Instrument is a design and technology company. We build brands, products, and experiences that move businesses forward—by making the complex simple.
For over 20 years, we’ve partnered with companies like Google, ServiceNow, Uber, Eventbrite, and ŌURA, helping them navigate change, launch new ideas, and grow with intention.
Our work spans Brand, Marketing, and Product, but what defines us is how we work. We bring strategy, design, and engineering together from the start, moving quickly from idea to execution and refining as we go. We aim to do great work and be great to work with, because both matter.
We’re a collaborative, hands-on team with roots in Portland and New York and a distributed presence across the U.S. and Europe. We build teams around the needs of the work, staying nimble without sacrificing craft.
We value curiosity, perspective, and continuous learning, and we’re committed to building an inclusive environment where people can do their best work.
If that sounds like you, we’d love to meet you.
A Strategy Director at Instrument is a senior leader responsible for the quality, vision, and impact of strategy across clients, teams, and the broader organization.
This role operates at a systems level—shaping how strategy shows up across brand, product, experience, content, and business thinking—while ensuring it is clear, cohesive, and consistently high quality.
In this case, you’ll embed deeply with a major client, leading strategy across a wide range of workstreams. You’ll connect the dots across initiatives, ensuring that individual efforts contribute to a larger, unified direction. At the same time, you’ll contribute to the broader discipline—helping define standards, evolve ways of working, and scale impact beyond a single account.
You’ll be a trusted strategic partner to clients and a key collaborator internally—balancing
What You'll Do
- You’ll shape strategic vision and direction across a portfolio of work—ensuring rigor, clarity, and coherence from early discovery through delivery.
- You’ll lead strategy for a complex, high-impact client—holding the thread across multiple workstreams and helping teams navigate ambiguity with strong judgment and clear direction.
- You’ll connect brand, product, marketing, and experience thinking—ensuring that strategy is not fragmented, but integrated and working toward a cohesive whole.
- You’ll act as a senior client partner—building trusted relationships, guiding decisions, and helping shape long-term strategy and partnership direction.
- You’ll identify opportunities for growth—contributing to new business efforts, shaping pitches, and expanding the scope and impact of the work.
- You’ll lead and develop strategy teams—mentoring senior strategists, fostering a culture of excellence, and ensuring teams are supported, challenged, and doing their best work.
- You’ll contribute to the evolution of the discipline—defining and scaling strategic frameworks, improving ways of working, and helping raise the bar for quality across the organization.
What You'll Bring
- You’ve led strategy at a senior level and are comfortable operating across multiple projects, teams, or accounts—balancing depth with breadth.
- You bring a broad set of strategy skills across brand, digital, product, content, and marketing, with deeper expertise in at least a few of these areas.
- You’re skilled at connecting insights to action—using research, synthesis, and storytelling to shape clear, compelling strategic direction.
- You’re an effective facilitator and communicator, able to lead workshops, guide conversations, and influence senior stakeholders with confidence and clarity.
- You have experience building and leading teams—setting expectations, developing talent, and creating a strong, collaborative culture.
- You understand how to balance client needs, business goals, and delivery realities—making decisions that are both ambitious and practical.
- You’re curious about emerging tools and technologies, and you apply sound judgment about how they can meaningfully improve the work.
Pay Range
The expected pay range for this position is [$150,000-$210,000] for our base US Region 3*. We have three regional pay ranges that are adjusted for cost of living (US1 +15%, US2 +7.5%, US3 Base), learn more about our pay philosophy and cost of living adjustments
What We Offer
Flexible, Hybrid Work Environment
Great Compensation with Annual Reviews (Learn more about our Pay Philosophy)
401(k) Matching with Immediate Vesting
Robust Medical, Vision, and Accident Insurance
Generous Paid Holidays and unlimited PTO
Monthly Wellbeing Stipend
Career Management and Leadership Training
Flexible, Hybrid Work Environment
Great Compensation with Annual Reviews (Learn more about our Pay Philosophy)
401(k) Matching with Immediate Vesting
Robust Medical, Vision, and Accident Insurance
Generous Paid Holidays and unlimited PTO
Monthly Wellbeing Stipend
Career Management and Leadership Training
Top Skills
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