Marketing Director

Gridlife Llc; South Haven (MI); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

GRIDLIFE is seeking a Marketing Director to lead marketing across events, units, and projects, translating company goals into audience strategies, campaigns, budgets, and measurable outcomes. You’ll focus on brand awareness, ticket sales, customer acquisition, retention, and lifecycle marketing, collaborating with creative, events, motorsports, and partnerships teams.

You’ll build and lead a team of full-time hires, freelancers, and agencies, setting direction, developing people, and evolving

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field or equivalent practical experience.
• 8+ years of marketing experience.
• Leadership experience in a consumer-facing live-events business.
• Track record of building audiences, strengthening brands, and driving revenue.
• Experience connecting creative storytelling with customer acquisition, conversion, and retention.
• Strong budgeting, forecasting, and analytics skills.
• Experience with paid media, CRM, email and SMS marketing, and digital analytics.

Responsibilities

• Lead company-wide marketing strategy across events, business units, and projects.
• Own event go-to-market plans including audiences, messaging, channels, budgets and timing.
• Drive ticket revenue marketing, with forecasts, acquisition plans, and performance targets.
• Collaborate with creative teams to develop campaigns with clear briefs and audience insights.
• Build and manage marketing campaigns across paid media, social, email, web, publicity, creators, and partner channels.
• Oversee CRM and lifecycle marketing, including segmentation and retention campaigns.
• Manage budgets and dashboards, monitor spend and revenue against goals, and optimize accordingly.
• Build and lead a team of staff, freelancers, and agencies.

Skills

Marketing leadership

Audience building

Brand growth

Strategic planning

Communication

Project management

Analytics

Team development

Creative collaboration

Adaptability

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

CRM

Email marketing

SMS marketing

Google Analytics

Paid media

Conversion optimization

Job description

We are GRIDLIFE—pioneers of the Music / Motorsport Festival, and generally humble people.

GRIDLIFE brings music, grassroots motorsports, and culture together at some of North America’s greatest racetracks, with our community and attendee experience at the heart of everything we do.

GRIDLIFE started in 2014 with the first Midwest Festival at Gingerman Raceway in South Haven, MI. Since then, we’ve grown into a national touring festival series with eight productions scheduled for 2027.

In 2026, GRIDLIFE joined F=ma Group , a newly formed enthusiast platform bringing together talent in live events, content production, storytelling, brand activation, and media. We’re now part of a bigger team creating new ways for people to connect around car culture with more ideas, experiences, and opportunities on the horizon.

We’re looking for a Marketing Director to help more people discover GRIDLIFE, connect with our community, and make plans to join us. Someone who can turn the energy of our events into marketing that builds excitement, grows audiences, and drives results.

Role

You’ll lead marketing across GRIDLIFE’s events, business units, and projects, connecting company goals with clear audience strategies, campaigns, budgets, and measurable outcomes. Your scope will span brand awareness, ticket sales, customer acquisition, retention, and the full journey from first discovery to returning attendee.

Working closely with the Chief Creative Officer and our Creative, Events, Motorsports, and Partnership groups, you’ll turn big ideas into coordinated marketing plans. Our creative team brings deep capabilities in storytelling, content, design, and video. You’ll help focus that work around who we’re reaching, what matters to them, and how we turn interest into action. Creative will lead the creative standard and brand expression; you’ll own marketing strategy, effectiveness, and commercial results.

You’ll also build and manage a team of full-time hires, freelancers, and agencies, creating the structure and capabilities to support a growing business. We’re looking for someone who can set the direction, develop people, and stay close enough to the work to know what’s connecting and evolve and shift campaigns in real time.

Responsibilities

Lead company-wide marketing strategy and planning across events, business units, and projects, balancing brand building, community engagement, and revenue growth.

Own event go-to-market plans, defining audiences, positioning, messaging priorities, channels, budgets, and campaign timing.

Lead ticket revenue marketing, translating event goals into sales forecasts, acquisition plans, and clear performance targets. Track sales against plan and adjust campaigns when results fall behind.

Partner with the Chief Creative Officer and creative team on campaign concepts, storytelling, and content. Provide clear briefs, audience insights, and performance feedback.

Build coordinated campaigns across paid media, social, email, web, publicity, creators, and community and partner channels.

Own CRM and lifecycle marketing, including audience segmentation, email and SMS strategy, retention, and campaigns that bring attendees back.

Improve conversion from discovery through ticket purchase, working across messaging, landing pages, ticketing, and the customer journey.

Manage marketing budgets and investment decisions, balancing immediate sales needs with long-term audience and brand growth.

Own weekly performance reporting and manage real-time dashboards across events, projects, and initiatives, tracking marketing spend and revenue against budgets and goals. Monitor campaign performance, customer acquisition, conversion, ticket sales, and return on marketing investment; highlight gaps and recommend corrective action. Use research, testing, and audience insights to guide decisions.

Build, lead, and develop a team of full-time staff, freelancers, and agencies. Define responsibilities, manage partner performance, and allocate resources across the work.

Establish the marketing calendar, campaign workflows, and regular planning and review meetings that keep teams aligned and delivery on track.

Work with Events, Motorsports, and Partnership teams to ensure marketing reflects the experience we deliver and supports programming, partner commitments, and company priorities.

Qualifications

A bachelor’s degree in a related field or equivalent practical experience.

8+ years of experience in marketing or a related field.

Significant marketing leadership experience in a consumer-facing business, with live events, music, festivals, entertainment, sports, or related experience strongly valued.

A track record of building audiences, strengthening brands, and delivering measurable revenue growth.

Experience developing integrated marketing strategies that connect creative storytelling with customer acquisition, conversion, and retention.

Strong financial and analytical skills, including marketing budgets, sales forecasting, campaign measurement, and investment decisions.

Working knowledge of paid media, CRM, email and SMS, audience segmentation, digital analytics, and conversion optimization.

Experience building and managing teams that combine internal staff, agencies, and freelancers.

Ability to work closely with creative leaders, write clear briefs, and support ambitious ideas with a focused marketing strategy.

Comfort moving between strategy and execution, prioritizing resources, and making decisions in a fast-moving environment.

Clear communication, strong listening skills, and the ability to work professionally with a wide range of personalities.

Comfort with Google Workspace, project management tools, and the marketing technology needed to coordinate campaigns and understand results.

An appreciation for GRIDLIFE’s community and its mix of motorsports, music, and automotive culture.

Comfort working in loud, busy event environments, mainly racetracks.

Flexibility to work evenings and weekends and travel regularly throughout the season to support events and meet key deadlines.

Live the GRIDLIFE

No Flex Zone, Leave Ego behind

Show up, have fun, be nice

Enthusiastic, passionate, flexible and self motivated