Strategist - Community (Local)

Salary Range: $67,000 - $101,000 annually
Apply by: October 6th, 2025

This salary is based on experience and qualifications, in alignment with the level of responsibility assigned. This role offers opportunity for professionals at various career stages to contribute meaningfully and grow within our organization. For a list of our benefits please click here.

This is a local position that offers a hybrid schedule. This job requires you to work in the Peoria, IL office Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday with the option to work from home Monday and Friday.

At Simantel, we’re seeking a Strategist – Community to play a critical role in supporting initiatives that drive economic growth, attract and retain talent, and enhance pride in the Peoria region. This role will primarily focus on community-impact initiatives but may also contribute to other client accounts across the agency, depending on needs and time. 

We are looking for someone who is: 

• Passionate about Greater Peoria and inspired by the opportunity to help drive growth and vitality in our hometown. 
• Excited to apply strategic planning, relationship building, and creative problem-solving to initiatives that influence not only business outcomes but also quality of life in our regional core. 
• Ready to collaborate with cross-functional teams and leaders to deliver work that goes beyond marketing, helping to ensure the Peoria community thrives for decades to come. 

 
If you want to combine your planning expertise with purpose-driven work, this is the role for you. Below are the additional skills needed for the position. 

As a Strategist – Community, my objective is:

• To develop and lead effective, insight-driven strategies that build strong, meaningful community connections while fully managing the day-to-day client relationship. I am responsible for driving strategic direction, owning account planning, and ensuring seamless execution across teams—including active ownership of project planning—in support of client and agency goals.

The outcomes I need to produce for clients are:

• Set and manage clear, measurable goals that align business outcomes with community engagement objectives and broader marketing strategies
• Develop and deliver comprehensive strategies that integrate community-building with marketing—including messaging, channel activation, content, and experience design—grounded in both qualitative and quantitative insights
• Guide client decision-making through customer- and community-centric consultation, ensuring strategies support both immediate needs and long-term growth
• Produce strategic deliverables that move work forward (e.g., personas, journey maps, community engagement frameworks, messaging pillars, content models, audience matrices)
• Run account planning by shaping account objectives, leading client conversations, and translating goals into actionable strategies and deliverables
• Support project planning responsibilities by leading schedules, tracking deliverables, aligning cross-functional teams, and ensuring work stays on time, on budget, and on strategy
• Measure and optimize performance throughout the lifecycle of work, ensuring strategies deliver results and drive client success

The outcomes I need to produce for the agency are:

• Maintain client satisfaction as it relates to strategy, account planning, and community-focused initiatives
• Identify opportunities for continued account growth, including new initiatives, services, and optimizations that strengthen client–community relationships
• Collaboratively work with project teams to scope and plan work with key milestones, ensuring community insights remain central to execution
• Contribute thought leadership on community engagement, consumer behavior, and emerging trends in marketing
• Support Simantel’s competitive edge through continued learning on marketing strategy, account planning, and evolving community platforms

To produce these outcomes, I need to:

• Collaborate effectively with team members to scope work, manage expectations, and negotiate with clients
• Identify information gaps and recommend solutions, including primary and secondary research related to community insights
• Develop strategy and account planning artifacts (e.g., audience segmentation, messaging frameworks, journey maps, brand guidelines, community engagement roadmaps)
• Work with technical and creative teams to ensure strategies are effectively activated
• Support project scoping and estimating in a minor capacity to ensure alignment of resources, timelines, and budgets

The skills and abilities I require are:

• Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Communications, Business, Social Sciences, or equivalent experience
• 5+ years of experience in marketing strategy, community building, account planning, or a related field
• Demonstrated proficiency in developing personas, journey maps, messaging frameworks, and audience engagement strategies
• Knowledge of marketing analytics and KPIs, with the ability to tie community engagement to business outcomes
• Strong facilitation and communication skills, with the ability to guide conversations that uncover key client and community needs
• Organization and documentation skills to support planning and coordination

To produce these outcomes, I have decision-making authority over the following:

• Input into proposals, recommendations, and performance updates for clients
• Final strategic approach with client agreement, particularly related to community engagement
• Recommendations on how to interpret and activate strategies across client initiatives
   

Leading indicators of my success are:

• Client satisfaction with community strategy and account alignment
• Complete and accurate strategy/account planning artifacts
• Strong relationships built across service lines and with client stakeholders
   

Long-term indicators of my success are:

• Growth of client accounts through effective community strategies
• Demonstrated impact of community initiatives on business outcomes
• Established thought leadership in community engagement at Simantel

By applying to Simantel and uploading your resume, you are opting-in to receive communications from Simantel regarding your application.

Simantel offers an attractive compensation package, which includes competitive salary, 401(k) plan, PTO, flexible work arrangements, holiday pay and a comprehensive benefits program.

We are an equal opportunity employer committed to a diverse and inclusive workforce. We encourage anyone interested to apply and do not discriminate based on race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status.
Simantel is not currently hiring individuals for this position who require sponsorship under U.S. immigration laws to be lawfully employed.