JOB SUMMARYThe Senior Director, Brand Marketing is the senior brand steward for Churchill Downs Racetrack and the Kentucky Derby, responsible for setting brand strategy and translating it into a distinctive, premium, and culturally relevant guest experience.
This role leads brand strategy, identity and standards, on-track brand and guest experience, public relations, and earned media. The Sr. Director partners across the organization to protect the heritage and equity of these iconic brands while strengthening their relevance with current and future audiences.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIESBrand Strategy & Stewardship- Define and continually evolve brand strategy, positioning, architecture, and long-range ambition for Churchill Downs Racetrack and the Kentucky Derby.
- Serve as senior steward of both brands, protecting their heritage and intellectual property while ensuring they remain premium, modern, and relevant.
- Translate brand strategy into clear annual priorities, briefs, guidelines, and decision frameworks for internal teams, agencies, and partners.
- Set and enforce brand standards, identity systems, naming conventions, and approval processes.
- Guide annual Kentucky Derby identity development, brand extensions, and major creative platforms.
Brand & Guest Experience- Own the holistic on-track brand and guest experience across Derby Week, race meets, and year-round events.
- Lead development of the guest-experience vision across environment, wayfinding, signage, service moments, entertainment, programming, traditions, visual identity, and other customer-facing touchpoints.
- Bring the voice of the consumer into brand and experience decisions through research, cultural intelligence, competitive review, guest feedback, and marketplace trends.
- Collaborate across departments to ensure guest touchpoints consistently reflect the intended brand promise.
Public Relations & Earned Media- Lead public relations and earned media strategy for Churchill Downs Racetrack and the Kentucky Derby across lifestyle, business, culture, sports, entertainment, and major-event storytelling.
- Build and maintain high-value relationships with local, regional, national, and international media.
- Develop proactive communications and compelling story angles that expand positive coverage and cultural relevance.
- Direct major announcements, executive communications, press tours, media-center experiences, on-site media access, filming requests, and reputation-sensitive communications.
- Establish and monitor goals for brand health, share of voice, quality of coverage, sentiment, earned-media impact, and guest-experience outcomes.
Brand Partnerships & Collaboration- Collaborate with Partnerships & Licensing to evaluate brand fit, protect brand equity, and support appropriate partner collaborations, licensed products, and brand extensions.
- Align Marketing, Operations, Guest Services, Racing, Ticketing, Partnerships, Licensing, Legal, Food & Beverage, and external partners around brand and guest-experience priorities.
- Provide brand direction and standards to digital marketing, social, performance marketing, and paid media teams while maintaining clear functional ownership boundaries.
Leadership & Management- Lead and develop team members responsible for Brand, Public Relations, Earned Media, and Brand Experience.
- Direct brand strategy, creative, public relations, experiential, research, and related agency partners.
- Manage applicable budgets, agencies, consultants, vendors, and workstreams with clear expectations and accountability.
- Perform other duties as assigned.
REGULATORY- Comply with all applicable Churchill Downs Racetrack policies, procedures, safety requirements, and regulatory standards.
- Maintain appropriate confidentiality and exercise sound judgment when handling sensitive brand, media, business, and reputation-related matters.
EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE- Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Brand Strategy, Communications, Public Relations, Business, or a related field; advanced degree preferred.
- Ten (10) or more years of progressive brand leadership experience in sports, entertainment, hospitality, luxury, consumer, or major live-event environments.
- Demonstrated experience setting strategy for a high-profile brand and translating it into a differentiated physical guest or customer experience.
- Significant experience leading public relations and earned media programs with local, national, and international reach.
- Experience guiding senior executives and cross-functional teams through high-visibility brand decisions and complex live-event environments.
REQUIRED SKILLS AND ABILITIES- Strategic brand leader with strong knowledge of premium positioning, brand architecture, identity systems, experiential design, guest journeys, and cultural storytelling.
- Exceptional editorial judgment with the ability to develop clear, relevant, and newsworthy narratives.
- Strong executive presence, communication, writing, presentation, influence, and facilitation skills.
- Consumer- and insight-driven with the ability to translate research, analytics, trends, and feedback into strategic decisions.
- Collaborative leader capable of aligning diverse internal teams, agencies, and external partners.
- Strong financial, agency, vendor, and project management capabilities.
- Calm, decisive, and solutions-oriented in a dynamic, high-pressure live-event environment.
- Ability to work flexible hours, including nights, weekends, holidays, and extended hours during Derby Week and racing seasons.
PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS & WORKING CONDITIONSThis work is performed throughout Churchill Downs Racetrack. The employee will be required to sit for extended periods of time and may also be required to stand, walk, use hands to reach, handle or feel objects, tools or controls, reach with hands and arms, climb or balance, stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl, and talk or hear.
The employee may occasionally be required to lift up to 20 pounds and may be required to work nights, weekends, holidays, and extended hours. Some work areas may be noisy and subject to changing weather conditions.
Churchill Downs Racetrack spans 175 acres and more than 1.5 million square feet under roof. The physical demands described are representative of those required to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made for qualified individuals.
