Director of Strategy and Experiential Content - Cincinnati - Hyperquake

Description

Director of Strategy and Experiential Content

The Director of Strategy & Experiential Content is a highly strategic creative leader with deep expertise in shaping and delivering complex, story-driven projects that challenge convention while achieving strategic impact. With 10+ years of experience navigating the ambiguity of early-phase development, this role excels at identifying opportunities, incubating ideas, and aligning stakeholders to move ambitious creative projects forward with clarity and confidence. The Director leads interdisciplinary teams to create narrative frameworks that transform spaces into experiences—combining artistic integrity, storytelling, and brand strategy to inspire audiences and drive action.

This role leads the strategy and content direction for experiential design projects, including large-scale brand experience centers, multi-installation environments, and immersive activations. Acting as both strategist and storyteller, the Director identifies key narratives, translates them into creative approaches, and guides their execution across physical and digital platforms. The position requires exceptional skill in stakeholder alignment, creative leadership, and strategic storytelling—ensuring every project is built on strong conceptual and strategic ground.

Primary Responsibilities:

Strategy and Storytelling

• Define and articulate the strategic direction for experiential projects, ensuring alignment with brand objectives.
• Extract insights from research and translate them into compelling story frameworks that build throughlines across space, time, and media.

Content and Experience Development

• Lead the design of story-based experiences that guide audiences through spaces and inspire action.
• Direct content development across mediums, including installations, multimedia, interactive, and branded content.
• Oversee concepting, scripting, storyboarding, and content execution for complex experiential environments.

Stakeholder Alignment and Leadership

• Secure early buy-in from client leadership teams by articulating strategy and creative vision.
• Lead and facilitate client stakeholder interviews, and forming key takeaway documentation.
• Collaborate across disciplines—designers, technologists, architects, and executives—to integrate storytelling with design.
• Build trust with clients and stakeholders by providing clear strategic guidance.

Team and Project Leadership

• Manage and mentor strategists and content creators in experiential practice.
• Oversee early-phase development processes, from ideation through concept alignment.
• Ensure projects move from ambiguity to clarity, maintaining both creative integrity and strategic direction.

Business Development and Leadership

• Contribute to new business opportunities by pitching creative concepts and strategic approaches.
• Stay at the forefront of experiential design, content innovation, and the convergence of digital and physical.
• Explore emerging technologies and creative methodologies to expand storytelling possibilities.

What we'd like you to bring to Hyperquake:

• Bachelor's degree in Communications, Marketing, Design, or related field (required).
• Advanced training in storytelling, media, or strategy preferred.
• 15–20+ years of progressive leadership experience in content strategy, creative direction, or experiential storytelling.
• Proven success leading strategy for experiential design, branded environments, or immersive activations.
• Track record of developing content for global brands and Fortune 500 companies.
• Experience spanning branded content, digital/physical convergence, live activations, and editorial programming.
• Expertise in content development across platforms—digital, physical, broadcast, and experiential.
• Strong grasp of brand strategy, audience insights, and consumer psychology.
• Familiarity with interactive technologies, multimedia production, and emerging storytelling formats.
• Proficiency with presentation tools (Keynote, PowerPoint, Google Slides) to deliver compelling narratives.
• Strong communicator with a balance of big-picture strategy and attention to detail.
• Thorough understanding of our clients, their industries, our competition and our markets.
• Commitment to quality, accuracy, and consistency including adherence to partner and brand standards..
• Excellent communication skills, with high comfort-level presenting to senior executives.
• Proven ability to influence and build strategic working relationships with senior clients, peers and vendors.
• Demonstrated experience in new mediums of storytelling, including large scale immersive installations, etc.
• Agency or design studio experience required.
• Ability to work Eastern time zone hours.
• Willingness to travel, as needed (~ 25%)
• Ideal candidate will be able to work a hybrid schedule in our Brooklyn, NY or Cincinnati, OH office.