Senior Director, Sports Marketing

Senior Director, Sports Marketing

Chicago
Omnicom Media (OM), the media services division of Omnicom Group Inc. delivers transformational experiences for consumers, clients, and talent. Powered by the Omni marketing orchestration system, OM connects best-in-class capabilities that enable our full-service media agencies OMD, PHD, and Hearts & Science to deliver more relevant and actionable consumer experiences, more productive and proactive client experiences, and more collaborative and rewarding talent experiences for the more than 24,000 people serving the world's leading brands in OM agencies around the globe.
Optimum Sports is the dedicated sports marketing agency within OMG. Unlike traditional sports marketing agencies, Optimum Sports operates in both the Sports Sponsorship and Sports Media landscapes. With the combination of both disciplines under a single offering, Optimum Sports is able to provide its clients with unique and advantageous marketplace leverage through which it delivers cohesive, multi-platform sports marketing strategies. Ingrained with the latest research and ROI tools, Optimum Sports facilitates everything from Ideation to Execution to Actualization.
Our approach integrates media, investment, property, and insights to develop strategy, manage negotiation and execution, and evaluate performance of partnerships. Established in 2003, we continue to innovate in the sports marketplace and build solutions for our constantly evolving world.
The Senior Director reports directly to the Managing Director and serves as the direct line of communication with clients. This person will lead a team to analyze, design, initiate, and oversee sponsorship marketing and ticketing strategies for assigned client(s). This includes the overall investigating of opportunities, evaluating them for fit with client/brand objectives, managing day-to-day execution, and providing follow-up analysis of instituted programs, as needed.
Requirements:
Experience leading sports sponsorships and 360 activations is a plus
12 years' experience working in an integrated strategy role and/or sponsorship marketing position with direct client-facing access
7+ years of relevant experience in sports
Experience across mainstream media channels (national TV, local, digital, social, etc)
Strong communicator - both written and verbal - and presenter, in person and on conference calls
Extensive client facing experience
Highly organized, with the ability to manage and prioritize many simultaneous deliverables
Undergraduate degree required (preferably Marketing, Business, Sports Management or Communications)
Proficient in Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Google Docs, Teams
Critical Skills:
Strong background in marketing and media strategy, with experience in building out integrated recommendations across various budget scenarios
Strong ability to effectively communicate ideas in both a written and verbal setting
Ability to work well under pressure and deliver assignments under deadline
Industry knowledge and understanding of sports marketing and media vernacular and trend
Strong management skills and the ability to be a team leader
Self-sufficient, enthusiastic and proactively pursues assignments
Key Responsibilities:
Support direct reports in developing overarching strategy across multiple media channels
Lead broader sports strategy development for client education
Interpret relevant research from third party data, industry trades and additional source
Primarily manage day-to-day comms with client POCs and across internal teams
Develop broad understanding of clients' business needs, KPI's, goals and objectives
Ability to work seamlessly across internal and external groups
Work directly and daily with planning and investment teams to develop holistic client strategy
Promote use of data and other insight tools to build strategic recommendations g., Target analysis, competitive, marketplace intelligence
Collaborate with external agency partners on IAT deliverables including but not limited to a respective annual business planning, brand/master brand communications strategy, tactical media recommendations, etc
Responsible for budget tracking across a portfolio, where funding may be sourced from various LOBs
Detailed knowledge of all working budgets; accountability to address internal and client-based budget allocation questions and responsible for any budget reporting
Familiar with and staying up-to-speed on the evolving digital landscape - both related to sports-specific properties as well as social channels and content strategies
Have strong knowledge of the sports marketplace to identify new opportunities, areas of white space, vacant ownership positions, etc that fit within the overarching client strategy and work in conjunction with internal planning and investment teams to bring these to life
Oversee direct reports by managing workload, delegating responsibilities, checking work for accuracy and being their lead POC in terms of mentorship and growth development
This is the pay range the Company believes it will pay for this position at the time of this posting. Consistent with applicable law, compensation will be determined based on relevant experience, other job-related qualifications/skills, and geographic location (to account for comparative cost of living). The Company reserves the right to modify this pay range at any time. For this role, benefits include: health insurance, vision insurance, dental insurance, 401(k), Healthcare Flexible Spending Account, Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account, vacation days, sick days, personal days, paid parental leave, paid medical leave, and STD/LTD insurance benefits.
Compensation Range
$150,000 - $180,000 USD
This role is hybrid, requiring three (3) days per week in the office. The remaining two (2) days may be worked remotely. Specific in-office days will be discussed during the interview process, with flexibility to align with team needs. Please note that the number or required in-office days may be adjusted over time, potentially increasing the number of required in-office days based on business needs.