Associate Director, Product Marketing

Hybrid Work Model

#LI-hybrid

Job Summary:
Reporting to the Senior Director of Product Marketing, the Associate Director will lead the marketing strategy and execution for Virtua Fighter and other assigned titles in the Western markets. This role requires a world class skilled marketer and leader to drive player adoption, lifecycle management, cross-functional collaboration, and business planning while ensuring best-in-class marketing campaigns aligned with SEGA's and studio's global objectives.


The ideal candidate has a proven track record of developing strategic go-to-market plans, ability to execute those plans at tactical level, strong collaborative and communication skills and clear leadership and mentorship skills that inspire innovation and growth within a team dynamic.


Duties and Responsibilities:

Strategic Planning and Execution

• Own all aspects of marketing lifecycle management across assigned titles, including portfolio planning, foundational marketing strategy, go-to market execution, postmortem analysis, and long-term catalog performance.
• Develop, implement, and own product positioning, audience definition and sizing, and overarching marketing strategies.
• Provide input into the product Inline/Greenlight process and Western P&L, including development of strategic recommendations and accountability for managing the marketing budget across the portfolio.
• Drive dynamic thinking, innovation, and best practices across marketing organization and cross-functional teams to drive best-in class marketing strategy and execution.

Leadership and Team Development

• Lead cross-functional teams across marketing campaigns, mentoring and empowering team members to foster innovation, accountability, and creative excellence.
• Advocate for Western players' needs and ensure alignment across global marketing strategies.
• Function as a change agent and drive high-impact, innovative marketing initiatives, and influencing outcomes using data-driven insights, case studies, and benchmarks.
• Lead and influence decision making across key executive stakeholders, including business and game development leadership for the Virtua Fighter and other assigned IP.
• Mentor, develop, and empower a team to lead cross-functional marketing campaigns for their assigned titles.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Serve as a collaborative custodian of integrated marketing, coordinating efforts across communications and public relations, community, sales, creative services, events, paid media, 1st parties, external agencies, development teams, and regional marketing teams in the Sega of Europe and Sega of Japan.
• Partner closely with brand team counterparts to develop complimentary marketing plans that help grow the audience for Virtua Fighter products and leverage music, consumer products, and other initiatives to amply reach and engagement.
• Develop and maintain strong relationships with studio partners, FGC key stakeholders or Tournament Organizers, serving as the voice of the product to players and the voice of the players to developers, including advocating for Western regions and influence into global planning.

Global Collaboration & Relationship Building

• Collaborate across U.S., Europe, and Japan cross-functional and international teams to develop globally integrated and innovative community campaigns aligned with strategic KPI's, financial growth, and engagement goals.
• Partner with studio teams to contribute to the adaptation and creation of marketing assets-from trailers to social content-tailored for Western audiences.

Data-Driven Marketing

• Analyze campaign performance using a range of KPIs and market insights to identify marketing trends, optimize marketing execution, and maximize ROI.
• Partner with the marketing strategy team to apply targets and goals for marketing campaign and drive accountability among cross functional teams to deliver against defined KPIs.
• Other responsibilities are performed as assigned or needed.

Qualifications and Skills:

• Working in-office is an essential function of this position. This requirement of face-to-face interaction is in place to ensure effective supervision, collaboration, and teamwork. In-office attendance is required for the following reasons:
• For effective supervision of employees and our work product, which includes ensuring all employees have necessary oversight of their work and access to supervisory assistance, which includes meetings to review work product, deadlines, and status.
• To foster communication and collaboration among team members, which includes the following: allowing for spontaneous brainstorming sessions and exchanges of ideas, quick access to team members to enable collaborative problem-solving, and stronger cohesion among co-workers and within teams.
• To enhance the sharing of information necessary to effective job performance and product creation.
• To enhance understanding of our stakeholders' work and business needs, facilitate a more seamless and organic workflow, and ultimately increase efficiency and successful outcomes.

Experience and Technical Skills

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant field or equivalent experience required. MBA preferred but not required.
• Typically has 9+ years of experience in marketing, with 3+ years of management experience, ideally within gaming and or consumer products. Experience at a major video game publisher or consumer product company, including experience launching Fighting games and multiple successful AAA games is strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to to manage and grow, cultivate, and nurture direct report(s).

Gaming Industry Knowledge

• Must be a gamer, passionate about the gaming industry and fighting games, with a strong commitment to representing the needs of players.
• Demonstrated experience with 1st party console and PC platform partner processes and policies, including optimizing for player journey and discovery.

Creative and Analytical Expertise

• Proven experience developing, managing, and pitching global marketing campaigns for Fighting Games or eSports-related products, working with regional and cross-functional teams to ensure the vision is executed effectively.
• Strong analytical skills necessary to measure campaign effectiveness/ROI and adjust strategies as needed.

Collaborative and Independent Work Ethic

• Strong project management and analytical skills, with the ability to collaborate with multiple teams on multiple projects in a fast-paced environment, while driving towards shared goals.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with a strong attention to detail.
• Independent worker with little supervision required and willingness to navigate areas of unfamiliarity while maintaining a positive, professional, collaborative, and flexible attitude.
• Able to conduct weekly meetings with Europe and Japan, including occasional meeting outside standard U.S. business hours.

Language and Cultural Skills

• Japanese language skills and experience working with Japanese or Asian corporations are a plus but not required.
• Proven experience working in a layered global environment is required.

Bonus:

• Experience working at or participating in EVO is a plus.
• Working knowledge of recent action-adventure games and like-minded audiences is a plus.