director, Brand Activations

Now Brewing – director, Brand Activations! #ToBeAPartner

From the beginning, Starbucks set out to be a different kind of company. One that not only celebrated coffee and the rich tradition, but that also brought a feeling of connection. We are known for developing extraordinary leaders who share this passion and are guided by their service to others.

As the director of Brand Activations, you will be a true culture-marketing leader, shaping how Starbucks earns relevance with existing and untapped audiences through sports, travel, and emerging culture. This is a culture-marketing leadership role focused on sports, travel and hospitality partnerships, emerging culture, and new audiences. You will turn audience and cultural insight into distinctive ideas, partnerships, content, and experiences that strengthen fandom, create conversation, and deliver measurable brand and business impact.

As a director, Brand Activations, you will…

• Lead the development and execution of a culture-marketing strategy across sports, travel partnerships, emerging culture, and untapped audiences, positioning Starbucks to participate credibly in the moments and communities shaping culture.
• Build and develop a team of top performers who are empowered to win.
• Develop innovative, authentic strategies for each function that position Starbucks as a culturally relevant brand with a deep understanding of audiences, fandom, travel rituals, and emerging behaviors.
• Sports + Fandom - Shape how Starbucks shows up across priority sports, athletes, leagues, teams, hometown moments, major cultural tentpoles, and everyday sports conversation. Translate fandom insights into brand-right partnerships, content, collaborations, and experiences.
• Travel Partnerships - Unlock the full potential of the Delta and Marriott partnerships through annual and seasonal activation plans that extend beyond functional benefits into audience-led storytelling, product, merchandise, content, and experiences.
• Emerging Culture + New Audiences - Identify and build credible ways for Starbucks to participate in new cultural spaces and connect with untapped audiences, informed by cultural intelligence, social listening, and evolving customer behaviors. This includes areas such as gaming, trending food and beverage cultures, and more.
• Build and nurture strategic partnerships with athletes, teams, leagues, rights holders, travel and hospitality partners, creators, cultural institutions, agencies, venues, and other collaborators who can expand Starbucks relevance and reach.
• Drive cross-functional collaboration with marketing, Studio, PR, social, media, loyalty, product, partnerships, retail, and operations teams to ensure cohesive storytelling and seamless execution across customer touchpoints.
• Oversee budget and performance metrics for the activation portfolio, establishing clear objectives and measures of cultural, brand, audience, and business impact.
• Inspire and mentor a high-performing team fostering creativity, cultural fluency, innovation, collaboration, and a deep understanding of the audiences Starbucks seeks to serve.

We’d love to hear from people with:

• 10+ years of experience in brand marketing, culture marketing, sports marketing, travel or hospitality marketing, experiential marketing, or cultural partnerships
• Proven success leading large-scale, culturally relevant partnerships, activations, campaigns, content, and experiences
• Deep understanding of cultural trends, fandom, audience behavior, social platforms, and the evolving media and creator landscape
• Experience building and managing relationships with major partners, agencies, rights holders, talent, creators, or cultural institutions
• Experience managing cross-functional teams and developing high-performing talent
• Strong strategic thinking, storytelling, collaboration, and leadership skills
• MBA or equivalent experience preferred

As a Starbucks partner, you (and your family) will have access to medical, dental, vision, basic and supplemental life insurance, and other voluntary insurance benefits. Partners have access to short-term and long-term disability, paid parental leave, family expansion reimbursement, paid vacation from date of hire*, sick time (accrued at 1 hour for every 25 hours worked), eight paid holidays, and two personal days per year. Starbucks also offers eligible partners participation in a 401(k) retirement plan with employer match, a discounted company stock program (S.I.P.), Starbucks equity program (Bean Stock), incentivized emergency savings, and financial well-being tools. Additionally, Starbucks offers 100% upfront tuition coverage for a first-time bachelor’s degree through Arizona State University’s online program via the Starbucks College Achievement Plan, student loan management resources, and access to other educational opportunities. You will also have access to backup care and DACA reimbursement. Starbucks will comply with any applicable state and local laws regarding employee leave benefits, including, but not limited to providing time off pursuant to the Colorado Healthy Families and Workplaces Act, and in accordance with its plans and policies. This list is subject to change depending on collective bargaining in locations where partners have a certified bargaining representative. For additional information regarding partner perks and more detailed information about benefits, go to starbucksbenefits.com.

*If you are working in CA, CO, IL, LA, ME, MA, NE, ND or RI, you will accrue vacation up to a maximum of 120 hours (190 in CA) for roles below director and 200 hours (316 in CA) for roles at director or above. For roles in other states, you will be granted vacation time starting at 120 hours annually for roles below director and 200 hours annually for roles director and above.

The actual base pay offered to the successful candidate will be based on multiple factors, including but not limited to job-related knowledge/skills, experience, geographical location, and internal equity. At Starbucks, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at the high end of the range for their role, and compensation decisions are dependent upon the facts and circumstances of each position and candidate.

We believe we do our best work when we're together, which is why we're onsite four days a week.

Join us and inspire with every cup.

Starbucks Coffee Company is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Qualified applicants with criminal histories will be considered for employment in a manner consistent with all federal, state and local ordinances.

Starbucks Coffee Company is committed to offering reasonable accommodations to job applicants with disabilities. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, please contact us at View email address on click.appcast.io or View phone number on click.appcast.io.