Associate Director, Strategy, Social Commerce and Influencer

About the role

CJ Influence, the influencer and creator commerce arm of CJ (Commission Junction), which is part of Publicis Groupe, is hiring an Associate Director of Strategy in Chicago. Reporting to the Senior Director of Business Development and Strategy, this is a senior individual contributor and strategic partner to the sales and business development team. The role develops insight-led strategies and proposals for prospective clients across influencer, creator, affiliate and social commerce, focusing on pre-sales strategy, research, proposal development, solution design, thought leadership and client presentation rather than day-to-day account ownership.

Key responsibilities

• Partner with sales and business development leaders on prospective-client opportunities, briefs, RFPs and proactive pitches.
• Translate client objectives and needs into differentiated influencer and creator commerce strategies.
• Develop strategic narratives, pitch materials, proposals, program recommendations and executive presentations.
• Design creator commerce programs across the customer journey and build TikTok Shop strategies, especially TikTok Shop Affiliate, including creator recruitment, product seeding, commission strategy and performance optimization.
• Recommend platforms such as LTK and ShopMy based on the client's audience, category and measurement needs.
• Conduct competitive, category, creator, platform and market research and turn it into actionable recommendations.
• Build frameworks, segmentation approaches, creator briefs, activation roadmaps, measurement plans and test-and-learn agendas.
• Develop business cases linking creator activity to outcomes such as engagement, traffic, conversion, revenue, GMV, ROAS and affiliate sales.
• Work with influencer, account management, media, analytics, creative, commerce and operations teams, and present proposals to clients and internal leadership.
• Help build reusable strategic frameworks, proposal tools, case studies and thought leadership.

Required profile

• Approximately 7 or more years of relevant experience in influencer marketing, creator marketing, affiliate marketing, social commerce, digital strategy or a related discipline preferred.
• Demonstrated experience developing influencer or creator strategies for brands, agencies, platforms, retailers or commerce organizations.
• Experience with new-business proposals, RFP responses, pitch development and client presentations.
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent relevant professional experience.

Required skills

• Strong working knowledge of TikTok Shop, especially TikTok Shop Affiliate.
• Familiarity with affiliate and subaffiliate platforms such as LTK and ShopMy.
• Understanding of creator discovery, segmentation, compensation and commission models, product seeding, shoppable content, paid amplification and performance measurement.
• Excellent presentation and executive communication skills, and ability to build persuasive PowerPoint decks.

What we offer

• Salary range of USD 106,780 to 153,405 per year, depending on skills and experience.
• Hybrid work, 3 days a week in the office.
• Medical, dental and vision coverage, 401K matching, wellness programs and flexible time off.
• Paid holidays, parental bonding leave, backup care options, team-building events, referral program, annual recognition awards and an employee discount program.