Principal

We go beyond the obvious, using intelligence, passion and creativity to inspire new thinking and shape the world we live in.

To start a career that is out of the ordinary, please apply...

Job Details

Principle - Kantar Consulting Team

Location(s) (Hybrid): New York, NY, Chicago, IL or Boston, MA

Primary Objective

• Own and grow significant client relationships as the senior decision-maker, driving sustained consulting revenue and long-term account expansion.
• Act as a strategic partner to senior clients beyond individual engagements—bringing an outside-in point of view, shaping agendas, and driving client action and impact.
• Scale the consulting offer by leveraging the wider Kantar/WPP network—cross-selling across the portfolio, pricing for profitability, and advancing solution and thought-leadership development.

Essential Responsibilities

• Set the strategic direction for key accounts and shape multi-workstream programs that create impact beyond a single project.
• Own full account relationships and commercial outcomes (pipeline, pricing, profitability, renewals, and expansion); lead major pursuits and negotiate scope and terms.
• Serve as a strategic sparring partner for both clients and teams—challenging thinking, elevating storylines, and providing clear direction at pivotal moments.
• Bring an executive-level point of view and translate evidence-based insights into crisp strategic choices that actively drive client decision-making and action.
• Guide project success through best-practice delivery governance—ensuring quality, managing senior stakeholders, and unblocking teams while maintaining leverage.
• Anticipate risks and issues early and take action to prevent undesirable outcomes across projects and accounts.
• Enable profitable delivery by selling work at the right price, protecting scope, and holding teams accountable to financial performance and recoverability.
• Elevate client thinking by connecting the dots across client reality, industry developments, and Kantar data/IP to inspire new possibilities and unlock demand.
• Expand revenue beyond immediate project contexts—growing multiple accounts year over year, including opportunities outside core contacts (often still within existing clients).
• Leverage cross-Kantar relationships (including Global Client Directors and practice leaders) to facilitate growth of key accounts and establish new business.
• Inspire colleagues by role-modeling Kantar values and setting the bar for quality; strengthen capability through coaching, feedback, and visible sponsorship of emerging leaders.
• Build great teams by attracting, developing, and retaining talent; sponsor progression, ensure strong staffing, and create an environment where people can excel across the portfolio.
• Provide clear direction when pivotal moments arise; make bold decisions with conviction and support teams to act with confidence.
• Foster a culture of collaboration and mutual respect across culturally diverse teams while promoting recognition and celebration of achievements.
• Know who to contact across Kantar for specific expertise; build and maintain those relationships to enable smooth collaboration and scalable, cross-portfolio solutions.
• Exercise senior judgment to ensure the integrity and impact of recommendations; uphold quality and risk standards that protect and enhance Kantars reputation with executive clients.

Essential Knowledge & Experience

• 12+ years of experience in strategy/brand/marketing consulting (or equivalent), with senior executive client leadership responsibility.
• Demonstrated ability to operate as a strategic partner to senior clients, shaping agendas and influencing decisions beyond individual engagements.
• Proven track record of growing multiple accounts year over year, including expanding work beyond core contacts; experience owning pricing, profitability, and commercial outcomes.
• Track record of building and leading high-performing, inclusive teams; known for coaching, sponsorship, and developing future leaders.
• Deep experience leveraging intelligence gathering, research, and analytics to connect client reality, industry context, and Kantar IP into decision-driving recommendations.
• Fluency with AI-enabled ways of working and a demonstrated ability to champion adoption of new tools and approaches that improve quality, speed, and scalability.
• Demonstrated innovation mindset: creates thought-provoking content and helps develop scalable solutions that respond to market demand and sustain long-term relevance.
• Acts as the senior decision-maker in complex and ambiguous situations; brings composure, sound judgment, and accountability for outcomes across accounts and teams.
• Leads portfolio delivery through governance and leverage; ensures the right teams, plans, and controls are in place to deliver outcomes at scale.
• Broad mastery across the consulting portfolio (solution generalist at senior levels) with the ability to cross-sell and orchestrate the right Kantar expertise for clients.
• Executive presence and influence: communicates with empathy, lands messages with clarity, and navigates high-stakes discussions effectively.
• Demonstrated success leading C-suite conversations, facilitating alignment across stakeholders, and representing the firm credibly at the most senior levels.
• Bachelor’s degree in market research/marketing or related social science and analytic subject areas. Master’s or Ph.D. preferred.

Essential Skills & Capabilities

Commercial

• Owns commercial success for a portfolio of accounts: builds pipeline, drives year-over-year growth, and sells profitable work (including appropriate pricing, risk management, and scope control).
• Builds a personal reputation in the industry and leverages personal, Kantar, and WPP networks to expand relationships beyond core contacts and establish new opportunities.

Technical/ Analytical

• Connects the dots across client reality, industry developments, and multiple Kantar data/IP sources to inspire possibilities and sharpen strategic direction.
• Ensures teams deploy the right intelligence, research, and analytics for the question—setting standards for rigor, relevance, and business impact.
• Provides senior analytical judgment and quality assurance, ensuring insights are translated into clear choices and a compelling NOW WHAT.
• Elevates client and team thinking by challenging biases and assumptions with evidence and outside-in perspective.

Managerial Skills

• Leads development of practice-area solutions and thought leadership; drives local adoption of scalable ways of working that create lasting profitable impact.
• Provides portfolio-level governance across programs and accounts; anticipates issues, makes trade-offs, and mobilizes resources to deliver outcomes.
• Builds and energizes diverse teams; develops skills and careers, creates psychological safety, and reinforces a high-performance culture with clear expectations and recognition.

Communication

• Communicates with executive-level clarity and empathy; influences outcomes across diverse stakeholders and teams.
• Inspires with impact: role-models Kantar values, sets direction in high-stakes moments, and represents the practice credibly across the market.

Kantar Benefits

We provide a comprehensive, highly competitive benefits package, including

• Medical plans with comprehensive, affordable coverage for a range of health services
• Health Savings Account/FSA
• Dental, Vision and benefits to cover unique healthcare needs
• Wellness Program
• 401k with match
• Tuition Reimbursement, Commuter benefits
• Unlimited PTO

Why join Kantar?

We shape the brands of tomorrow by better understanding people everywhere. By understanding people, we can understand what drives their decisions, actions, and aspirations on a global scale. And by amplifying our in-depth expertise of human understanding alongside ground-breaking technology, we can help brands find concrete insights that will help them succeed in our fast-paced, ever shifting world.

And because we know people, we like to make sure our own people are being looked after as well. Equality of opportunity for everyone is our highest priority and we support our colleagues to work in a way that supports their health and wellbeing. While we encourage teams to spend part of their working week in the office, we understand no one size fits all; our approach is flexible to ensure everybody feels included, accepted, and that we can win together. We’re dedicated to creating an inclusive culture and value the diversity of our people, clients, suppliers and communities, and we encourage applications from all backgrounds and sections of society. Even if you feel like you’re not an exact match, we’d love to receive your application and talk to you about this job or others at Kantar.

Privacy and Legal Statement

PRIVACY DISCLOSURE: Please note that by applying to this opportunity you consent to the personal data you provide to us to be processed and retained by The Kantar Group Limited (“Kantar”). Your details will be kept on our Internal ATS (Applicant Tracking System) for as long as is necessary for the purposes of recruitment, which may include your details being shared with the hiring manager

The salary range for this role is $143,300 - $238,900 USD Annual. Your final base salary will be determined based on several factors which may include but are not limited to location, work experience, skills, knowledge, education and/or certifications. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability

Kantar Rewards Statement

At Kantar we have an integrated way of rewarding our people based around a simple, clear and consistent set of principles. Our approach helps to ensure we are market competitive and also to support a pay for performance culture, where your reward and career progression opportunities are linked to what you deliver. 

 

We go beyond the obvious, using intelligence, passion and creativity to inspire new thinking and shape the world we live in. Apply for a career that’s out of the ordinary and join us. 

 

We want to create an equality of opportunity in a fair and supportive working environment where people feel included, accepted and are allowed to flourish in a space where their mental health and well being is taken into consideration. 

 

We want to create a more diverse community to expand our talent pool, be locally representative, drive diversity of thinking and better commercial outcomes. 

Kantar is the world’s leading data, insights and consulting company. We understand more about how people think, feel, shop, share, vote and view than anyone else. Combining our expertise in human understanding with advanced technologies, Kantar’s 30,000 people help the world’s leading organisations succeed and grow.

Location

New York, World Trade CenterUnited States of America

Kantar Rewards Statement

At Kantar we have an integrated way of rewarding our people based around a simple, clear and consistent set of principles. Our approach helps to ensure we are market competitive and also to support a pay for performance culture, where your reward and career progression opportunities are linked to what you deliver. 

 

We go beyond the obvious, using intelligence, passion and creativity to inspire new thinking and shape the world we live in. Apply for a career that’s out of the ordinary and join us. 

 

We want to create an equality of opportunity in a fair and supportive working environment where people feel included, accepted and are allowed to flourish in a space where their mental health and well being is taken into consideration. 

 

We want to create a more diverse community to expand our talent pool, be locally representative, drive diversity of thinking and better commercial outcomes. 

Kantar is the world’s leading data, insights and consulting company. We understand more about how people think, feel, shop, share, vote and view than anyone else. Combining our expertise in human understanding with advanced technologies, Kantar’s 30,000 people help the world’s leading organisations succeed and grow.