Director of Digital Marketing

Director of Digital Marketing

The Charlotte Hornets are seeking a Director of Digital Marketing to lead the strategy, execution, and optimization of the organization's owned digital ecosystem—including email, SMS, website, and mobile app—to deliver personalized fan experiences that increase engagement and drive ticketing, membership, retail, food & beverage, and other revenue initiatives.

Reporting to the Vice President of Integrated & Performance Marketing, this role sets digital strategy, oversees day-to-day execution, leads a high-performing team, and partners across the organization to align digital channels with business objectives and fan experience.

Hornets Values

• We operate with the highest level of integrity, driven by moral standards that guide us in everything we do.
• We communicate with full candor; openly, honestly, and respectfully with clarity.
• We work in the spirit of one team, committed to one vision, shared values, and an inclusive culture that ensures every person feels valued and respected.
• We hold ourselves accountable, and responsible to raise high levels of expectations of ourselves and our team.
• We compete at the highest levels and strive to be the best at everything we do.
• We act with resilience and thrive in the face of challenges bringing others along with us.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Digital Marketing Strategy

• Develop and execute the digital marketing strategy across email, SMS, website, and mobile app.
• Set annual channel roadmaps, campaign priorities, KPIs, and performance goals.
• Drive strategies that increase fan acquisition, engagement, retention, and lifetime value.
• Evaluate emerging technologies and best practices to improve digital capabilities.
• Provide executive reporting and recommendations using campaign and audience insights.

People Leadership & Team Development

• Lead, coach, and develop a team of four digital marketing professionals.
• Foster a culture of collaboration, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Set team goals, performance expectations, and development plans.
• Manage priorities, resources, workflows, and project execution.
• Manage budgets, timelines, and vendor relationships.

Owned Digital Experience (Email, SMS, Website & Mobile App)

• Lead strategy, execution, and optimization across the organization's owned digital channels including: email marketing, SMS marketing, website and mobile app.
• Manage the owned-channel marketing calendar and coordinated campaign execution.
• Own website and mobile app promotional strategy and customer experience.
• Partner cross-functionally to improve functionality, accessibility, UX, and engagement.
• Support digital merchandising for ticketing, retail, food & beverage, and key initiatives.

CRM, Audience & Lifecycle Marketing

• Lead audience growth, database health, and lifecycle marketing strategies across all owned channels.
• Develop and optimize automated customer journeys through CRM and marketing automation platforms.
• Establish audience segmentation, personalization, and communication strategies that improve engagement and conversion.
• Increase fan registration, retention, and customer lifetime value.
• Leverage CRM and business intelligence insights to inform strategy.

Integrated Campaign Strategy

• Lead integrated campaigns supporting ticket sales, memberships, retail, food & beverage, brand, community, events, and NBA initiatives.
• Partner across departments to deliver consistent customer messaging.
• Align digital initiatives with organizational priorities and measurable outcomes.

Marketing Technology & Digital Innovation

• Own marketing technology platforms, including CRM, automation, CMS, and mobile engagement tools.
• Manage agency and technology vendor relationships.
• Evaluate automation and AI solutions that improve effectiveness and efficiency.
• Develop the long-term roadmap for owned digital channels.

Analytics, Optimization & Revenue Growth

• Define channel KPIs and success metrics.
• Monitor performance and optimize campaigns.
• Lead testing for segmentation, personalization, messaging, journeys, and conversion.
• Analyze performance to improve engagement, conversion, and revenue.
• Optimize customer journeys and conversion funnels across key revenue streams.

Digital Governance

• Establish governance and best practices across owned channels.
• Maintain standards for segmentation, personalization, accessibility, brand consistency, and customer experience.
• Ensure compliance with privacy and data governance standards.
• Maintain quality across all digital communications.

Cross-Functional Leadership

• Partner across business functions to develop integrated marketing strategies.
• Provide digital marketing expertise across organizational initiatives.
• Drive cross-functional alignment between marketing and business priorities.

Required Skills, Experience and Abilities

To perform the job successfully, you should demonstrate the following competencies:

• Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Business, Communications, or related field.
• 7–10 years of progressive experience in digital marketing, CRM, lifecycle marketing, or related disciplines.
• 3–5 years of people leadership experience.
• Demonstrated experience leading email, SMS, website, and mobile app marketing strategies.
• Experience with CRM platforms and marketing automation technologies (e.g., Braze, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Adobe Campaign, HubSpot, or similar).
• Strong analytical skills with experience interpreting digital marketing performance and customer data.
• Exceptional project management, communication, and cross-functional leadership skills.
• Willingness to work evenings, weekends, select holidays and events as required within a professional sports environment.

Preferred

• Experience within professional sports, entertainment, media, hospitality, or consumer brands.
• Familiarity with website content management systems and mobile engagement platforms.
• Experience with web analytics platforms such as Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics, or similar.
• Knowledge of customer journey mapping, personalization, and digital optimization best practices.

Additional Information

This is a full time benefit eligible position. HSE is dedicated to creating and upholding a welcoming environment that celebrates diversity. HSE provides valuable benefits and competitive time off policies to help you and your family lead healthy, balanced lives. We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. All requests for medical or religious accommodations to perform the stated job duties will be considered.

Equal Opportunity Employer This employer is required to notify all applicants of their rights pursuant to federal employment laws. For further information, please review the Know Your Rights notice from the Department of Labor.