Global Brand Director

Job Summary

Come work with Ultra PRO, the world’s #1 manufacturer of sports and gaming collectible accessories This role is a senior level position that will work in a highly integrated capacity to conceptualize, strategize, orchestrate, and communicate our unique selling proposition(s) and develop high-profile campaigns to share our best-in-class products with the world.

The Global Brand Director will be responsible for overseeing brand architecture, positioning and category / product segmentation.  In addition to brand strategy, the selected candidate will also be responsible for executing strong marketing tactics such as maintaining our public corporate image, implementing marketing initiatives, advertisements, and B2B and BTC campaigns. The successful candidate will manage and execute go-to-market product launch strategies from pitching concepts through delivery and performance analysis. This is a cross-functional role that interfaces with multiple departments as well as all of our satellite offices in Ohio, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Belgium, and Japan.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

• Oversee broad portfolio of trading card collecting, tabletop gaming and other related accessories.
• Ideate, lead and implement global brand strategies to ensure strong brand recognition for inhouse brands as well as partner brands like Pokemon, Magic the Gathering, Warhammer and more.
• Oversee local marketing strategies spanning the digital space, social, live event, email and more.
• Lead and support a broad range of marketing projects including high-priority product launches, new product introductions, seasonal campaigns, and corporate initiatives.
• Partner with internal and external stakeholders to create large scale campaigns.
• Partner with Creative Director and other relevant resources to lead creative development for marketing campaigns including graphics, media creative, ad development, copywriting, etc.
• Review, revise and sign off on all partner marketing creative before submitting to Licensing team for approval.
• Oversee all marketing SOP’s and implement process improvements where possible.
• Identify brand, category, product and marketing opportunities by conducting qualitative, quantitative, competitive, trend and industry research.
• Lead monthly marketing recap meetings and present to executive leadership.
• Support department VP with financial analysis, P&L maintenance and report generation.
• Lead event strategy and execution of both large and small events and trade shows (Sports & Memorabilia Shows, MagicCons, Gen Con, Toy Fairs, etc.).
• Present key marketing plans at team and executive meetings in small and large groups respectively.
• Manage team of 6 direct reports and several contract support roles.
• Support newly opened Japan office and create a strong local marketing plan.
• Support smaller divisions (i.e. Entertainment, TableTopics) with marketing plans and help oversee tactical execution.
• Domestic and International travel required for this role.
• Other duties as assigned by department VP and executive team.

Education/Experience Requisites

• College degree and 10+ years of previous experience in sports, entertainment or gaming industry preferred.
• Prior experience in brand management in consumer products highly preferred.
• Knowledge and passion for pop-culture, entertainment trends and collectibles.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong copywriting and editing experience.
• Experience leading Standard Operating Procedures and process improvement.
• Strong command of key software including Google Slides, Docs, and Sheets, and project management software (Wrike), online dashboards, analytics software, and social platforms.
• Ability to prioritize multiple concurrent projects and manage workload accordingly
• Expert in social media, influencer partnership and UGC management.
• Experience in optimizing landing pages and user funnels.