Senior Director, Marketing Science

Overview

Major League Soccer's Strategy and Business Intelligence group is tasked with supporting strategic decision making and resource allocation across the League - with a focus on driving fan growth, revenue capture, and operating efficiencies - by providing impactful data-driven insights, analysis, and recommendations.

The group is seeking a Sr. Director to build and lead the Marketing Science function, partnering with League and Club Marketing leaders to use fan, CRM, media, and behavioral data to improve marketing effectiveness, audience strategy, personalization, and investment decisions. The Sr. Director will set the function's roadmap; lead MLS full-time employees, offshore resources, and external consultants; and work with Marketing, Technology, Product, and CRM teams to turn advanced analytics into actions that drive fan growth, engagement, retention, and revenue. The ideal candidate combines deep marketing and analytical expertise with strong leadership and executive communication.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Marketing Science function, managing MLS full-time employees, offshore resources, and external consultants while setting priorities, quality standards, and accountability across the team.
• Serve as a senior analytical partner to League and Club Marketing stakeholders, translating business objectives into measurable strategies, audience recommendations, test plans, and optimization opportunities.
• Lead advanced CRM and audience modeling, including segmentation and clustering, propensity, churn and lifetime value, uplift, and next-best-action frameworks to improve targeting, personalization, engagement, and conversion.
• Partner with CRM, Data Engineering, and Technology teams to operationalize model scores, segments, and fan attributes in CRM, marketing automation, and paid media workflows for League and Club activation.
• Lead the application and scaling of AI and machine learning within Marketing Science, using these capabilities to improve audience intelligence, personalization, campaign optimization, measurement, and analytical productivity across League and Club stakeholders.
• Establish and evolve the League's marketing measurement framework, using media mix modeling (MMM), attribution, incrementality, and campaign measurement to inform planning, performance, and investment allocation.
• Lead the Marketing test-and-learn agenda by prioritizing hypotheses, partnering with colleagues across Strategy & Business Intelligence on rigorous experimental design and measurement, and translating results into recommendations and future tests.
• Use campaign, CRM, media, and fan behavior data to identify in-market optimization opportunities across audiences, creative, channels, frequency, and spend.
• Develop scalable Marketing Science capabilities, playbooks, tools, and best practices that support League, Club, and SUM marketers and increase adoption of data-driven decision making.
• Partner with Product and Content teams to connect owned-platform behavior and content engagement to fan acquisition, conversion, engagement, and retention strategies.
• Translate complex analytical findings into clear business implications and executive-level recommendations that influence senior stakeholders and embed Marketing Science into decision making.

Additional Responsibilities

• Support broader League objectives with additional ad-hoc organizational analytics projects.
• Additional responsibilities as assigned.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in a quantitative or marketing-related field including Computer Science, Data Science, Statistics, Economics, Marketing Analytics, or a similar domain required.
• 10+ years of experience required, including 6+ years in marketing science, marketing analytics, CRM analytics, data science, or a related quantitative discipline, with demonstrated experience leading teams and managing external or offshore resources.

Required Skills

• Deep expertise in marketing science, marketing effectiveness, and CRM analytics across paid, owned, and lifecycle marketing channels.
• Strong command of advanced audience and predictive modeling techniques, including segmentation and clustering, propensity modeling, churn and lifetime value forecasting, uplift modeling, and next-best-action frameworks.
• Deep understanding of media mix modeling, attribution, incrementality, causal inference, experimental design, and test-and-learn methodologies.
• Strong technical fluency and prior hands-on experience with Python, SQL, and data visualization tools such as Microsoft Power BI or Tableau.
• Experience with CRM systems and marketing automation platforms, including operationalizing predictive model outputs into audience activation and marketing workflows.
• Strong understanding of paid media, lifecycle marketing, audience strategy, campaign optimization, and marketing investment decision making.
• Proven ability to translate ambiguous business challenges into analytical approaches and communicate findings, implications, and recommendations to senior audiences.
• Demonstrated leadership managing high-performing, blended teams of full-time employees, offshore resources, consultants, and other external partners.
• Superior stakeholder management, project management, and organizational skills, with the ability to influence across a complex, matrixed organization and manage multiple priorities.
• High level of commitment to quality, sound judgment, organizational ethics, integrity, and the ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, collaborative environment.
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to effectively communicate to a wide range of audiences, both written and verbally.
• Demonstrated decision making and problem-solving skills
• High attention to detail with the ability to multi-task and meet deadlines with minimal supervision
• Proficiency in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook

Desired Skills

• Experience in sports, media, entertainment, or another organization serving both central and local stakeholders; knowledge of soccer preferred.
• Experience evaluating and applying emerging AI capabilities, including generative AI, large language models, AI agents, or AI-enabled marketing technologies, within analytics and marketing workflows.
• Ability to work non-traditional hours, including evenings, weekends, and holidays.

Total Rewards

Major League Soccer offers a competitive starting base salary of $150,000 - $200,000, based on individual qualifications, market financials, and operational business needs. We are committed to providing a Total Rewards package that attracts, supports, engages, and retains talent. Our benefits package includes comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage, a $500 wellness reimbursement, and generous Holiday and PTO schedule to promote work-life balance. We also prioritize career and professional development, offering on-the-job training, feedback, and ongoing educational opportunities.

We believe in the power of in-person collaboration to fuel creativity, strengthen connections, and cultivate a vibrant workplace. As a result, employees are required to work from an MLS office at least four days a week. We understand the value of balance, so employees also have the flexibility of working remotely on Fridays, along with the option to take up to two additional remote flex days each month.

At Major League Soccer, we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We value diversity and inclusion and believe that a diverse workforce enhances our ability to compete in the marketplace. We are committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all individuals regardless of 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 dedicated to ensuring that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation throughout the job application or interview process, essential job functions, and other benefits and privileges of employment. If you require accommodation, please contact us to request it.

Join our team and be part of the Major League Soccer family, where we elevate the game and inspire greatness!