Director, Marketing Communications

Description: Position Summary:

The Director, Marketing Communications will play a critical role as the driving force behind PowerStop’s retail media, digital media, PR, graphic design and advertising content efforts. They will help PowerStop maximize both growth and ROI by optimizing our media mix, targeting, and advertising content, all while embracing a fast in-market test/learn/execute approach. We invest 5% of our net sales in marketing today, with a heavy % of spend on the Amazon platform, as it represents a third of our business. We are looking for individuals with expertise in Amazon, but also strong understanding of top-of-funnel tactics - we have an opportunity to drive much higher awareness to grow our consumer base.

The Director, Marketing Communications will be responsible for actively managing our investments in retail media across customers, as well as digital media related to the PowerStop brand and website. They will also partner with both internal and external resources to oversee creation of all needed content for that media – including videos, banner ads, image carousels, PDP A+ content, website content, selling materials, and packaging designs for innovation. They will own six agency relationships: two media agencies, an influencer agency, a graphic design firm, a media relations contractor, and an external video content producer. They will build a strong communications strategy that will include recommending media budgets, tactical plans, and main messaging for content. This leader must balance thinking big and ahead to push the company into breakthrough growth, while also being a day-to-day hands-on guide for the marketing team, the sales team, our leadership team, and these agencies. The Director, Marketing Communications must never forget their role is to drive ROI and incremental sales.

This position requires a unique blend of experiences – deep retail and digital media understanding (especially Amazon) as well as experience creating and/or managing consumer-driven content across platforms. The Director, MarCom will need excellent communication skills and a partnership mindset to work collaboratively with Brand Marketing, Channel Sales teams, Finance, and other key stakeholders in a small, close team environment.

The Director, Marketing Communications will report to the Chief Marketing Officer of PowerStop and will manage a Retail Media Manager.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead retail media strategy and activation, including diving into campaign details with the agency. Accountable for delivering business and financial outcomes attributed to media activity and explaining any misses.
• Lead digital media activation, with emphasis on performance marketing tactics, including paid search and paid social media across North America and Mexico.
• Lead content creation for all advertising. Partner with marketing peers and agency on calendarization of key themes, content priorities, and creative assets
• Ensure advertising drives qualified site traffic to powerstop.com to minimize returns by helping consumers find their proper fit
• Introduce learning mindset to continually test, measure, learn, and improve efficiency and effectiveness for large, complex product assortment
• Develop audience-friendly reporting on results and KPIs for key stakeholders, distilling large data sets and SKU/campaign complexities into more simple, consistent dashboards and stories. Frequent reporting expected from key senior leaders.
• Partner deeply with Sales Team to ensure retail media activity supports customer-specific sales initiatives and priorities, ultimately helping positively contribute to overall sales performance
• Oversee Retail Media manager who owns hands-on keyboards activities for smaller retail media businesses like Walmart Connect and AutoZone and weekly detailed connects on Amazon campaigns.

Requirements: Education:

Bachelor’s degree required; marketing or business administration preferred. An advanced degree (such as MBA) is a plus.

Experience and Skills:

• 10+ years of experience in a combination of digital media and advertising
• Proven results and success while managing media budgets of $5+ million across digital networks
• Strategic thinker with the ability to translate business needs into media and advertising plans
• Deep understanding of best practices for retail media, digital media, ad formats and messaging, targeting capabilities and approaches, and marketing measurement (ROI, MMM)
• Superior analytical skills with comfort interpreting large data sets and KPIs to inform decisions
• Strong leadership and management skills with the ability to inspire and motivate external agency partners and communicate effectively with internal executive leaders
• Proficiency with digital media platforms such as Google, Meta, and accompanying analytics tools
• Bias towards action, takes on the hardest problems head-on
• Proactive cross-collaboration with peers to get things done and win together
• Ability to balance being in the details and knowing both the plan and it’s results with thinking strategically
• Honest, ethical, and transparent

Compensation:

The salary range for this position is $190,000 to $215,000 annually, reflecting the anticipated compensation at the time of posting. Final placement within this range will be determined by several factors, including—but not limited to—education, certifications, relevant experience, skills, travel requirements, and overall business needs. In addition to salary, eligible employees will receive a comprehensive benefits package, which includes paid time off, medical, dental, and vision insurance, life insurance, short- and long-term disability coverage, paid parental leave, and a 401(k)-match retirement plan.

Company Overview:

PowerStop is the market leader in aftermarket automotive brake kits, with leading share in kits sold at all major online retailers and unmatched omni-channel operational capabilities. PowerStop’s core product categories include brake kits, sold via online retailers (e.g., Amazon, RockAuto, AutoZone) and brake components and accessories, sold primarily via the traditional warehouse distributor channel.

Unlike traditional brake suppliers, PowerStop started in the online channel and pioneered a product tailormade for it – a brake kit containing all the parts and hardware needed for a brake replacement or upgrade. Today, more than 70% of revenue is derived from online channels, and PowerStop’s leading position is a result of its consumer-friendly kit offerings, strong consumer branding, and operational competencies. PowerStop has also become a trusted partner to its warehouse distributor customers through its industry-leading fulfillment, product quality, and service.

PowerStop has a proven track record of consistent, outstanding organic growth, averaging double-digit annual growth over the last decade due to its established leadership position, critical focus on the end-consumer, and broad market coverage (98% of the vehicle parc and across the value spectrum). In addition to continued growth within the Company’s existing channels, there are multiple levers for further growth including new product introductions, capture of IIFM (Install It For Me) and DIFM (Do It For Me) consumers, and strategic M&A.

PowerStop is headquartered in Burr Ridge, Illinois and has more than 550 employees across its corporate office and facilities. The Company has one facility in Bedford Park, Illinois (230K square feet) focused on small parcel eCommerce distribution and another facility in Hodgkins, Illinois (500K square feet) consisting of a distribution center designed to fill larger stocking orders. TSG Consumer Partners invested in PowerStop in October 2018.

About TSG Consumer Partners

Founded in 1987, TSG Consumer Partners (www.tsgconsumer.com) is one of the pioneers of sector-focused investing and one of the first private equity firms to invest exclusively in branded consumer companies. TSG is a long-term investor, typically staying involved with a given investment for five years or more, focused on creating value by growing revenue and improving profitability driven by strategies that maximize brand value. The firm currently manages $16 billion of assets on behalf of its blue-chip partners across the globe.

Equal Opportunity Employer:

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, veteran status, or national origin.