Creative Strategy Director

The Director of Creative Strategy sits within ESPN Creative Studio and translates the bold vision of our Marketing team into clear, actionable creative across every platform. At the intersection of sports, culture and storytelling, this role ensures that marketing strategies are fully understood and powerfully executed by internal creative teams.

Reporting to the Vice President, Creative Development, you will work side by side with Creative Directors, Producers and leads from Animation, Design, Music, Editorial and Production to guide work that is on brand, on strategy, and resonates with fans.

This role is about making strategy actionable, removing ambiguity, and helping our teams bring high-impact creative to life across all platforms and mediums. It calls for a deep understanding of what powerful creative looks like, what unlocks it, and the judgment to steer teams toward it. The Director works in lockstep with Marketing to ensure briefs provide the clarity and direction needed to fuel insights and inspire high-impact work.

Responsibilities:

• Translate Marketing’s strategic and creative briefs into clear, actionable guidance for ESPN Creative Studio teams.
• Serve as a strategic connector between Marketing and Creative Studio, ensuring alignment on objectives, messaging, and tone.
• Ensure the brief includes all necessary inputs to develop successful creative strategy, asking the right questions before the brief is finalized.
• Develop and maintain a comprehensive “north-star” strategy translated through a creative framework, that is shared and followed by all stakeholders, ensuring strategic clarity.
• Help tailor campaign strategy to specific platforms and creative formats, maintaining consistency while allowing for creative flexibility.
• Partner with cross functional creative leads to support execution that reflects both ESPN’s brand and the strategic intent behind each campaign.
• Participate in internal reviews to evaluate work against the brief and offer strategic feedback.
• Elevate the quality and cohesion of creative output across disciplines by bringing clarity, focus, and collaboration to every project.
• Track projects across platforms to ensure creative is aligned, effective, and consistent with ESPN’s brand voice and sports leadership.
• Interpret and integrate consumer insights, research, and trend tracking to inform creative strategy and outputs.
• Follow up on campaign performance, measure success against KPIs, and share learnings to improve future work.
• Foster creative inspiration and kickoff moments, helping teams lift off ideas and stay aligned to strategic goals.

Required Qualifications:

• Minimum 8 years of experience in brand strategy, creative strategy, or integrated marketing within a media, entertainment, or sports organization.
• Proven ability to translate marketing strategy into actionable creative direction across multiple platforms.
• Strong understanding of creative development processes across design, video, editorial, and social.
• Experience working with cross-functional creative teams including producers, creative directors, designers and other strategy leads.
• Exceptional communication and presentation skills, with the ability to influence stakeholders at all levels.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment.
• Deep knowledge of brand voice, tone, and storytelling principles.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Ability to synthesize audience insights and research into creative recommendations.
• Experience with campaign planning and creative briefing.
• A broad understanding of sports and culture.
• Experience defining and tracking campaign KPIs and following up on performance results.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with consumer insights, trend tracking, and research integration into strategy
• Experience working in or with sports media brands or live event marketing
• Familiarity with ESPN’s brand, platforms, and audience
• Experience supporting high-profile campaigns across broadcast, streaming, digital and social platforms
• Background in creative direction, copywriting or content strategy
• Experience with performance marketing or data-driven creative optimization
• Understanding of emerging media formats and platform-specific creative best practices
• Comfort navigating ambiguity and evolving priorities
• Familiarity with project management tools (e.g., Airtable, Asana, SmartSheet)
• Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Communications, Media Studies, or related field

Required Education:

•  High School Diploma

Preferred Education:

•  Bachelor’s Degree in marketing, broadcasting, communications, or closely related field.

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The hiring range for this position in New York, NY is $135,760 to $186,670 per year. The base pay actually offered will take into account internal equity and also may vary depending on the candidate’s geographic region, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience among other factors. A bonus and/or long-term incentive units may be provided as part of the compensation package, in addition to the full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits, dependent on the level and position offered.