Director, Marketing Strategy

About the Role

The Director, Marketing Strategy serves as the strategic architect and business partner for Cox Automotive's consumer marketing organization, driving integrated marketing strategy across Autotrader, KBB, and multiple business units for each brand. This role acts as the connective tissue between business, product, B2B marketing, and cross functional consumer marketing team - translating complex business needs into actionable, integrated marketing strategies that drive measurable business outcomes. We are looking for a strategic, intellectually curious leader who is comfortable with ambiguity and is able to navigate change while balancing long term vision with near term execution needs.

What You'll Do

• Strategic Business Partnership
  • Serve as primary marketing strategy partner to business unit leaders, product team, B2B marketing, and operations directors across the Cox Automotive ecosystem
  • Lead strategic planning processes for 6+ business units, developing integrated annual and quarterly consumer marketing strategies that align with business objectives and competitive positioning
  • Participate in business planning cycles, providing consumer marketing perspective on growth opportunities, competitive threats, and market dynamics
  • Navigate complex stakeholder environments, building consensus across matrixed teams and driving alignment on strategic priorities
  • Represent consumer marketing strategy in executive forums and business reviews
• Integrated Marketing Strategy Development
  • Translate business objectives into clear, actionable marketing strategies that span brand, performance, lifecycle and social consumer marketing, coordinating with media, creative and analytics leaders to bring campaigns to life
  • Develop strategic briefs that synthesize business context, customer insights, competitive landscape, and success metrics to guide media, creative, and analytics teams
  • Lead cross-functional strategy development for major initiatives (launches, competitive responses, new product introductions)
  • Partner with media team and agencies to co-create strategic approaches, challenging and refining recommendations to ensure business alignment
  • Own the "what" and "why" of marketing plans while enabling execution teams to determine the "how"
  • Serve as primary strategic counterpart to agency strategy leadership, establishing ways of working and performance expectations
  • Brief media team and agencies with clear strategic direction and challenge recommendations to ensure they ladder to business objectives
  • Ensure marketing extracts maximum value from agency partnerships through strong strategic partnership
• Team Leadership & Development
  • Build and lead a high-performing strategy team, providing mentorship & development opportunities
  • Establish strategy team operating rhythms, standards, and best practices
  • Foster a culture of strategic rigor, customer-centricity, and business acumen
  • Develop strategic planning frameworks, tools, and processes that scale across business units
  • Partner with analytics to ensure strategies are grounded in data and insights

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in related discipline and 10 years of marketing strategy, brand strategy, or management consulting experience. The right candidate could also have a different combination, such as a master's degree and 8 years' experience; a Ph.D. and 5 years of experience; or 14 years' experience in a related field
• 5+ years in director-level or equivalent strategic leadership roles
• Proven track record of driving business outcomes through integrated marketing strategy
• Experience partnering with senior business leaders (VP/SVP level) and influencing without direct authority
• Background working in complex, matrixed organizations with multiple stakeholders
• Experience managing agency relationships
• Deep understanding of full-funnel marketing strategy (brand, performance, lifecycle)
• Exceptional strategic thinking - ability to synthesize complex information, identify insights, and develop clear strategic recommendations
• Data-driven mindset with ability to leverage analytics and customer insights to inform strategy
• Systems thinking - sees connections across functions, channels, and business units
• Executive presence and ability to present to C-level audiences with confidence and clarity
• Proven ability to influence and build consensus across diverse stakeholders
• Strong people leadership - develops talent, builds high-performing teams, creates inclusive environments
• Collaborative approach while also comfortable making tough decisions and trade-offs

Preferred Qualifications

• Degree in Brand Management, Marketing or a related field
• Master's degree preferred
• Automotive, marketplace, e-commerce, or complex B2C/B2B2C business model experience strongly preferred

Additional Details

• This position is remote/work from home. You need to reside within the Eastern Time Zone. If you live near the Atlanta office, the position will be hybrid, reporting into the office 3 days a week
• Travel: 25%

Compensation

Compensation includes a base salary in the range of $134,900.00 - $224,900.00. The base salary may vary within the anticipated base pay range based on factors such as the ultimate location of the position and the selected candidate's knowledge, skills, and abilities. Position may be eligible for additional compensation that may include an incentive program.

Benefits

The Company offers eligible employees the flexibility to take as much vacation with pay as they deem consistent with their duties, the company's needs, and its obligations; seven paid holidays throughout the calendar year; and up to 160 hours of paid wellness annually for their own wellness or that of family members. Employees are also eligible for additional paid time off in the form of bereavement leave, time off to vote, jury duty leave, volunteer time off, military leave, and parental leave.

Additional benefits include: comprehensive healthcare with multiple options for individuals and families; generous 401(k) retirement plans with company match; professional development and continuing education opportunities; inclusive parental leave policies, plus comprehensive fertility coverage and adoption assistance; pet insurance; employee discounts; and exceptional work-life balance with flexible time-off policies and accommodating work schedules.