Senior Director, Brand Marketing

confidential; USA; Vor Ort; USD 180.000 - 230.000; Vollzeit

Zusammenfassung

Churchill Downs Racetrack in Louisville, KY, seeks a Senior Director of Brand Marketing to define and steward brand strategy for the Kentucky Derby and Churchill Downs Racetrack, aligning identity with a premium guest experience.

You will lead brand, public relations, and earned media, coordinating across departments to protect heritage while driving relevance with national and international audiences during Derby Week and year-round events.

Qualifikationen

• Ten or more years of progressive brand leadership experience in sports, entertainment, hospitality, luxury or live events.
• Strong knowledge of premium positioning, brand architecture, and identity systems.
• Experience leading public relations and earned media programs with broad reach.

Aufgaben

• Define and evolve brand strategy, positioning, architecture, and long-range ambition for Churchill Downs Racetrack and the Kentucky Derby.
• Protect heritage and equity while keeping brands premium, modern, and relevant.
• Translate brand strategy into annual priorities, briefs, guidelines, and decision frameworks.
• Guide annual Derby identity development, brand extensions, and major creative platforms.
• Own on-track brand and guest experience across Derby Week, race meets, and year-round events.
• Lead guest-experience vision across environment, wayfinding, signage, service moments, entertainment, and programming.
• Bring the voice of the consumer into brand decisions through research, cultural intelligence, and trends.
• Collaborate across departments to ensure guest touchpoints reflect the brand promise.
• Lead PR and earned media strategy for lifestyle, business, culture, sports, entertainment, and major-event storytelling.
• Build and maintain relationships with local, regional, national, and international media.
• Develop proactive communications and compelling story angles.
• Direct major announcements, executive communications, press tours, media-center experiences, on-site media access, filming requests, and reputation-sensitive communications.
• Establish and monitor goals for brand health, share of voice, quality of coverage, sentiment, earned-media impact, and guest-experience outcomes.
• Collaborate with Partnerships & Licensing to evaluate brand fit and license products.
• Align Marketing, Operations, Guest Services, Racing, Ticketing, Partnerships, Licensing, Legal, Food & Beverage, and external partners around brand and guest-experience priorities.
• Provide brand direction to digital marketing, social, performance marketing, and paid media teams while maintaining clear ownership boundaries.
• Lead and develop teams responsible for Brand, Public Relations, Earned Media, and Brand Experience.
• Direct brand strategy, creative, public relations, experiential, research, and related agency partners.
• Manage budgets, agencies, consultants, vendors, and workstreams with clear expectations.
• Perform other duties as assigned.
• Comply with Churchill Downs Racetrack policies, procedures, safety requirements, and regulatory standards.

Kenntnisse

Brand strategy

Leadership

Public relations

Earned media

Storytelling

Ausbildung

Bachelor's degree in Marketing

10+ years brand leadership

Jobbeschreibung

Title: Senior Director, Brand Marketing

Location:

Louisville, KY, US, 40208

Property: Churchill Downs Racetrack

Pay Range

Churchill Downs Racetrack ("CDRT"), the world’s most legendary racetrack, has been the home of The Kentucky Derby, the longest continually held annual sporting event in the United States, since 1875. Located in Louisville, CDRT features a series of themed race days during Derby Week, including the Kentucky Oaks, and conducts Thoroughbred horse racing during three race meets in the Spring, September and Fall. CDRT is located on 175 acres and has a one-mile dirt track, a 7/8-mile turf track, a stabling area, and provides seating for approximately 60,000 guests. The stable area has barns sufficient to accommodate 1,400 horses and a 114-room dormitory for backstretch personnel. CDRT also has a year-round simulcast wagering facility .

Job Summary

The Senior Director, Brand Marketing is the senior brand steward for Churchill Downs Racetrack and the Kentucky Derby, responsible for setting brand strategy and translating it into a distinctive, premium, and culturally relevant guest experience.

This role leads brand strategy, identity and standards, on-track brand and guest experience, public relations, and earned media. The Sr. Director partners across the organization to protect the heritage and equity of these iconic brands while strengthening their relevance with current and future audiences.

Essential Duties And Responsibilities

Brand Strategy & Stewardship

Define and continually evolve brand strategy, positioning, architecture, and long-range ambition for Churchill Downs Racetrack and the Kentucky Derby.

Serve as senior steward of both brands, protecting their heritage and intellectual property while ensuring they remain premium, modern, and relevant.

Translate brand strategy into clear annual priorities, briefs, guidelines, and decision frameworks for internal teams, agencies, and partners.

Set and enforce brand standards, identity systems, naming conventions, and approval processes.

Guide annual Kentucky Derby identity development, brand extensions, and major creative platforms.

Brand & Guest Experience

Own the holistic on-track brand and guest experience across Derby Week, race meets, and year-round events.

Lead development of the guest-experience vision across environment, wayfinding, signage, service moments, entertainment, programming, traditions, visual identity, and other customer-facing touchpoints.

Bring the voice of the consumer into brand and experience decisions through research, cultural intelligence, competitive review, guest feedback, and marketplace trends.

Collaborate across departments to ensure guest touchpoints consistently reflect the intended brand promise.

Public Relations & Earned Media

Lead public relations and earned media strategy for Churchill Downs Racetrack and the Kentucky Derby across lifestyle, business, culture, sports, entertainment, and major-event storytelling.

Build and maintain high-value relationships with local, regional, national, and international media.

Develop proactive communications and compelling story angles that expand positive coverage and cultural relevance.

Direct major announcements, executive communications, press tours, media-center experiences, on-site media access, filming requests, and reputation-sensitive communications.

Establish and monitor goals for brand health, share of voice, quality of coverage, sentiment, earned‑media impact, and guest‑experience outcomes.

Brand Partnerships & Collaboration

Collaborate with Partnerships & Licensing to evaluate brand fit, protect brand equity, and support appropriate partner collaborations, licensed products, and brand extensions.

Align Marketing, Operations, Guest Services, Racing, Ticketing, Partnerships, Licensing, Legal, Food & Beverage, and external partners around brand and guest‑experience priorities.

Provide brand direction and standards to digital marketing, social, performance marketing, and paid media teams while maintaining clear functional ownership boundaries.

Leadership & Management

Lead and develop team members responsible for Brand, Public Relations, Earned Media, and Brand Experience.

Direct brand strategy, creative, public relations, experiential, research, and related agency partners.

Manage applicable budgets, agencies, consultants, vendors, and workstreams with clear expectations and accountability.

Perform other duties as assigned.

REGULATORY

Comply with all applicable Churchill Downs Racetrack policies, procedures, safety requirements, and regulatory standards.

Maintain appropriate confidentiality and exercise sound judgment when handling sensitive brand, media, business, and reputation‑related matters.

Education And Experience

Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Brand Strategy, Communications, Public Relations, Business, or a related field; advanced degree preferred.

Ten (10) or more years of progressive brand leadership experience in sports, entertainment, hospitality, luxury, consumer, or major live‑event environments.

Demonstrated experience setting strategy for a high‑profile brand and translating it into a differentiated physical guest or customer experience.

Significant experience leading public relations and earned media programs with local, national, and international reach.

Experience guiding senior executives and cross‑functional teams through high‑visibility brand decisions and complex live‑event environments.

Required Skills And Abilities

Strategic brand leader with strong knowledge of premium positioning, brand architecture, identity systems, experiential design, guest journeys, and cultural storytelling.

Exceptional editorial judgment with the ability to develop clear, relevant, and newsworthy narratives.

Strong executive presence, communication, writing, presentation, influence, and facilitation skills.

Consumer‑and insight‑driven with the ability to translate research, analytics, trends, and feedback into strategic decisions.

Collaborative leader capable of aligning diverse internal teams, agencies, and external partners.

Strong financial, agency, vendor, and project management capabilities.

Calm, decisive, and solutions‑oriented in a dynamic, high‑pressure live‑event environment.

Ability to work flexible hours, including nights, weekends, holidays, and extended hours during Derby Week and racing seasons.

Physical Requirements & Working Conditions

This work is performed throughout Churchill Downs Racetrack. The employee will be required to sit for extended periods of time and may also be required to stand, walk, use hands to reach, handle or feel objects, tools or controls, reach with hands and arms, climb or balance, stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl, and talk or hear.

The employee may occasionally be required to lift up to 20 pounds and may be required to work nights, weekends, holidays, and extended hours. Some work areas may be noisy and subject to changing weather conditions.

Churchill Downs Racetrack spans 175 acres and more than 1.5 million square feet under roof. The physical demands described are representative of those required to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made for qualified individuals.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or disability.

Work With Us

Churchill Downs Incorporated is an inclusive and fun place to work. We celebrate unique approaches and points of view. We believe diversity is a mindset that drives excellence. We’re always learning, evolving and growing. We innovate through mutual respect of ideas and collaboration. This allows us to build a common language that inspires our team members and propels us toward the achievement of our vision.