Senior Marketing / VM Manager
DFS Group Limited · Los Angeles, CA · 3 days ago
Marketing$115k–$130k/yrFull-time
Key Responsibilities
- Own and manage the annual marketing calendar across all airport retail operations, aligning campaigns with commercial objectives, seasonal opportunities, travel trends, and brand partner priorities.
- Develop annual, quarterly, and monthly marketing plans that support sales growth, customer engagement, and category performance.
- Partner with the Merchandising and Operating teams to identify opportunities for traffic generation, conversion improvement, basket growth, and customer acquisition.
- Translate merchandising strategies into integrated marketing campaigns and customer-facing activations.
- Establish campaign objectives, success metrics, and reporting frameworks to evaluate effectiveness and ROI.
- Monitor performance against KPIs (footfall uplift, conversion, campaign ROI, dwell time) and provide regular reporting to stakeholders.
- Identify opportunities to differentiate the traveller experience and continually evolve the marketing approach based on data, customer insight, and competitive landscape.
- Serve as the primary marketing partner to merchant teams and brand partners.
- Lead planning and execution of product launches, seasonal campaigns, exclusive airport programs, promotional events, and experiential activations.
- Cook up marketing support for key categories including luxury, beauty, spirits, confectionery, fashion, and destination merchandise.
- Manage co-op marketing opportunities and maximize brand partner investment.
- Ensure all activations align with brand guidelines, commercial objectives, and airport operating requirements.
- Develop activation toolkits, execution standards, and post-event evaluations to support continuous improvement.
- Establish and enforce brand guidelines, production standards, and QC processes to ensure all assets meet quality, regulatory, and airport authority requirements.
- Manage agency and supplier relationships for overflow production work, print procurement, and specialist executions.
- Drive efficiencies across the production workflow, identifying opportunities to reduce lead times, consolidate spend, and improve asset utilisation.
- Plan and execute in-store events including brand activations, product tastings, beauty masterclasses, gifting promotions, and seasonal experiences across both airport locations.
- Manage all logistical, operational, and compliance requirements for in-store events in close coordination with operations, security, and airport authority teams.
- Brief and manage external event suppliers, brand ambassadors, and promotional staff.
- Evaluate event performance and maintain best-practice standards for future execution.
Required Qualifications & Experience
- Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Communications, Business, Retail, Design, or related field.
- 7+ years of progressive experience in retail marketing, travel retail, consumer marketing, or related disciplines.
- Minimum 3 years of leadership experience managing creative, visual merchandising, marketing, or production teams.
- Demonstrated success developing and executing integrated marketing campaigns across multiple retail locations.
- Strong understanding of visual merchandising principles and customer journey design.
- Hands-on experience overseeing digital and print production workflows, including CMS platforms, print-ready file management, and supplier management.
- Strong project management and organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple concurrent initiatives.
- Proven ability to influence and collaborate across Merchandising, Operations, Finance, and Executive Leadership teams.
- Strong analytical and commercial acumen with the ability to connect marketing activity to sales performance.
Preferred Experience
- In airport retail, duty free, travel retail, hospitality, luxury retail, or premium consumer brands.
- Experience working with luxury and prestige brand partners.
- Familiarity with airport authority approval processes and operational requirements.
- Experience with digital signage ecosystems and content management platforms.
- Multi-location retail leadership experience.
Pay & Benefits
The salary range for this position is $115,000-$130,000. Placement within this range will be based on experience, qualifications, and internal equity. This role is eligible for an annual bonus program.