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VP, Brand Strategy (Healthcare Provider)

Kansas City, MO

At MERGE, we are Built Different. We are a marketing and technology agency purpose-built for the intersection of health and wellness—where human impact matters most. By weaving storytelling through technology, we move beyond traditional engagement to Whole Human Marketing. This approach recognizes that humans are multidimensional and complex, and uses AI to ensure every brand interaction feels natural, contextual, and relevant.

This commitment to human-first innovation is what brings us together and propels us forward. We are united by our North Star: to unite people and brands to empower healthier, happier lives.

Emerge to the Top of Your Career

At MERGE, we strive to create a superior work experience where talented and ambitious people grow. An experience that encourages people to think higher and feel deeper. An experience where people engage their minds and hearts to do the best work of their careers.

As our VP, Brand Strategy you will…

Be a creative and intellectual leader who believes that Health brands can be as powerful, distinctive, and emotionally resonant as the best consumer brands. You'll serve as a strategic brand leader for our Provider and Health clients, partnering with the most senior leadership to guide them toward bold solutions and drive business growth. Internally, you will be a key leader, sparking new ways of looking at the world and helping drive strategies and solutions that solve the real client issue. Ultimately, you will independently lead the development of large-scale and complex brand strategy deliverables, ensuring excellence across all stages of the process.

MERGE is at an exciting inflection point. With a strategic focus on Health and Wellness and a strong commitment to expanding Brand Strategy, this role offers the opportunity to play a pivotal part in shaping the next chapter of our practice.

About MERGE Brand Strategy

Our clients come to MERGE because they need more than a traditional brand strategy; they need a strategy built for the complex reality of the modern consumer. Where other agencies have a strategic blind spot, lacking either the health or lifestyle lens, MERGE has a superpower: The Whole Human Insight Advantage.

This is our proprietary strategic mindset that informs every recommendation we make. We believe that to drive true growth, you must deeply understand the individual across their entire life: as a consumer and as a patient. By intentionally triangulating insights across our Lifestyle and Health divisions, we gain a complete, empathetic view of their motivations and challenges, ensuring our strategy fuels a brand journey that is relevant, seamless, and ultimately advances the crucial work of our clients’ brands.

These are the qualifications that we’re looking for

Strategic Command

  • Architect of Strategy: Lead the development of large-scale, complex brand strategies and "Big M" marketing visions for both current clients and new business pitches. You will drive the creation of foundational outputs—including audience insights, positioning, launch strategies, and brand plans—while maintaining the agility to tailor strategic frameworks to the unique demands of the job at hand. Additionally, demonstrate a deep understanding of healthcare delivery business pain points and the ability to address C-suite priorities in this space.
  • Collaborative Leadership: Lead effective collaboration with clients, creative leads, and extended partners in both informal and formal settings—such as brand workshops and creative ideation—to develop and sell inventive, strategic solutions.
  • Insight & Innovation: Champion the use of inventive research methodologies to discover fresh customer insights that others miss, ensuring our work is grounded in deep human truth. Leverage predictive and generative AI tools to validate brand hypotheses and scale hyper-personalized creative strategies. Additionally, connect modern marketing strategies (e.g., AI, tech, apps) to healthcare transformation trends and articulate their role in driving industry change.
  • Inspire Creative Excellence: Write the "master briefs" and partner closely with creative leaders to ensure our strategic vision translates into award-winning, culturally relevant creative work.
    Inspire Creative Excellence: Write the "master briefs" and partner closely with creative leaders to ensure our strategic vision translates into award-winning, culturally relevant creative work.

Leadership & Commercial Growth

  • Drive Business Growth: Uncover insights tied to client business objectives that unlock growth; actively leading strategy for new business pitches and identifying opportunities to expand services with existing clients.
  • Client Advisory: Act as a strategic advisor to C-Suite clients, guiding them toward bold solutions and encouraging investment in progressive brand building. Build strong relationships with specific stakeholders such as CMOs and leaders at major health systems to ensure alignment with their unique needs and priorities.
  • Technology Integration: Actively champion and embed AI-driven strategic tools and proprietary platforms into the Brand Strategy workflow, ensuring our team is a first-adopter and active contributor to our firm’s AI roadmap.
    Technology Integration: Actively champion and embed AI-driven strategic tools and proprietary platforms into the Brand Strategy workflow, ensuring our team is a first-adopter and active contributor to our firm’s AI roadmap.
  • Cultivate Trust: Build trusting partnerships across MERGE by educating stakeholders and demonstrating the value of the Brand Strategy offering. In this role, you will foster an environment of curiosity regarding culture and human behavior, while actively overseeing the professional development and strategic deployment of strategy staff. Additionally, demonstrate executive presence through high-quality deliverables, strong follow-through, and the ability to inspire confidence in strategic leadership roles.

Industry Authority & Thought Leadership

  • Drive the Conversation: Author and publish forward-thinking thought leadership pieces (white papers, articles) that challenge the status quo and elevate our agency’s reputation. Proactively engage with clients by asking insightful questions to uncover their priorities and needs, ensuring strategies are tailored to their goals.
  • Trend Analysis: Simplify market complexity to provide a clear analysis of trends, translating them into opportunities that position our clients (and our agency) ahead of the curve.
    Trend Analysis: Simplify market complexity to provide a clear analysis of trends, translating them into opportunities that position our clients (and our agency) ahead of the curve.

These are the qualifications we're looking for

  • Environment Experience: 12+ years of relevant professional brand strategy experience, primarily within a marketing agency setting, supporting external accounts. 
  • Client Experience: 4+ years of recent Hospital/Health Systems experience, with a proven track record of achieving ambitious outcomes for companies ranging from agile start-ups to Fortune 100 organizations.
  • Healthcare Provider System Focus: Expert ability to apply strategic principles across complex health systems while navigating industry-specific nuances and regulatory landscapes.
  • Integrated Marketing Leadership: Proven expertise in architecting holistic strategies across a complex stakeholder ecosystem—including consumers, physicians, donors, the business community, and internal teams. You possess a deep ability to design seamless, multi-channel brand journeys that leverage digital experiences and segment-driven insights to ensure a cohesive and impactful brand presence.

At MERGE, we’re committed to fostering an environment where our team members can thrive in both their careers and personal lives, ensuring they feel supported and empowered to succeed.

MERGE believes in transparency and equity. In accordance with state regulations, we’re proud to include salary ranges in our job postings to ensure fair compensation practices.

The salary range for this role is $147,000 - $177,000, based on the individual’s skills, experience, qualifications, location, and other relevant factors. The salary pay range is subject to change and may be modified at any time.  

MERGE is proud to invest in benefits that include meaningful Medical, Dental, Vision, Life Insurance, 401K, Lifestyle Spending Account, Employer Paid Life & Disability Insurance, Flexible Time off & Holidays plus many other benefits and rewards.

Applicants for employment in the US must have work authorization that does not now or in the future require sponsorship of a visa for employment authorization in the United States.

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And here’s how we live our values at MERGE

  • Ability. Mastering our craft
  • Agility. Delivering with a growth mindset
  • Humility. Collaborating for shared success

MERGE is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer

MERGE welcomes and celebrates diversity regardless of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, veteran status or people with abilities. We believe that the more diverse we are, the more creative our work will be!

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