Director, Analytics and Data Strategy

Company Description

Merkle is a leading data-driven, technology-enabled, global performance marketing agency that specializes in the delivery of unique, personalized customer experiences across platforms and devices. For more than 30 years, Fortune 1000 companies and leading nonprofit organizations have partnered with Merkle to maximize the value of their customer portfolios. The agency’s heritage in data, technology, and analytics forms the foundation for its unmatched skills in understanding consumer insights that drive people-based marketing strategies. Its combined strengths in performance media, customer experience, customer relationship management, loyalty, and enterprise marketing technology drive improved marketing results and competitive advantage. With 9,600+ employees, Merkle is headquartered in Columbia, Maryland, with 50+ additional offices throughout the US, EMEA, and APAC. In 2016, the agency joined the Dentsu Aegis Network. For more information, contact Merkle at 1-877-9-Merkle or visit www.merkleinc.com.

Job Description

Alignment to Data Strategy Vision:

• Senior-level client and team analytics leader and problem-solver.
• Focus on data strategy – aligning data resources and collection and analytics methods to client goals and questions.
• Team leadership – lead and mentor resources to scale team engagement and support small- and large-scale client loyalty engagements from initiation to data-driven loyalty. 
• Build strong client relationships – able to discuss data and analytics in client-accessible ways, empowering the client to socialize findings confidently.
• Successful track record delivering actionable insights and recommendations to clients from user-level, behavioral data. 
• Create client growth by proactively identifying P&LS-addressable opportunities from data, analysis, and client context.
• Orchestrate and delegate analysis efforts to offshore resources, ensuring that the solution addresses the problem/question appropriately and reliably.
• Document and drive data requirements to execute data-driven marketing programs (targeting, personalization, and relevance).
• Experienced to discuss and guide the choice of analytical approaches to achieve objectives and outcomes.
• Support development of new capabilities (AI, Emotion).

Responsibilities:

• Create client growth by proactively identifying and defining data-focused solutions supporting client objectives - build them into blueprints, measurement plans, pitches, and strategy decks.
• Lead analytics and measurement for Strategic accounts, leveraging and integrating the LXM approach.
• Develop and/or oversee measurement plans and strategies to provide program insights, address learning objectives and improve the effectiveness of the program.
• Write and/or review briefs to overseas resources, defining and specifying requirements for Data Science projects (predictive analytics, ML, AI) and lead/oversee the delivery of solutions from the results.
• Partner with external analytics stakeholders to confidently drive scalable solutions to address a client challenges (i.e., defining an approach, shaping the methods to apply to specific use case).
• Provide thought leadership and act as the subject matter expert in the identification and deployment of data-driven solutions.
• Translate unclear “draft” learning objectives into clear, executable data analysis that addresses causality as well as connection. 
• Present findings to clients clearly and cogently, with a focus on delivering understanding that the client can confidently translate to their teams, peers and leadership.
• Where needed, apply statistical concepts and techniques to analyze experiments and predict user behavior and behavioral drivers for accuracy and client alignment.

Qualifications

• 8+ years’ experience in data science or analytics roles delivering reporting, data-driven insights, predictive modeling, and recommendations to internal or external clients.
• Record of excellence developing integrated long-term analytics programs for clients, based on goals and business model.
• Master’s (preferred) degree in a quantitative field (STEM or quantitative social sciences), or STEM Bachelor’s degree with MBA.
• Demonstrated strong presentation and storytelling with data skills.  Be able to deliver clear value from effort while simplifying the complexity for business audience while partnering with other disciplines to deliver on recommendations.
• Ability to confidently query, manipulate, extract and analyze data using Python, R and/or SQL to derive strong, supportable data-driven conclusions.
• Experience with cloud-based big data platforms – e.g., Redshift, Big Query, Teradata.
• Experience using Machine Learning and statistical data analysis tool/libraries such as NumPy, SciPy, scikit-learn, or equivalent to drive effective predictive modeling using Regression, Clustering, Scoring.
• Proficient on querying and reducing data from large database repositories and/or flat files and combining those data to generate and extend dimensional analysis and modeling.
• Knowledge of the digital marketing ecosystem and fluency with common ad tech platforms and technologies.
• Measurement experience across multiple marketing domains (e.g., media and CRM).
• Experimental design and offer testing – both theory and practice.
• Experience and competence with Power BI or other front-end visualization tools.
• Strong and demonstrated strategic thinking and business acumen.
• Strong organizational skills – task prioritization, effective time management, meeting facilitation, conflict resolution, and risk identification/mitigation.

Additional Information

Employees from diverse or underrepresented backgrounds encouraged to apply.
Dentsu (the "Company") is committed to a policy of Equal Employment Opportunity and will not discriminate against an applicant or employee of the Company, on the basis of age, sex, sexual orientation, race, color, creed, religion, ethnicity, national origin, alienage or citizenship, disability, marital status, veteran or military status, genetic information, or any other legally-recognized protected basis under federal, state or local laws, regulations or ordinances. Applicants with disabilities may be entitled to reasonable accommodation under the terms of the Americans with Disabilities Act and/or certain state or local laws. A reasonable accommodation is a change in the way things are normally done that will ensure an equal employment opportunity without imposing an undue hardship on the Company. Please contact recruiting@dentsuaegis.com if you need assistance completing any forms or to otherwise participate in the application process or to request or discuss an accommodation in connection with a job at the Company to which you are applying.

The anticipated salary range for this position is $136,000-$219,650. Salary is based on a range of factors that include relevant experience, knowledge, skills, other job-related qualifications, and geography.  

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About dentsu 
Dentsu is the network designed for what’s next, helping clients predict and plan for disruptive future opportunities in the sustainable economy. Taking a people-centered approach to business transformation, dentsu combines Japanese innovation with a diverse, global perspective to drive client growth and to shape society www.dentsu.com. 

We are champions for meaningful progress and we strive to be a force for good—for our people, for our clients, for the industry and for our society. We keep our people at the center, creating space for growth, understanding and learning so they can thrive. We embed diversity, in our mindset, in our solutions and in our teams to empower an inclusive, equitable and culturally fluent environment. Building this culture within our teams makes us better collaborators with each other and with our clients, driving better outcomes for all.

Dentsu (the "Company") is committed to a policy of Equal Employment Opportunity and will not discriminate against an applicant or employee of the Company, on the basis of age, sex, sexual orientation, race, color, creed, religion, ethnicity, national origin, alienage or citizenship, disability, marital status, veteran or military status, genetic information, or any other legally-recognized protected basis under federal, state or local laws, regulations or ordinances. Applicants with disabilities may be entitled to reasonable accommodation under the terms of the Americans with Disabilities Act and/or certain state or local laws. A reasonable accommodation is a change in the way things are normally done that will ensure an equal employment opportunity without imposing an undue hardship on the Company. Please contact your recruiter if you need assistance completing any forms or to otherwise participate in the application process or to request or discuss an accommodation in connection with a job at the Company to which you are applying.