Brand and Go-to-Market Strategist for Research-Backed Leadership Platform

Summary Leadership is building a research-grounded leadership assessment and development business based on a distinctive premise: capable leaders can succeed in one operating environment and struggle in another because the role changes what effective leadership requires. We have already built: A published leadership book and broader body of intellectual property A professional marketing website A free leadership profile A paid 120-item personality and operating-environment assessment An interactive leadership dashboard Executive coaching and organizational advisory offers A growing research and content library The individual pieces are strong. We now need a senior strategist to turn them into a coherent brand, product ladder, conversion funnel, and market-entry plan. This is not primarily a logo, social-media management, or generic content-calendar assignment. We need someone who can identify the category we should own, clarify the commercial promise, determine which buyers have the strongest need, and build a practical route from initial attention to paid adoption. The central challenge Most leadership products describe the individual. Our system combines the leader’s psychological profile with the conditions surrounding the role, then produces specific recommendations the leader can test and review. We need to communicate that distinction without: Sounding like another personality test Overstating the scientific evidence Drowning buyers in research or technical language Making the product feel academic rather than operational Diluting a premium executive product into a low-cost consumer app Confusing individual users, team buyers, executive coaches, and enterprise clients The brand must feel credible to senior executives and board members while remaining useful and accessible to working managers. Scope of work 1. Market and audience analysis Review the leadership assessment, coaching, executive-development, and manager-enablement markets Identify the strongest initial customer segment and buying situation Distinguish the individual user, team manager, HR or L&D buyer, executive sponsor, and enterprise buyer Define the most urgent jobs-to-be-done, purchase triggers, objections, and alternatives Identify meaningful competitive gaps rather than producing a generic competitor list 2. Category and positioning strategy Recommend the category we should enter or create Define the central commercial problem the brand solves Develop a concise positioning statement and defensible value proposition Clarify how the company relates to personality assessments, coaching platforms, leadership training, and executive advisory Establish the language for describing the product’s research foundation and limitations Determine which parts of the methodology should lead the marketing and which should remain available as supporting evidence 3. Brand and messaging architecture Develop a practical messaging system covering: Company-level positioning Individual assessment Interactive dashboard Team offering Executive coaching Organizational and enterprise offering Founder and author positioning Primary and secondary audience messages Homepage and product-page message hierarchy Proof points and credibility signals Objection-handling language Appropriate emotional framing Words and claims the brand should avoid The preferred voice is intelligent, direct, calm, and specific. It should communicate authority without hype, inflated scientific claims, military posturing, or motivational language. 4. Offer and pricing review Review and recommend improvements to the current product ladder: Free introductory profile $99 comprehensive assessment Recurring individual dashboard subscription Team access priced per leader Executive coaching Organizational pilots Enterprise licensing Address packaging, naming, pricing logic, upgrade paths, annual versus monthly plans, trial or demonstration strategy, and whether the assessment price should be credited toward a dashboard subscription. 5. Conversion funnel Design the customer journey from first contact through purchase and retention, including: Free profile Email capture and newsletter Paid assessment Immediate sample recommendation Dashboard subscription Team or organizational pilot Enterprise engagement Coaching and advisory extensions Specify the purpose, message, CTA, and success measure at each stage. Identify current gaps, dead ends, unnecessary friction, and places where visitors receive conflicting offers. 6. Launch and channel strategy Produce a focused launch plan covering: Founder-led LinkedIn content Short demonstration videos Email marketing Podcast and media appearances Book-to-product conversion Partnerships with coaches, leadership programs, and professional associations Direct outreach to team and organizational buyers Small-budget paid testing Case-study and pilot acquisition The plan should distinguish what we should test immediately from what should wait until product-market evidence is stronger. 7. Campaign concepts Develop three strong campaign platforms, each including: Target buyer Buyer problem Central idea Headline and supporting message Suggested visual or demonstration Landing-page structure CTA Email or social extension Reason the campaign should work Proposed test and success measure One potential territory is the cost of making the wrong leadership diagnosis: attempting to fix or replace the leader when the role or operating conditions have changed. You are not required to use that territory if your research identifies something stronger. 8. Execution roadmap Deliver a prioritized 90-day plan identifying: What to change first What to test Required creative assets Recommended channels Funnel and analytics requirements Weekly actions Budget priorities Decision points Leading and lagging indicators What not to spend money on yet Required deliverables Market and buyer analysis Competitive positioning map Recommended category and positioning Brand and product messaging architecture Offer and pricing recommendations Conversion-funnel design Three campaign concepts Channel strategy 90-day launch and testing roadmap Final presentation and working session Editable source documents Recommendations must be specific enough to implement. We are not looking for a high-level deck filled with archetypes, adjectives, or abstract brand language. Ideal candidate You may be a strong fit if you have: Senior brand strategy or product marketing experience Experience launching B2B SaaS, assessment, professional-service, coaching, education, HR technology, or leadership-development products Demonstrated skill in market positioning and category design Experience building product ladders and conversion funnels Familiarity with behavioral economics and decision science The ability to translate complex ideas into clear commercial language Experience marketing founder-led or expert-led businesses Strong judgment about scientific, legal, and reputational claims A portfolio showing measurable commercial outcomes, not only visual identity work The ability to challenge the founder’s assumptions constructively Familiarity with Rory Sutherland’s work is useful. We are interested in reframing, perceived value, behavioral friction, signaling, and choice architecture. We are not interested in manipulative tactics, fabricated scarcity, or unsupported psychological claims. Not a fit Please do not apply if your primary service is: Posting and scheduling social-media content Logo or graphic design without brand strategy Generic SEO packages Automated AI content production Influencer outreach without positioning experience Producing lengthy strategy decks without implementation guidance