About this role
Manager, Cultural Intelligence
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CAROUSEL_PARAGRAPH
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- Creative
- El Segundo, California
- Saatchi US
- Specialist
- Hybrid
- 10/5/2026
- 172396
- 26-14892
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Job Description
Company description
At Saatchi we believe in creating ideas that can live anywhere. And we believe that when we work as a team, nothing is impossible. We strive to bring out the best in each other and in ourselves and expect applicants to understand the value of close collaboration. We also believe that creating transformational work requires initiative, an entrepreneurial spirit and a bold commitment to achieving measurable results and business success for the Clients we service.
Overview
Saatchi & Saatchi is looking for a Manager to join its Cultural Intelligence group, with a focus on culture and connections. This role identifies the insights, creators, communities, partnerships, platforms and experiences that can help an idea connect with people, gain momentum and earn a meaningful place in culture.
You’ll work alongside brand strategists, creatives and media from the start, generating and shaping first ideas with culture, participation and audience behavior in mind. You’ll bring an understanding of how culture moves, who helps shape it and what makes people engage—and use that understanding to help agency teams develop stronger ideas and more compelling ways to bring them to life.
At the Manager level, you’ll independently lead assigned culture and connections projects: finding opportunities, developing clear recommendations, coordinating input across fields and supporting teams as they develop and implement the work. You’ll be responsible for the quality, relevance and timely delivery of your recommendations, bringing a clear point of view and sound judgment to the process.
An idea’s impact depends on more than the idea itself. It also depends on where it appears, who helps shape it and what it invites people to do. The Manager, Cultural Intelligence will help Saatchi & Saatchi connect early idea generation with the creators, communities, partnerships and platforms that can make the work more relevant and participatory. By bringing those connections into the creative process from the start, this role will help teams create work that earns attention, inspires involvement and has room to grow.
Responsibilities
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At Saatchi & Saatchi, we believe brands don’t earn attention by shouting louder—they earn it by showing up where people already are: in conversations, communities, creator ecosystems and cultural moments that matter.
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The Manager, Cultural Intelligence helps connect ideas to the people and places that can make them meaningful. This person understands what’s happening in culture and why it matters, then identifies where a brand can credibly participate, who could strengthen an idea and what might help it grow. You’ll contribute first ideas as well as recommendations for the collaborators, platforms and experiences that can bring them to life.
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You’ll stay close to youth culture and culture-forward communities—the people creating, shaping and sharing what’s next across music, fashion, entertainment, sports, gaming and digital spaces. You’ll understand what matters to them, how they connect and participate, and where a brand can make a meaningful contribution. You’ll turn that understanding into first ideas and recommendations for creators, partnerships, platforms and experiences that agency teams can develop and implement.
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In short: you’ll help ideas find their place in culture—and the connections that allow them to develop, spread and endure.
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Generate and shape ideas through culture: Bring cultural observations, audience behaviors and emerging conversations into the creative process from the beginning. Generate initial ideas and help strengthen ideas already in development, identifying what could make them more relevant, distinctive and worth participating in. Give agency teams clear starting points, supported by useful references and an understanding of why people would care.
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Connect ideas to people and places: Identify the creators, communities, partners, platforms and experiences that can help an idea come to life. Build clear recommendations that explain the role each connection could play, why it fits and how it could make the work stronger. Think beyond where an idea appears to consider who helps shape it and how people encounter and engage with it.
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Find the right creators and collaborators: Develop creator and partnership recommendations based on cultural relevance, credibility and creative potential—not just reach. Understand what collaborators bring to an idea, the communities they connect with and how their involvement could make the work more meaningful. Work with the relevant agency teams to carry those recommendations into development.
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Keep a close read on culture: Stay engaged with emerging communities, entertainment, creators, platform shifts and cultural movements. Look beyond individual trends to understand the behaviors and motivations underneath. Bring actionable observations, references and opportunities back to the team, with a clear point of view on their relevance to the work.
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Design for participation and momentum: Help identify what people could do with an idea— not just what they might see. Explore opportunities for participation, conversation, collaboration and community involvement. Think beyond launch, recommending ways an idea could grow, evolve and remain relevant once it’s in the world.
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Collaborate from development through execution: Work closely with strategy, creative, media, social, PR, production and relevant partners to help teams develop and implement culturally informed ideas. Contribute context, references and recommendations throughout the process, helping preserve the cultural relevance of the work as it takes shape.