Roark Global Marketing Director

Roark is a premium Adventure Lifestyle brand, working within the Outdoor, Surf, and Lifestyle channels. We offer product that performs without jeopardizing style, always inspired by the journey. Roark operates in a collaborative and fast-paced environment where operational excellence directly supports brand growth and customer success.

About The Role

The Global Marketing Director leads the Roark marketing function across every channel and every market. You set the brand vision and run the process that delivers it. This role requires both a clear point of view on where the brand is going in the adventure-lifestyle space and the operational command to execute it season after season. You own marketing's seat in the 18-month GTM process, working alongside product, merchandising, planning, and sales leaders. Every brand asset the company produces flows through your team and carries your approval: campaign, ECOM, owned retail, wholesale, media, social, PR, and athlete. You are accountable for the quality, timing, and budget of the work. You lead a team of four: Marketing Manager, Art Director, a contract Community Manager, and an Athlete Manager. You report to the Founder and Chief Brand Officer, carrying the brand strategy into commercial planning discussions.

We seek someone experienced in brand marketing who has run a team, held an organization to a GTM calendar, directed campaign production, and can speak with equal command about DTC and Wholesale distribution. The role rewards vision matched by operational detail: a brand steward who holds a high creative bar, values the GTM process, develops their team, and leads peers effectively. Deep credibility within the adventure travel, surf, run, climb, and trail communities is essential.

Responsibilities

• Brand Vision and Strategy
  • Own the Roark brand strategy: positioning, seasonal narrative, franchise focus, category priorities, and consumer targets.
  • Translate strategy into an executable marketing plan for the team and business.
  • Set the annual and seasonal marketing plan aligned with the commercial plan, ensuring each channel meets its targets.
  • Own and enforce the brand book and guidelines, approving Roark’s expression in every market and by every partner.
  • Bring consumer, category, and competitive insights into product and merchandising conversations early.
  • Balance long-term brand equity with near-term revenue opportunities.
• GTM Leadership
  • Own marketing’s seat in the 18-month GTM process, representing marketing at every gate from line planning to consumer launch.
  • Set and enforce the seasonal GTM calendar, approving the critical path and resolving channel conflicts.
  • Write and approve the seasonal go-to-market brief for creative, copy, ECOM, retail, and sales teams.
  • Lead seasonal kickoff and launch readiness reviews with product, merchandising, planning, sales, ECOM, and retail leadership.
  • Hold the organization accountable to the GTM process as the operating document for the brand.
• Brand Asset Creation and Omni-Channel Distribution
  • Own the creation of all Roark brand assets: seasonal campaign photography and film, product imagery, catalogs, look books, line sheets, account presentations, in-store graphics, trade show materials, and event assets.
  • Manage the Art Director on creative output, setting briefs, reviewing work, and approving final assets.
  • Own asset distribution globally across media, social, PR, influencer, athlete, ECOM, email, SMS, paid, owned retail, wholesale portals, and drop-ship partners.
  • Manage media relationships and the PR program, setting earned media strategy and approving assets and messaging.
  • Govern asset management: naming conventions, rights, versioning, and a single approved DAM library for all channels.
• DTC Distribution
  • Partner with ECOM leadership on the site and digital marketing plan: launch calendar, merchandising stories, email, SMS, paid media, and conversion-focused content.
  • Own the brand layer of DTC, ensuring campaign consistency across site, email, social, and paid channels.
  • Own the owned retail marketing program: seasonal windows, in-store visuals, floor set support, store communication, and local activation.
  • Review DTC performance monthly with ECOM and retail teams, applying insights to the next seasonal plan.
• Wholesale Distribution
  • Own the seasonal sell-in Playbook: line sheets, brand presentations, story decks, and digital assets for account portals.
  • Direct account-facing marketing for Core specialty, wholesale, drop-ship, and international distribution: co-op programs, shop-in-shops, POP, catalog placements, and partner asset submissions.
  • Build marketing support around prebook and at-once rhythms, delivered ahead of every prebook window.
  • Partner with sales leadership to align marketing investment with sell-in and sell-through, placing co-op dollars strategically.
  • Govern how the brand is represented in partner channels, on partner sites, and in partner marketing.
• Team Leadership and Collaboration
  • Lead, coach, and develop the team: Marketing Manager, Art Director, contract Community Manager, and Athlete Manager. Set goals, run reviews, and build growth paths.
  • Direct the Community Manager on grassroots, event, and community programming, and the Athlete Manager on the athlete/ambassador roster, contracts, seeding, and content capture.
  • Run the marketing operating rhythm, ensuring decisions are made, documented, and communicated promptly.
  • Communicate up and across, presenting plans, calendars, and results to the Founder, Chief Brand Officer, and department leaders.
  • Manage the marketing budget: build, allocate, defend, and reconcile it monthly.
  • Manage agency, vendor, and freelance partners: scope, bid, contract, and performance.

Requirements And Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in marketing or related discipline, or equivalent experience.
• Minimum of 8 years in brand marketing at a consumer brand in apparel, Outdoor, Surf, or premium lifestyle, with experience at both strategic and executional levels.
• Proven people leadership: built and led a marketing team, including creative talent, and managed contract/agency resources.
• Demonstrated ownership of a GTM process at brand scale: set seasonal calendars and held organizations accountable.
• Global brand strategy experience: positioning, narrative, guidelines, and maintaining consistency across channels and markets.
• Creative and content production leadership: directed campaign photo/film production and delivered assets across all channels.
• Media, social, and PR fluency: earned media strategy, press relationships, social/influencer programs, and athlete/ambassador programs.
• Command of both DTC (ECOM and owned retail) and Wholesale (prebook/at-once, sell-in/sell-through, co-op, retailer asset requirements).
• Budget ownership at the department level: build, allocate, defend, and reconcile.
• Excellent communication: present clearly to founders/CEOs, brief designers effectively, and align peers who do not report to you.
• Proficiency with project management (Asana), B2B (Elastic), DAM systems, Adobe Creative Suite, and ECOM (Shopify) platforms.
• High level of passion for the Outdoor lifestyle: adventure travel, surf, running, climbing, trail, and the culture around it.

Preferred Qualifications

• International (UK, EU, AUS) market experience and support for international distribution partners.
• Experience at a brand with both healthy DTC and wholesale businesses, balancing them efficiently.
• Experience building or rebuilding a GTM process from a low base.
• Trade show and sales meeting production leadership.
• Experience managing an athlete or ambassador roster.

How Success is Measured

• First 90 Days
  • Current brand strategy and seasonal marketing plan articulated, aligned with leadership, and understood by key departments.
  • Marketing’s role in the 18-month GTM process documented, with clear gates, owners, and deliverables.
  • Team assessed, goals set, and capability/capacity gaps identified with a closure plan.
  • Asset and channel audit complete, with gaps for the next two seasonal deliveries identified.
• First Year
  • Seasonal campaigns delivered on time and on brand across all channels and markets, measured against the critical path.
  • Sell-in Playbook released ahead of every prebook window, with adoption from sales teams and accounts.
  • Measurable growth in earned media, social, and community engagement against a defined baseline.
  • ECOM and owned retail receive campaign packages on a predictable schedule, 1–3 months before launch.
  • Global marketing budget managed to plan, with clean monthly reconciliation.
  • Team retention and demonstrable growth in all four direct reports.
  • Evolved marketing strategy for H2 2028 and beyond articulated for the GTM planning process.

Schedule

This is an in-office hybrid position, mandatory 4 days per week in Irvine, CA, with the option to work from home 1 day per week. Subject to change per company guidelines.

Pay

The salary range for this position is $150,000 to $180,000 plus opportunity for an annual bonus, based on experience.

Benefits

• Complimentary chef-prepared breakfast and lunch provided Monday–Thursday.
• Generous product gift program and brand discounts.
• Company bonus program.
• 5-year and 10-year milestone anniversary travel gifts.
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance in accordance with plan guidelines.
• Company-paid life insurance in accordance with plan guidelines.
• 401k with employer match in accordance with plan guidelines.
• 15 days of PTO accrued annually, plus one additional day of PTO every year on your anniversary, and 3 floating holidays per year.
• Paid beach and giveback days, bi-annual team-building events, and other in-person celebrations.
• Dog-friendly office.