging AI commerce surfaces — and translate that knowledge into practical, actionable client guidance., • Champion content architecture and metadata strategy as foundational to digital shelf performance, not an afterthought to creative execution. Retailer & Platform Expertise • Demonstrate fluency across major retailer ecosystems — Amazon (7OA, A+ premium, brand store, Vendor and Seller Central), Walmart, Target, and emerging platforms — with a familiarity for how each platform’s content requirements, algorithms, and shopper behaviors differ., • Apply best-practice standards across brand-owned and D2C digital experiences as well as retail environments, understanding how content strategy must shift between owned and retail contexts., • Conduct competitive audits and shelf analyses to identify gaps, benchmark performance, and surface insight that sharpens strategy. Mentorship & Team Leadership • Manage and mentor junior strategy team members, providing guidance on thinking, structure, and client communication, • Delegate work thoughtfully, balancing clear direction with autonomy to support team growth, • Model strong ownership, accountability, and professionalism across engagements Operate with Ownership & Strategic Judgment • Identify risks early and lead the development of practical, creative solutions, • Make informed decisions that balance client success, team capacity, and operational realities, • Maintain a high bar for quality, clarity, and follow-through in all work Skills, Knowledge & Qualifications • 4–6 years of experience in digital shelf strategy, e-commerce content strategy, or retail marketing — agency, brand-side, or consultancy., • Proven experience developing and executing content strategies for retailer PDPs, with hands-on experience on Amazon and at least one major mass retailer (Walmart, Target, or equivalent)., • Meaningful exposure to brand-owned and/or D2C digital content — understanding how the same brand must communicate differently across owned and retail environments., • Experience developing or briefing both written and visual content for digital commerce: SKL copy, A+ premium, supplementary imagery, and brand store., • Working knowledge of AEO, AI search discoverability, or structured content strategy and how these principles intersect with written product content and digital shelf visibility., • Client-facing experience — comfortable leading presentations, working sessions, and strategic conversations with senior marketing stakeholders., • Strong written communication — you can write a precise brief, a content principle, or an SKL yourself, not just critique someone else’s work., • Visual fluency — you can articulate what makes an image work strategically and brief a creative team or photographer with specificity., • Systems thinker — you connect written copy, visual content, metadata, and discoverability as one coherent strategy, not separate workstreams., • Comfortable operating at multiple altitudes — equally capable of writing a strategic framework and getting into the weeds on a single PDP., • Organized and deadline-driven, with strong project management instincts and the ability to manage multiple workstreams across clients simultaneously., • Proficiency in Google Workspace and comfort with tools like Mural, Canva, and project management platforms (ClickUp, Asana, or equivalent). Why Join Us? • Senior Strategists at Indie shape strategy, elevate teams, and influence decisions across disciplines, • You’ll deepen your leadership skills while driving meaningful, visible client impact, • Competitive salary with opportunities for growth and professional development., • Hybrid work environment with a focus on work-life balance. Reporting Relationship: Associate Director of Strategy Education & Experience: Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Communications, or related field, or equivalent professional experience. Location: This role is based in Raleigh, NC or New York, NY with a hybrid schedule of three in-office days (T-TH) and two remote days (M-F) each week. Salary Description: $95,000- $115,000+ benefits & bonus eligibility
