Group Director, Experience Strategy

Company: VML
Location: Dearborn
Posted on: January 26, 2026

Job Description:

About VML VML is a leading creative company that combines brand experience, customer experience, and commerce, creating connected brands to drive growth. VML is celebrated for its innovative and human first, award-winning work for blue chip client partners including AstraZeneca, Colgate-Palmolive, Dell, Ford, Microsoft, Nestlé, The Coca-Cola Company, and Wendys. The agency is recognized by the Forrester Wave™ Reports, as a Leader among Marketing Creative and Content Service Providers, Commerce Services, Global Digital Experience Services, Global Marketing Services and, most recently, Marketing Measurement & Optimization. In addition, VML’s specialist health network, VML Health, is one of the world’s largest and most awarded health agencies. VML’s global network is powered by 26,000 talented people across 55 markets, with principal offices in Kansas City, New York, Detroit, London, São Paulo, Shanghai, Singapore, and Sydney. The Role As a Group Director of Experience Strategy, you will lead and drive programs leveraging a human-centered approach that translates human empathy and an understanding of the world into meaningful and impactful experiences. Our experience strategy capability reframes business challenges to uncover untapped opportunities to create human-centered products, services, and experiences that deepen customer relationships and accelerate business growth. Working as an integral lead within the experience strategy and customer experience (CX) teams, you will establish, maintain, and grow relationships with executive-level clients, while also facilitating cross-functional excellence across your collection of work. Responsibilities Expertly direct teams in development of core deliverables (with the ability to produce high-caliber deliverables independently as well) Facilitating cross-functional collaboration across teams, departments, and agencies Rapidly synthesize large quantities of information from a range of qualitative and quantitative research techniques, identify critical observations & insights, and formalize recommendations Dive deeply into business data and user analytics to understand behaviors and results, and develop actionable recommendations Understand and consider the interconnectedness of human needs, business strategy, and competitive landscape to determine unique value propositions and business-critical must-wins Drive prioritization efforts to identify highest-value opportunities Help craft measurement plans to understand impact of solutions and drive optimization over time Design the business rationale for CX efforts within the client’s organization & develop corresponding roadmaps Help clients make informed decisions on behalf of their customer and business; drive strategic discussions and alignment with senior clients Grow client relationships by understanding business needs and opportunities Contribute to the VML experience strategy and CX thought leadership and IP Required Skills Required Skills Demonstrated proficiency in executive-level storytelling – Demonstrating the need, value, and potential of Experience Strategy work to C-Suite clients Ability to work in an ambiguous environment with strong problem-solving and critical-thinking skills Ability to craft a strategy from a whiteboard, translating the theoretical into the tangible Ability to lead senior-level conversations and workshops, and navigate conflicts to achieve desired outcomes A demonstrated passion for creating solutions that deliver and capture value for an organization, its customers, and its employees Ability to manage multiple bodies of work and enable teams to produce stronger artifacts through collaboration and leadership Has a wide span of knowledge and experience across Digital, CRM, Mobile, Social, CMS, SEO, Commerce, Retail, and/or Analytics Required Experience Completion of a bachelor’s degree and a multidisciplinary background, preferably in a related field such as marketing, advertising, strategic planning, psychology, sociology, or anthropology Interest in customer experience, product management, strategy, and innovation 10-14 years applicable experience, with experience managing direct reports The base salary range for this position at the time of this posting is indicated below. Individual compensation varies based on job-related factors, including location, business needs, level of responsibility, experience, and qualifications. We offer a competitive benefits package $100,000—$230,000 USD We believe the best work happens when were together, fostering creativity, collaboration, and connection. Thats why we’ve adopted a hybrid approach, with teams in the office an average of four days a week. If you require accommodations or flexibility, please discuss this with the hiring team during the interview process. WPP (VML) is an equal opportunity employer and considers applicants for all positions without discrimination or regard to characteristics. We are committed to fostering a culture of respect in which everyone feels they belong and has the same opportunities to progress in their careers.

Keywords: VML, East Lansing , Group Director, Experience Strategy, PR / Public Relations , Dearborn, Michigan