Sr. Director, Retail Marketing Brand, Visual & Creative

Chicago, IL (Hybrid)

$170K/yr – $180K/yrSenior Level10+ years expFull time

Posted 2 months ago

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Job Summary

Own and scale the retail branding engine by shaping strategy, budget, and cross-functional execution to grow acquisition, retention, and brand affinity while driving measurable P&L impact.

  • Brand strategy and budget ownership: align with regional goals and deliver outcomes that move the business.
  • Creative leadership and local programs: run the in-house agency and roll out scalable campaigns with field ops support.
  • Cross-functional stewardship: ensure cohesive brand expression across stores, e-commerce, and national marketing plans while fostering accountability and a data-driven culture.

Job Description

Responsibilities

  • Owns the end-to-end brand marketing strategy for the retail business, driving customer acquisition, retention, and brand affinity at scale.
  • Architects retail brand marketing budget, in service of the broader P&L, accountable for delivering measurable results that are accretive to the business.
  • Partners closely with regional P&L owners to align marketing strategy and spend, translating goals into clear business outcomes. Educates cross-functional stakeholders on the impact of marketing levers, driving understanding, trust, and shared accountability for results.
  • Sets and leads the retail brand vision, positioning and identity, ensuring cohesion across store design, visual merchandising, content, e-commerce, and Sunnyside owned brand.
  • Builds and scales marketing programs that can be executed with nuance locally and are effectively implemented across stores in partnership with field operations and store teams.
  • Leads the in-house creative agency, delivering exceptional creative and production output on brief and on time, balancing the needs of high quality and high quantity work.
  • Provides dotted-line leadership to a regional marketing team that supports day-to-day execution and cross-functional alignment across markets, ensuring continuity of brand expression and consistency with national commercial strategies.
  • Establishes a culture of accountability and ownership within the marketing team, setting clear expectations and delivering results with operational excellence.
  • Partners cross-functionally across Retail Operations, Merchandising & Planning, Finance, HR, Wholesale Marketing etc. to ensure unified execution of initiatives and proactive communication of plans.
  • Champions a strong feedback and testing culture, leveraging performance data to continually iterate and improve marketing programs.

Requirements

  • A bachelor’s degree and 10+ years of marketing leadership experience in high-growth, multi-unit retail environments; cannabis experience is a plus but not required.
  • Best suited for someone who is Chicago-based and can participate in our hybrid work environment (office in Fulton Market 2-3 days per week). Quarterly travel in market.
  • Experience building and evolving brand systems across all physical and digital retail touchpoints, including store concept and design.
  • Experience assessing and integrating M&A is a plus but not required.
  • Strong analytical mindset and comfort with KPIs spanning both customer behavior and commercial metrics (e.g., CLV, NPS, frequency, retention, ATV, CAC, ROAS, loyalty engagement).
  • Outstanding communication and stakeholder management skills, with a proactive and transparent approach to cross-functional collaboration.
  • A builder and leader of high-performing teams, who sets a high bar, offers strong support, and develops future leaders.
  • Operates with an ownership mindset — delivers with excellence, follows through on commitments, and proactively solves problems.

Preferred

  • Cannabis experience is a plus but not required.
  • Experience assessing and integrating M&A is a plus but not required.

Benefits

  • Cresco Labs is proud to offer eligible employees a robust offering of benefits including, major medical, dental and vision insurance, a 401(K)-match program, FSA/HSA programs, LTD/STD options, life insurance and AD&D. We also offer eligible employees paid holidays and paid time off. Other rewards may include annual discretionary bonuses, stock options as well as participation in our employee discount program. Benefits eligibility for permanent positions may vary by full-time or part-time roles, location, or position.