Director of Brand Strategy and Experience

The Director of Brand Strategy and Experience drives the strategic vision for student-athletes, fans, partners, and member institutions across the Pac-12 Conference.

This position runs daily brand operations across sports, media, tournaments, and business units. The Director ensures the Pac-12 maintains a high-impact, consistent identity at championship events, on digital channels, and across sponsor activations. The role spans visual identity, fan experience, marketing campaigns, and creative direction, leading initiative-driven campaigns designed to elevate national brand presence, increase viewership, and drive ticket sales.

This is a high-impact solo lead role with no direct reports. Success requires a nimble operator who can own brand strategy across the league while seamlessly directing creative agencies, vendors, and cross-functional partner teams to execute flawless live events and modern marketing campaigns.

Location

The Pac-12 office is based in San Ramon, CA. This position is open to remote candidates in California, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Idaho, Texas, and Utah.

Key Responsibilities

Brand Strategy & Visual Identity

• Act as the lead brand steward. Enforce design standards across all media channels and business units.
• Manage the annual marketing budget and execute the brand rollout.
• Create and manage brand guidelines and updates for voice, tone, and marks.
• Identify new opportunities to elevate member universities and student-athlete brands across national television, digital platforms, and live environments.
• Align daily design outputs with executive strategy.

Fan Experience & Experiential Activation Oversight

• Lead the overarching experiential activation strategy for all Pac-12 flagship events, ensuring immersive, high-impact environments tailored specifically to student-athletes, school communities, and fans.
• Oversee brand experiences and multi-day fan activations at major championship events, including the Football Championship Game and Basketball Tournaments.
• Partner with the Digital and Social Media Director and member schools to design the user experience, content plan, and interactive features for mobile apps and websites.
• Collaborate closely with Event Operations, TV Production, and Sponsorship teams on stadium integration, broadcast environments, stadium signage, environmental graphics, and script timing.
• Produce championships that deliver deep experiential value to corporate sponsors, campus communities, fans, and competing athletes.
• Apply brand guidelines across member schools while respecting university logo rules.
• Launch new fan promotions, community-facing activations, and experimental digital platforms.

Marketing Campaigns & Brand Elevation

• Build data-driven marketing plans for Pac-12 events, championships, and new revenue streams.
• Oversee and execute omni-channel marketing and advertising campaigns across social media, broadcast TV, and stadium displays.
• Architect and operationalize an influencer network leveraging student-athlete NIL opportunities and external creators to exponentially scale brand reach and audience engagement.
• Maintain tight alignment between marketing initiatives, the conference’s modern positioning, and institutional compliance guidelines.
• Track ticket sales, web traffic, and overall ROI; adjust ad spend dynamically based on fan data and ticket reports.
• Develop specific marketing launch plans to support new business and revenue projects.

Content & Creative Direction

• Shape the year-round media narrative to keep fans engaged across all platforms between competitive seasons.
• Direct the visual style and narrative strategy for creator-led content, video series, social programming, and student-athlete features.
• Review all creative assets to ensure they meet modern digital design and platform-native standards.
• Oversee the production of digital graphics, print layouts, merchandise, and video spots.
• Hire, onboard, and manage external design agencies, video production vendors, and creative contractors.
• Partner with Communications and Digital teams to synchronize press releases and social posts.

Brand Standards, Asset & Vendor Management

• Distribute logo toolkits to schools, TV networks, and sponsors.
• Conduct compliance reviews on school uniforms, stadium displays, and broadcast graphics for brand accuracy.
• Organize and maintain the conference digital asset library, physical signage inventory, and corporate presentation templates.
• Apply brand strategy to commercial ventures, Pac-12 Enterprises, and future projects.
• Oversee internal and external brand approval workflows.
• Partner with legal counsel to manage trademark registrations, domain management, and IP protection.
• Manage vendor bidding, draft RFPs, negotiate contracts, and hold external creative/production partners accountable to strict quality and budget standards.

Cross-Functional & Agency Leadership

• Drive alignment across internal teams (Communications, Digital, Events, Sponsorships) to execute fast-moving, multi-departmental brand projects.
• Direct external agencies, freelance creators, and production teams to execute visual and experiential projects.
• Act as the central brand authority, educating and aligning internal staff and member institutions on brand priorities.
• Keep the student-athlete and fan experience central to all strategic and operational decisions across departments.

Success Metrics

• Consistent design presentation and experiential execution across events, apps, and broadcasts.
• Exceptional feedback on the event experience from student-athletes, traveling school communities, and fans at flagship tournaments.
• Measurable growth in ticket sales, tournament attendance, and overall broadcast viewership.
• Measurable growth in digital reach, impressions, and brand affinity driven specifically by student-athlete NIL collaborations and creator-led campaigns.
• High corporate sponsor satisfaction leading to integration success and contract renewals.
• Efficient utilization of marketing budgets, optimized dynamically via data and analytics.
• Fully updated, organized, and legally protected trademark and brand asset libraries.

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Communications, Sports Management, or a related field.
• Seven to ten years of experience running brand campaigns and live activations in sports, entertainment, or live events.
• Proven history of hitting ticket sales or viewership goals through modern advertising campaigns.
• Experience overseeing large-scale experiential activations and event production designed for diverse stakeholders (athletes, fans, and institutional partners).
• Direct experience navigating student-athlete NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) regulations, building creator partnerships, or managing influencer marketing networks.
• Strategic awareness of modern social media platforms, digital distribution strategies, and content trends (collaborating closely with specialized digital/social teams).
• Experience managing creative agencies, production vendors, and freelance talent.
• Strong skills in cross-functional project management and executive-level communication.
• Experience managing a marketing budget and tracking multi-channel expenses.

Physical and Scheduling Requirements

• Ability and willingness to work nights, weekends, and holidays during championship tournament cycles.
• Ability to travel to tournament sites and event venues as required.
• Ability to assist with hands-on event execution, including lifting and transporting event branding materials up to 40 pounds during stadium/venue setup.

Preferred

• Background working within college athletics (athletic departments or conference offices), professional sports leagues, or sports media networks.
• Experience launching fan apps, digital communities, or interactive mobile platforms.
• Demonstrated history managing and protecting brand systems across multiple corporate or university entities.
• Experience integrating corporate sponsors natively into live events, fan zones, and digital content.
• Proficiency using Google Analytics, social listening tools, and data dashboards to inform marketing and creative strategy.
• Working knowledge of trademark applications and intellectual property law basics.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office and Adobe Creative Suite.

Pac-12 Overview

The Pac-12 stands at a defining moment in its history. Founded in 1915, the league’s rich legacy of athletic and academic excellence spans over 100 years. Supported by world-class service and empowerment, Pac-12 student-athletes have earned more than 500 NCAA team championships. Now with a renewed and bold vision for its future, the Pac-12 has undergone significant transformation on its journey to launching a new collegiate athletics conference, custom-built for both the modern-day student-athlete and an evolving college sports landscape.

Under the leadership of Commissioner Teresa Gould, the Pac-12 embarks on creating a new legacy, composed of nine member universities, a one-of-its-kind and state-of-the-art broadcast production facility in San Ramon, CA, and a reimagined commercial enterprise that is uniquely positioned to drive strategic partnerships, brand enhancement, revenue generation and other growth opportunities to unlock new and lasting value for both its member universities and its student-athletes. Beginning with the 2026-2027 season, the league is composed of nine full members, including Oregon State University, Washington State University, Boise State University, Colorado State University, California State University, Fresno, Gonzaga University, San Diego State University, Texas State University and Utah State University.

Compensation

The exact salary will depend on the successful candidate’s location, relevant skills, experience, and qualifications.