About the Role
The Strategy Manager serves as the senior operational layer of the strategy practice, owning client relationships at the oversight level, developing strategists, and freeing VP-level leadership for business growth. This role is accountable for strategic quality across a $2M+ book of business, acts as the primary escalation point, and addresses the people leadership gap between individual strategists and VP-level oversight.
Responsibilities
- Serve as the senior point of contact for each account, building and maintaining relationships with budget decision-makers and senior client stakeholders.
- Act as the primary escalation owner when strategic direction is challenged, client expectations are at risk, or a situation requires a more senior voice.
- Host strategy presentations, sell the direction, and hold ground under pushback.
- Maintain a clear, current view of account health across the entire book, surfacing risks to the VP of Strategy.
- Oversee GEO and content strategy execution across every account, ensuring work aligns with strategic direction and meets client-specific KPIs.
- Provide meaningful oversight review on strategic deliverables, identifying drift, outdated assumptions, or missed opportunities.
- Bring a GEO-first lens to every account, demonstrating fluency in generative and answer engine optimization.
- Partner with Account Management on shared clients to ensure contracts, upselling, and cross-team coordination are handled cleanly and strategically.
- Manage 3-5 strategists with accountability for their development, including building PDPs and running structured 1:1s.
- Coach strategists on call confidence, client communication, and the ability to own and defend strategic positions.
- Score and review strategist client calls using the Foundation performance rubric, delivering specific, actionable feedback.
- Develop team GEO capability, ensuring strategists can articulate and execute generative engine optimization with confidence.
- Flag performance concerns to the VP of Strategy early with supporting evidence.
- Identify upsell and expansion opportunities within the book and route them to Account Management with a clear strategic rationale.
- Participate in strategic sales conversations for new accounts where subject matter expertise adds credibility and conversion value.
- Contribute to Foundation's GEO positioning by staying current on platform shifts, citation behavior, and AI-search trends.
Requirements
- Have moved past legacy SEO and actively build content and GEO strategies for generative and answer engine visibility as a core discipline.
- Are fluent in B2B and SaaS/tech client relationships.
- Can hold a position under pressure, presenting, defending, and closing strategy recommendations in front of senior client stakeholders.
- Want to build people, not just manage them, with real examples of growing a direct report's capability.
- Are ready to lead a team before feeling completely ready, defaulting to ownership, not escalation.
- 5+ years in digital strategy, content strategy, or multi-channel marketing strategy, with at least 2 years in a senior or oversight capacity.
- Demonstrated experience managing or meaningfully developing at least one direct report.
- Proven GEO fluency: built and delivered content strategies designed for AI-driven answer engines and can speak to it with authority.
- Strong B2B or SaaS/tech client portfolio, with experience presenting and defending strategy at the VP or Director level.
- Strong analytical capabilities across digital platforms such as Google Analytics, Search Console, Ahrefs, and HubSpot.
- Exceptional ability to communicate complex strategic direction with precision and confidence, in writing and in real-time client conversation.
Skills
- Digital strategy
- Content strategy
- Multi-channel marketing strategy
- Client relationship management
- Team leadership and development
- Strategic planning and execution
- Generative and answer engine optimization
- B2B and SaaS/tech client dynamics
- Presentation and communication
- Analytical skills
- Google Analytics
- Search Console
- Ahrefs
- HubSpot
- GEO strategy
Experience Level
- 5+ years in digital strategy, content strategy, or multi-channel marketing strategy
- At least 2 years in a senior or oversight capacity
- Demonstrated experience managing or meaningfully developing at least one direct report
Salary/Compensations
- Base Pay Range: $80,000 – $110,000 CAD / year
- Expected Total Comp (OTE): $105,000 – $145,000 CAD+ / year
About the Company
- Foundation's strategy practice operates with a senior operational layer focused on client relationships, team development, and strategic quality.
- The company values intentional compensation, global hiring, and rewarding impact.
