Director of Brand Strategy

Role Overview

As the Director of Brand Strategy, you set the tone, vision, and strategic direction for some of our biggest brand relationships, new business pursuits, and long-term sports partnerships across Game Seven and Excel Sports Management’s Brand Marketing clients. You guide clients and internal teams to breakthrough ideas rooted in cultural insight, consumer behavior, business opportunity, and partnership fluency.

You build teams, brands, and culture. You’re hungry to elevate a brand and equally committed to elevating the people around you. You’ll serve as a trusted partner to senior clients, a mentor to strategists, and a catalyst for work that pushes brands forward.

Often alongside Excel Brand Marketing teammates, you’ll drive partnership-focused initiatives (from multi-year league and team deals to new business) developing the insight, approach, and strategic platform that bring them to life. This role is right for you if you think in headlines, know the standard asset package isn’t enough, and have built platforms that unlock the full value of sports and culture with a measurable impact for clients.

Soft skills matter, especially at this level. You take initiative, communicate clearly, collaborate instinctively, and solve problems with empathy and pace.

Roles & Responsibilities

Strategy Development

• Build clear brand positioning, audience insights, and strategies that guide creative, experiential, and partnership work ensuring all ideas ladder into a tight brand narrative and business objective.
• Identify cultural, consumer, and category truths that anchor breakthrough ideas and ensure cultural connectivity.
• Lead on long-term brand platforms and playbooks for clients partnering with sports teams and leagues from current accounts to new business pitches/RFPs.
• Drive the strategy-to-creative pipeline: creating inspiring briefs, shaping concepts, and ensuring alignment from briefing through execution.
• Stay tapped into the brand, its partners, sport, and culture to surface timely, reactive opportunities that maximize partnership relevance.
• Partner with Analytics to define KPI’s and development measurements plans.

Client & Internal Leadership

• Serve as senior strategic partner to clients, translating business goals into actionable strategy.
• Lead strategy for new business efforts including: research, insights, positioning, measures of success, and pitch narrative.
• Present with clarity and conviction to senior internal and external stakeholders, including CMOs.
• Partner with creative and account teams to set the bar for best-in-class strategy, process, and client alignment.

Team Management & Capability Building

• Manage and mentor Strategists, encouraging insights–backed thinking across the agency.
• Lead in the development of the Brand Strategy specialty (craft, hiring, etc.) as we grow with both current and new clients.

Requirements

• 8+ years of experience in brand strategy or integrated marketing. Plus if in sports/partnerships.
• Deep understanding of sport, culture, and the communities shaping them.
• Build amazing Google Slides decks. Simple copy. Elevated design. Great visual references.
• A clear, compelling storytelling with the ability to make complex ideas feel simple, exciting, and culturally relevant.
• Proven track record leading pitch strategy and shaping long-term brand or partnership platforms.
• Thrives in fast-paced, high-volume environments and loves collaborating with creative teams.
• Curious, culturally dialed-in, and confident shaping ideas that push the work beyond the expected.
• Strong leadership skills and experience helping people grow in their roles.

The pay range for this position is $140,000 - $160,000 per year. This position is also eligible for benefits and discretionary bonus.