Position Summary:
The Columbus Crew is looking to add a Senior Manager of Marketing to join its growing Marketing & Brand Strategy Department. This position will play a key role in overseeing the development and project management of the Club’s marketing and advertising plans, with a focus on outside events, influencers, and merchandise. The Senior Manager will have a proven track record of successfully building strategic marketing and advertising campaigns, with a focus on engaging and growing the fanbase.

This highly collaborative role will help facilitate the development and execution of various marketing and branding initiatives across both soccer and business operations (marketing, ticketing, partnerships, business intelligence, community relations, public relations/ communications). The Senior Manager will be responsible for developing and executing plans that align with the organization’s strategic goals, while staying on brand and on the cutting edge of latest trends and technologies.

This position reports to the Senior Director of Brand Strategy & Innovation and will oversee the Club’s Manager, Email and Digital Advertising. The ideal candidate will be a strategic and creative thinker that excels at project management and has a passion for collaboratively building marketing plans!

Position Duties:

• Works closely with the Senior Director of Brand Strategy & Innovation to develop and implement integrated marketing strategies in collaboration with the Senior Director of Events and Grassroots Marketing.
• Helps lead the team responsible for all strategic marketing and advertising plan development, including but not limited to paid media, OOH and influencers; with oversight of email marketing and the website and app.
• Serve as a leader and manager for the Manager of Email and Digital Advertising (digital advertising, email marketing) and Digital Coordinator (website, app).
• Manages and plans all paid media, including digital and OOH, around key tentpole events and brand moments throughout the year to maximize brand awareness and drive revenue generation (e.g., ticket sales).
• Responsible for developing and executing all integrated marketing plans to support the organization’s outside events promotion (e.g., concerts, festivals, sports tournaments, etc.) at Lower.com Field and Historic Crew Stadium.
• Works closely with our Manager, Fan Culture and Development and Manager of Digital & Brand Innovation to develop our influencer marketing program and execute all influencer partnerships.
• Works closely with key internal stakeholders of all departments and verticals to ensure alignment for all marketing campaigns and initiatives.
• Serves as the project manager for all marketing initiatives, leveraging internal collaboration tools (e.g., Asana, SharePoint, Teams, Slack), to maintain deadlines.
• Develop marketing reporting/ tracking structure and interpret regular reports into actionable insights that are shared across the entire organization.
• Collaborate with team members on a data-capture strategy and execution.
• Work cross-functionally with the Ticket Sales Department on all marketing/ ticketing initiatives.
• Oversee agency and vendor relationships.
• Ensure brand consistency across campaigns.
• Champions a segmented fan journey and advises on messaging architecture.
• Other duties as assigned.

Specific Job Knowledge, Skill and Ability:

• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, business or related field preferred.
• At least 4+ years previous experience working in a sports team or brand/ agency environment.
• Previous experience managing people.
• Experience in strategic development and execution of successful integrated marketing campaigns.
• A strong understanding of paid media, including digital and OOH.
• Previous experience working with and managing influencers.
• Passion for sports and global knowledge of the sport of soccer and MLS not required, but a plus.
• Strong ability to establish meaningful relationships with various internal and external stakeholders, including but not limited to the team’s soccer and business leadership, major league soccer and other agencies and partners.
• Ability to work all matches, home and away, and nights and weekends (note: this role is not required to travel to all away matches, but rather work them remote through MLS Season Pass broadcast).
  
  

Additional attributes:

• Possesses a team-first mindset and emphasizes relationships and collaboration.
• Has an eagerness to learn and ask questions.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment.
• Displays sound judgment in decision making, including an understanding of when to elevate conversations to supervisors and additional soccer and business personnel.
• Overall knowledge a vast array of digital and social media platforms.    
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office software.
• Proficiency in programs such as Adobe InDesign preferred; proficiency in Adobe Photoshop a plus.
• Prior experience and proficiency in Content Management software a plus.
• Ability to work in a professional environment.
• Exceptional writing ability.
• Ability to multitask and meet tight deadlines.
• Strong project and time management skills – people, projects, delegating responsibility and more.
• Individual must be detail-oriented and a self-starter.