Director, Marketing Strategy & Operations

The Traits - We are looking for an experienced marketing leader who is equal parts strategist and operator. You see the big picture but are equally comfortable getting into the details required to move work forward. You understand how brand, audience, media performance, and execution work together to create effective marketing. You are collaborative, decisive, curious, and highly organized, with the ability to bring clarity to complex work, develop people, and turn insights into action.

The Team - The Marketing and Brand team leads the strategic development and positioning of the Thunder brand, identity, expression, and marketing. We approach our work with intentionality and purpose, continually looking for relevant opportunities to connect the Thunder to people in deeper and more meaningful ways. We work collaboratively across the organization to ensure the brand is thoughtfully and consistently brought to life.

The Role - As Director, Marketing Strategy & Operations, you will provide day-to-day leadership for the Thunder's marketing function, overseeing integrated marketing strategy and planning, paid and owned media planning, performance marketing, and brand operations. Working closely with the VP, Marketing & Brand Engagement and Director, Brand Identity & Creative, you will connect brand strategy to marketing execution while building the processes, partnerships, and accountability necessary to deliver effective work. You will lead and develop the Marketing team while serving as a strategic partner across the organization.

In this role you will:

• Lead annual, seasonal, and campaign marketing strategy, establishing objectives, audiences, positioning, messaging, channel plans, key performance indicators (KPIs), and measurement

• Partner closely with the Vice President, Marketing & Brand Engagement to advance brand strategy, positioning, and priorities and translate them into actionable marketing plans and campaigns

• Lead paid media strategy and investment across digital and traditional channels, including audience strategy, channel mix, agency and media partner management, optimization, and emerging opportunities

• Partner with the Fan Development department to develop and evolve audience profiles and segmentation, translating fan insights into actionable targeting strategies across marketing and media

• Develop a performance marketing approach focused on testing, targeting, return on investment (ROI), return on ad spend (ROAS), and measurable fan and business outcomes

• Lead integrated owned media planning in partnership with Social, Digital, Content, in-arena, and other channel owners and in collaboration with the Marketing Strategist

• Oversee campaign workflows, project management, prioritization, calendars, budgets, and cross-functional execution

• Turn campaign, media, and audience insights into recommendations that strengthen marketing effectiveness, fan connection, and the Thunder brand

• Provide strategic oversight of Brand Operations, empowering the Brand Operations team to strengthen workflows, processes, and prioritization that enable the Brand Expression team to operate efficiently and effectively

• Champion brand governance across the organization, partnering closely with the Director, Brand Identity & Creative to ensure the Thunder brand is consistently and appropriately represented across internal and external touchpoints

• Provide strategic oversight of the marketing relationship with Legends Global (Paycom Center management), ensuring third-party events, marketing requests, and arena activations appropriately represent and support the Thunder brand

• Partner with NBA Marketing to align league and team initiatives, identify opportunities for local activation, and leverage relevant league resources and best practices

• Provide day-to-day leadership of the Marketing team, develop staff, and ensure clear priorities, accountability, and follow-through, including direct supervision of the Marketing Strategist, Brand Operations Lead, and Paid Media Coordinator

• Perform other duties as assigned

What you’ll bring to the role:

• 7+ years of experience in integrated marketing, brand marketing, media, performance marketing, and/or a related discipline

• Demonstrated experience leading marketing strategy, integrated campaigns, and cross-functional planning across paid and owned channels, with experience contributing to brand strategy and governance

• Experience working with digital media platforms such as Google Ads, Google Analytics, Meta Ads Manager, and X Ads, as well as search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM)

• Strong understanding of brand positioning and governance, paid media, performance measurement, audience targeting, and optimization

• Experience managing people and leading complex, cross-functional work from strategy through execution

• Experience managing marketing budgets and using performance insights to inform marketing investments and priorities

• Strong strategic, operational, and analytical skills with the ability to move comfortably between big-picture direction and executional detail

• Strong communication skills with the ability to clearly communicate marketing strategies, recommendations, and results to a variety of stakeholders

• Demonstrated ability to identify challenges, evaluate solutions, and exercise sound judgment when making decisions that impact marketing and organizational objectives

• Ability to prioritize across multiple projects and competing business needs in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment

• Ability to stay informed of industry trends and apply relevant insights to marketing strategy and decision-making

Additional Details:

This is a full-time exempt position reporting to the Vice President, Marketing & Brand Engagement. Our office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:30 am - 5:30 pm, and schedule may include occasional evenings, weekends, and holidays. The primary work location is the Thunder corporate office at Paycom Center in downtown Oklahoma City.

We offer a positive office environment and a robust benefits package including excellent medical, dental and vision coverage, 401k with matching funds, paid downtown parking, tuition reimbursement, employee ticket options, family gym membership subsidy, parental leave, team shop discount, and much more!

The Thunder recognizes that teams with a variety of backgrounds, perspectives and skills make a stronger company. As an Equal Opportunity Employer, the Thunder organization considers applicants fairly on the basis of qualifications, experience and business needs and provides equal opportunity regardless of race, color, age, sex, ancestry, ethnicity, national origin, religion, veteran status, marital status, pregnancy, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other legally protected status. Applicants are considered regardless of past legal system involvement, based upon the needs of the role, nature of and recency of legal history. The Thunder is committed to a welcoming and inclusive environment for all employees through its RAVE culture – Respect and Value Everyone.