Overview
Major League Soccer (MLS) is in a generational growth opportunity, with a new 10-year broadcast deal with Apple, Lionel Messi in Miami and energy building towards World Cup 2026 in North America. To harness this momentum, we are re-imagining our digital ecosystem from the ground up with the goal of growing soccer fans' connection with MLS and our clubs.
We are seeking a dynamic and experienced candidate to lead the intersection of marketing and technology within the MLS. This role is pivotal in driving the integration of technology into the marketing strategy, enabling data-driven decisions, optimizing marketing performance, and fostering innovation.
As the VP of MarTech, you will work closely with both the Technology teams and the Marketing team to deliver scalable and cutting-edge solutions that enhance customer engagement, improve marketing efficiency, and enable the successful execution of our marketing strategy. As such, this role will collaborate closely with our CMO and senior marketing leadership to align marketing technology solutions with our business goals.
Responsibilities
Technology Strategy & Execution:
- Drive the overall marketing technology strategy, ensuring that it aligns with the broader business and marketing objectives.
- Oversee the evaluation, selection, implementation, and management of marketing technology platforms (e.g., CRM, marketing automation, data analytics tools, personalization engines) including build vs buy decisions.
- Ensure the seamless integration of MarTech systems, ensuring data flows smoothly between platforms for accurate reporting, targeting, and optimization.
- Build the internal customer success strategy, ensuring our technologies are adopted, used and leveraged for maximum results.
Leadership & Collaboration:
- Act as the primary liaison between the Technology and Marketing organizations, translating business needs into technical solutions and vice versa.
- Lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing marketing technology team, promoting a culture of innovation and collaboration.
- Collaborate with the CMO and senior marketing leadership to define strategic goals and identify opportunities where technology can enhance marketing performance.
- Drive the “art of possible” into Marketing activations, ensuring we are leveraging cutting-edge technologies to optimize results
Data-Driven Marketing Enablement:
- Champion the use of data and analytics to optimize marketing performance, including customer segmentation, lead generation, and customer lifecycle management. Collaborate with Marketing, Analytics and the Data/Engineering Technology teams to drive enablement.
- Implement advanced data management techniques to ensure data cleanliness, accuracy, and security across all marketing platforms.
- Assist with the design, implementation and evolution of dashboards, reports, and analytics that provide actionable insights to the marketing team, enabling them to make informed decisions.
Process Optimization & Innovation:
- Drive automation and process efficiencies across the marketing funnel through the use of technology.
- Stay abreast of emerging trends and innovations in marketing technology to continuously improve marketing capabilities such as robotic automation and generative artificial intelligence
- Foster a culture of experimentation by enabling the marketing team to leverage observability tools, A/B testing, personalization, and performance optimization tools.
Budget & Vendor Management:
- Oversee budgeting, vendor selection, and relationship management for all marketing technology-related tools and platforms.
- Negotiate contracts with technology vendors and ensure marketing tech investments deliver ROI.
- Explore enterprise opportunities for economy-of-scale opportunities across the League
Additional Responsibilities
- Additional responsibilities as assigned
- Ability to travel and to work non-traditional hours, including evenings, weekends, and holidays
Qualifications
Required Skills and Experience
- Bachelor's degree in computer science, Information technology, or related technical field. A marketing degree is acceptable if accompanied with applied deep technical proficiency.
- 12+ years of experience working and leading teams related to marketing technology platforms
- Proven track record of collaborating effectively with marketing teams to drive strategy through technology solutions.
- Hands-on experience with marketing automation platforms (e.g., Salesforce, HubSpot), CRM systems, data management platforms (DMPs), customer data platforms (CDPs), and analytics tools.
- Experience working and integrating consumer data, including first, second- and third-party data, and all aspects of related data privacy, consent management and data privacy regulations.
Preferred Technology/Data Skills
- Experience integrating Marketing Technologies and platforms with cloud-based data services (e.g., AWS, Google Cloud, Azure).
- Strong proficiency in data modeling, ETL workflows, data pipelines, and the ability to manage and process large volumes of structured and unstructured data from various sources.
- Knowledge of data lake architectures and data lakehouse solutions (e.g., Hudi, Iceberg, Delta Lake) for storing and querying large datasets
- Experience working with API integrations to connect/integrate marketing platforms and data systems.
- Knowledge of how machine learning and AI-driven solutions are leverage for predictive analytics, consumer segmentation, and personalization strategies.
Preferred Marketing Technology Skills
- Hands-on experience with marketing automation platforms (e.g., Salesforce, HubSpot), CRM systems, and customer data platforms (CDPs) with a focus on utilizing large consumer datasets to drive personalized customer experiences.
- Deep understanding of data privacy regulations (e.g., GDPR, CCPA) and best practices in ensuring data governance, data security, and compliance, especially when dealing with massive datasets across multiple regions.
- Expertise in data analytics and BI tools (e.g., Google Analytics, Power BI) with a focus on enabling marketing teams to make data-driven decisions through advanced reporting and visualizations.
- Experience building and optimizing real-time data pipelines to support personalized, multi-channel marketing campaigns.
- Exceptional leadership and communication skills, with the ability to translate complex technical concepts into actionable marketing insights for cross-functional teams and executive leadership.
- A forward-thinking mindset, with a passion for leveraging consumer data and advanced analytics to drive marketing innovation and performance optimization.
Total Rewards
Starting Base Salary: $200,000 – $250,000. MLS/SUM base salaries are contingent upon several factors including individual qualifications, market financials, and operational business needs.
We are committed to providing a Total Rewards package that attracts, supports, engages, and retains talent through the following:
- Benefits – comprehensive and competitive medical, dental, and vision benefits, as well as a suite of programs to promote well-being including a $500 Wellness Reimbursement. A generous PTO offering, and hybrid Office/Remote Work Schedule are also offered to promote Work-Life balance.
- Career & Professional Development – on the job training, feedback, and on-going educational opportunities to continue your personal and professional development.
- Employee Engagement – office perks, discounts and employee events that go “beyond the traditional paycheck” to make you feel a part of our team and inspire you to elevate the Game!
We are an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, age, national origin, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.
We are committed to providing equal opportunity and reasonable accommodation to employees with disabilities. MLS/SUM complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act and all other applicable federal, state, and local laws regarding disability discrimination and accommodation.