Director, Marketing Operations

globalcareers-sas; United States; Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive medical, prescription, &

401k plan

Tuition Assistance Program

Generous vacation and holidays

Volunteer Time Off

Job summary

SAS in Cary, North Carolina, seeks a Director, Marketing Operations to align strategy with execution, acting as a senior partner to the CMO and Marketing Leadership Team. You will drive clarity, speed, and impact across Marketing through optimized operating rhythms and transformation initiatives.

You will lead a functional team, shape priorities, and champion AI-enabled processes to enhance performance, productivity, and business outcomes, while embodying our values and culture.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required with 15+ years in related roles.
• 9+ years leading strategic initiatives and enterprise programs.
• Experience coaching and mentoring teams to deliver results.
• Proven ability to lead cross-functional marketing operations in a global setting.

Responsibilities

• Serve as trusted advisor to CMO and Marketing Leadership Team with clear outcomes and milestones.
• Lead high-priority cross-functional initiatives across Marketing, Sales, Finance, HR, IT, Legal.
• Own and improve Marketing’s operating rhythm including leadership meetings and reviews.
• Prepare concise briefings and communications translating business data into insights.
• Lead and develop the Marketing Operations team and drive organizational change.

Skills

Leadership

Strategic planning

Cross-functional collaboration

Executive communication

Mentoring teams

Analytics understanding

Education

Bachelor's degree

Job description

Director, Marketing Operations - Hybrid, Cary, North Carolina

We’re a leader in data and AI. Through our software and services, we inspire customers around the world to transform data into intelligence and questions into answers.

If you’re looking for a dynamic, fulfilling career with flexibility and a world‑class employee experience, you’ll find it here. We’re recognized around the world for our inclusive, meaningful culture and innovative technologies by organizations like Fast Company, Forbes, Newsweek and more.

About the job

The Marketing organization is looking for a Director, Marketing Operations to serve as a senior strategic and operating partner to the Chief Marketing Officer and Marketing Leadership Team. This leader will connect strategy, people, and execution across Marketing, ensuring that the organization’s highest‑value priorities receive the appropriate focus, resources, and follow‑through.

In this role, you will bring clarity to ambiguity, strengthen Marketing’s operating rhythm, and lead complex work across organizational boundaries. Your impact will be measured through stronger alignment, faster execution, and demonstrable business outcomes.

As a Director, Marketing Operations, you will:

• Serve as a trusted advisor to the Chief Marketing Officer and Marketing Leadership Team, translating company and marketing priorities into clear outcomes, decisions, owners, milestones and measures of success.


• Lead high-priority, cross-functional initiatives that require coordination across Marketing, Sales, Finance, Human Resources, Procurement, Information Technology, Legal and other enterprise partners.


• Own and continuously improve Marketing’s operating rhythm, including leadership meetings, planning cycles, business reviews, quarterly reviews and strategic forums, while driving accountability and timely follow‑through.


• Prepare concise, decision-ready briefings, presentations, talking points, and communications that translate business, customer, and marketing information into clear insights and recommendations.


• Lead and develop the Marketing Operations team, setting clear priorities, roles, standards and measures of success while advancing organizational effectiveness, culture and change.


• Advance Marketing transformation by redesigning processes and championing the practical, responsible use of AI and automation to improve effectiveness, speed, quality and productivity.


• Embrace curiosity, passion, authenticity and accountability. These are our values and influence everything we do.

Required qualifications

• Bachelor's degree


• Minimum 15 years of related experience, including 9 years of leadership experience driving strategic initiatives, enterprise‑wide programs, business operations, or cross‑functional organizational priorities, and 5 years of formal people management experience.


• Solid understanding of the enterprise B2B software value chain, from product design and development through how products are marketed, sold, and supported.


• Demonstrated experience coaching and mentoring teams and individuals to achieve challenging deliverables while maintaining morale, discipline, and teamwork.


• Proven experience leading complex, cross‑functional business or marketing operations in a global organization, with the ability to influence across functions and levels and lead effectively through ambiguity and change.


• Strong strategic judgment, problem‑solving, and executive communication skills, with the ability to synthesize complex information into clear, actionable recommendations.


• Equivalent combination of related education, training, and experience may be considered in place of the above qualifications.

Additional competencies, knowledge and skills

• Leadership - Strategic Planning: Develops and aligns long‑term strategies, priorities, and resources to achieve organizational goals and sustainable business results.


• Leadership - Leading Change: Guides individuals and teams through organizational change by creating clarity, fostering adoption, and delivering desired outcomes.


• Influencing: Builds credibility and gains stakeholder commitment across functions and levels to drive decisions, alignment, and action.


• Project Management Professional (PMP) or Program Management Professional (PgMP) certification is desirable, or equivalent professional training is preferred, for individuals performing primarily project or program management duties.


• Experience in enterprise software, analytics, AI, cloud or another technology‑driven industry.


• Experience leading business transformation, operating‑model design, organizational change, or AI‑enabled process improvement.

World‑class benefits

Highlights include...

• Comprehensive medical, prescription, dental and vision plans.


• Medical plan options include: PPO with low annual deductible and copays.


• HDHP combined with a health savings account with a contribution from SAS (no access to on‑site health care center).


• Onsite Health Care Center (HQ) that’s free to employees and family members enrolled in the PPO plan. There's a pharmacy too! Not local to HQ? The pharmacy will ship prescriptions for no additional charge!


• An industry‑leading 401k plan.


• Tuition Assistance Program and programs and resources to support your development.


• Generous time away including vacation time, a variety of paid holidays, and our much‑loved U.S. Winter Wellness Break between December 25 and January 1.


• Volunteer Time Off, parental leave and unlimited paid sick days.


• Generous childcare benefits for all full‑time employees.

You are welcome here.

At SAS, it’s not about fitting into our culture – it’s about adding to it. We believe our people make the difference. Our inclusive workforce brings together unique talents and inspires teams to create amazing software that reflects the diversity of our users and customers.

Additional Information:

To qualify, applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States, and should not require, now or in the future, sponsorship for employment visa status. SAS is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants are considered for employment without regard to any characteristic protected by law. Read more: Know Your Rights.

Resumes may be considered in the order they are received. SAS employees performing certain job functions may require access to technology or software subject to export or import regulations. To comply with these regulations, SAS may obtain nationality or citizenship information from applicants for employment. SAS collects this information solely for trade law compliance purposes and does not use it to discriminate unfairly in the hiring process.

SAS only sends emails from verified “sas.com” email addresses and never asks for sensitive, personal information or money. If you have any doubts about the authenticity of any type of communication from, or on behalf of SAS, please contact [e-mail].