As an integral part of MLB’s Digital Marketing & Media team, the Audience Development & Media Planning function enables strategic planning centered around key MLB Fan segments. The Director, Audience Development & Planning is an essential member of the Digital Marketing and Media team primarily responsible for leading, developing, and building a team of data-driven marketers responsible for creating audience-centric marketing plans in support of MLB’s goal of growing baseball’s fan base, with an emphasis on automated customer journeys.

In this role, the Director, Audience Development & Media Planning will partner with internal and external stakeholders to build and execute innovative and effective integrated marketing programs driven by audience insights. Successful candidates will have Media Planning experience.

CANDIDATE PROFILE

Education and Experience Preferred

4 year degree from an accredited university in marketing, advertising, communications, business, or related field and 10+ years experience in marketing or related functional area; OR equivalent relevant experience
Demonstrated success building audience-centric marketing strategies and programs
Experience building and evaluating paid, earned, and owned media plans
Experience building automated customer journeys for both acquisition and retention marketing

Familiarity with email marketing best practices, including strategies to keep audiences active and engaged
Proficiency with audience segment building, activating, and testing, preferably via a Customer Data Platform (CDP)
Strong understanding of baseball - MLB, clubs, and players - preferred

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

Conducting Core Work Activities

Establishes and/or implements strategic plans to drive fan growth goals and objectives
Leads development of comprehensive audience-centric marketing plans, across paid and owned channels, reaching key audience segments with the most engaging messages
Creates omnichannel customer journey strategies for fan acquisition, retention, and to support Club ticket sales goals
Provides audience data recommendations and strategies, finding innovative ways to leverage MLB’s first-party data with Adobe’s Real-Time CDP, augmenting with other data sources, when necessary, to drive fan growth
Identifies and develops new fan engagement programs to reach MLB's identified target growth audiences
Acts as a champion for MLB fans, ensuring messaging is targeted, engaging, and relevant
Oversees development of creative briefs include messaging needs for each targeted audience, along with all deliverable needs
Partners with Analytics teams to make sure audience insights are captured and reported along with all other relevant program KPIs
Collaborates with leaders both inside and outside MLB Marketing to continuously improve processes
Builds and fosters mutually-beneficial relationships with a diverse set of stakeholders, including product owners, sponsorship sales, global media partnerships, strategy, as well as other marketing leads and teammates
Maintains a pulse on the sports, media, and entertainment marketing best practices and trends

Engaging Stakeholders to Deliver Business Priorities

Develops and maintains effective relationships with stakeholders to identify shared goals designed to achieve business priorities
Establishes forums and processes through which to address needs or concerns of stakeholders.
Identifies priorities, timelines, and resources required to deliver on business objectives
Actively monitors changes in business environment and team/stakeholder input to inform decision-making
Oversees the development of and tracks progress against project plans to ensure successful completion of projects
Guides teams on building and maintaining stakeholder relationships as business partnerships
Communicates concepts in a clear and persuasive manner that engages target audiences

Leading Teams

Hires, develops, and retains diverse talent that makes a strong, positive impact on the organization
Creates a team environment that encourages accountability, high standards, and innovation within the department
Builds teams with the appropriate mix of talent and skills to drive innovation and performance
Sets clear organizational goals and expectations for direct reports using the established performance management process and holds the team accountable for performance
Identifies talents and capabilities of direct reports, and supports their growth and development plans
Continuously improves team and job structure and ensures clear leadership accountabilities are in place
Utilizes an “open door policy” to facilitate regular ongoing communication within the department
Regularly reviews employee satisfaction feedback to identify and address employee concerns
Promotes adherence to internal policies, holding self and direct report(s) accountable to those policies

MLB CORE COMPETENCIES

Deliver Success

Demonstrate ambition and enthusiasm when taking on challenges
Proactively take action, holding self and others accountable
Be agile and prepared to quickly adapt when priorities unexpectedly shift

Critical Thinking

Logically analyze data and systematically weigh options to determine the best solution
Make sense of complex and sometimes contradictory information to solve problems
Apply knowledge of functional industry and organization to develop new approaches or strategies

Collaboration

Remove barriers and work in partnership across organizational boundaries to accomplish goals
Promote a positive team environment and take time to raise morale
Seek out diverse viewpoints and practice inclusive treatment of others

Communication

Convey written and verbal messages that effectively inform and gain interest or support
Successfully determine the appropriate parties that need information and communicate in a concise, timely manner
Actively listen to gain a full understanding of what was said

Relationship Management

Build trusted relationships, networks, partnerships, and alliances
Connect with others in a transparent and honest manner
Anticipate and fully service the needs of stakeholders, including colleagues, owners, clubs, corporate partners and fans

Developing Self and Others

Proactively pursue opportunities to learn and build new skills
Seek and provide feedback to strengthen and improve development areas
Actively learn through experimentation, using success and failures as learning opportunities

Per the NYC pay transparency law, the hiring range for this position is $145,000 to $175,000.