Director, Marketing Strategy

SmartBug Media is one of the most respected names in the HubSpot ecosystem — and we've earned it.

We didn't get here by accident. SmartBug has built a reputation that most agencies only aspire to: HubSpot North American Partner of the Year, a fully remote team of specialists who punch well above their weight, and a client base that doesn't just hire us — they stay with us. That last part is the one we're most proud of.

Remote by design and strategic by nature, we've never believed that great work requires a corner office or a campus cafeteria. What it requires is the right people, deeply aligned on outcomes, working with clients who trust them to deliver. That's the culture we've built — one where expertise travels, relationships run deep, and the work speaks for itself.

We're obsessed with client outcomes. Not vanity metrics. Not feel-good reports. Real, measurable growth that makes our clients look like heroes inside their own organizations. When SmartBug is in your corner, your team wins — and that's exactly why our clients keep coming back.

We're growing, our client portfolio is expanding, and the relationships we've built are stronger than ever. What we need next is a leader who understands that the hardest part of this business isn't winning clients — it's becoming so embedded in their success that leaving simply isn't an option. If you've built that kind of loyalty before, if you know what it takes to transform a good client relationship into a decade-long partnership, and if you're energized by the idea of architecting that function at scale — we want to meet you.

About the role

The Director, Strategy is a high-impact business consultant responsible for defining the overarching vision

and multi-service roadmap for SmartBug's medium and large accounts. While Marketing Strategy remains

the primary engine of growth and the core of the client's strategic focus, this role brings the business

acumen to factor in cross-functional approaches—such as AI, Web, PR, and technical integrations—to

create a unified competitive advantage.

As the final touchpoint for strategic deliverables, the Director ensures that every plan is sophisticated,

integrated, and aligned with the client's long-term business objectives. The Director provides high-level

vision and relies on a team of Strategists and Specialists to handle day-to-day execution.

The Director, Strategy will be measured on:

● Strategic Excellence: Quality and innovation of the overall marketing and business roadmap.

● Sales Impact: Contribution to closing and correctly scoping large and medium accounts.

● Client Satisfaction: Long-term results, ROI attainment, and executive-level trust, including the

ability to communicate with C-level executives on client accounts.

● Pod Performance: Success and professional development of the team members in the pod.

What you'll do

Integrated Marketing & Business Strategy

• Marketing-Led Vision: Act as the primary architect of the client's marketing engine, ensuring demand generation, brand positioning, and content strategy are the core drivers of ROI.
• Cross-Functional Synthesis: Evaluate how non-marketing business functions (e.g., AI automation, technical API integrations, and PR-led authority) can be leveraged to amplify the core marketing strategy.
• Full-Lifecycle Alignment: Ensure the marketing strategy seamlessly transitions into sales enablement and customer success, creating a closed-loop system that factors in the entire business operation.
• Service Ecosystem Orchestration: Move beyond "HubSpot-only" thinking to determine when a client requires specialized services like web development or advanced data integrations to remove friction from the marketing funnel.

Strategic Governance & Vision

• Quarterly Steering: Lead high-impact strategic sessions with client executives to pivot the vision based on market trends, ensuring marketing efforts remain agile and business-relevant.
• Final Strategic Touchpoint: Review and refine all major strategic deliverables to ensure they reflect a holistic business perspective before they reach the client.
• Strategic ROI Benchmarking: Define how marketing KPIs translate into broader business outcomes like Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) and overall revenue growth.

Sales Growth & Collaboration

• Strategic Scoping: Partner with the Sales team to identify gaps where a client's core marketing goals could be better supported by PR, AI, or technical services, ensuring the initial scope is comprehensive.
• Vision Selling: Assist sales reps by articulating the "Total SmartBug Advantage," showing prospects how marketing strategy acts as the foundation for a wider business transformation.

Required Qualifications

• Minimum of 8 years in digital strategy or business consulting, with a focus on cross-departmental integration
• Business acumen to converse with C-suite executives about business goals, not just marketing tactics
• Consultative maturity to steer C-suite conversations away from tactical "to-do lists"; toward high-level business strategy and resource allocation
• Familiarity with how PR, SEO, Web Development, and AI tools integrate into a modern marketing and sales engine
• Proven ability to provide high-level vision while trusting and empowering a team to handle the execution
• Deep understanding of the HubSpot ecosystem and how third-party tools integrate to drive growth
• Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Business, or a related field

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree in Marketing, Business, or a related field
• Experience working directly in a HubSpot partner agency