NIKE, Inc. does more than outfit the world's best athletes. It is a place to explore potential, obliterate boundaries and push out the edges of what can be. The company looks for people who can grow, think, dream and create. Its culture thrives by embracing diversity and rewarding imagination. The brand seeks achievers, leaders and innovators. At Nike, it’s about each person bringing skills and passion to a challenging and constantly evolving game.

The North America Brand Management Team (across Women's/Men's/Kid's) is the marketing function responsible for leading and driving plans that serve the brand and business. Our goal is to know & serve inspiration, innovation and enablement to unlock the power of sport for every athlete

Who we are looking for

We're looking for a Brand Expert to lead the North America Kobe Bryant Marketing offense out of Los Angeles and co-create a new era for the Kobe Bryant signature line at Nike. You'll help create the future of sport, with a specific focus on our basketball consumers across the geography as well as the potential for extensions into additional sports. As part of our North America Men’s team, this expert will be responsible for managing our brand plans and driving functional excellence within the North America team, in partnership with the LA city team. Reporting directly to the LA Men’s Brand Director, this role will deliver brand plans that grow the Kobe business while creating deeper, lasting relationships with young athletes. The candidate should have a comprehensive grasp of the Basketball landscape & the rich history and impact of Kobe’s legacy with elite athletes of tomorrow. The candidate should have the ability to lead multiple projects and build strong working relationships across a matrixed organization. They should bring a strong digital skillset in the heart of their experiences and an understanding of all functions of marketing. They should be comfortable with ambiguity and be ready to dig in, work collaboratively and bring a positive attitude always. They should be solution oriented, a team first collaborator, energy giver, strategic vision and digital thinking, passionate about sport, empathetic and curious to learn

Qualified candidates should have experience leading brand vision and planning, orchestrating full funnel marketing, partnering with athletes, leagues, and retailers, defining and activating evergreen and seasonal plans and managing diverse teams. Your brand leadership should come from a comprehensive grasp of basketball, the on and off court impact of Kobe Bryant, a passion for coming up with new ideas that solve the needs of the business, and the ability to lead multiple projects across a matrixed organization.

What you will work on

You will partner with our North America Brand Directors and marketing leaders around the geography to lead our brand marketing plans including marketing briefs, strategic tools and marketing initiatives that fuel our seasonal initiatives and long-term consumer concepts. You will work across global, geo and cities to drive a brand map and continually build new consumer experiences that accelerate brand and business growth opportunities internally and externally.

You will bring the Global Kobe brand plan to life and manage collaboration throughout the Consumer Code process to engage with our key cross-functional and cross-dimensional partners. Support an end-to-end process to gain insight from consumers including cultural trends. Oversee product integration into seasonal programming. Support development of annual and seasonal programming plans. Manage asset development and distribution across multiple channels. Deliver digital-first plans from ideation to execution. Pioneer new ways of working with key cities and marketing functions. Manage campaign progress measurement and recapping teardowns.

As the NA Kobe Brand Expert, you will:

• Obsess the basketball consumer and his needs
• Drive and deliver the NA brand strategy for the Kobe Bryant business, including Athlete plans to grow the brand, and seasonal marketing strategies to drive priority stories.
• Manage collaboration from idea to execution, engaging with our key cross-functional and cross-sport partners
• Partner with Sports Marketing to elevate athlete storytelling and athlete integration into Geo and city programming and activations
• Partner upstream and downstream with global product and design, merchandizing and sports marketing to drive both upstream and downstream plans
• Oversee brand campaigns and product integration into seasonal programming
• Support development of annual and seasonal programming plans
• Manage asset development and distribution across multiple channels
• Identify integrated opportunities and alignments between basketball and other lifestyle or sport teams to build the strongest end-in-mind experience for the consumer across performance and culture
• Track and manage seasonal campaign progress measurement. Recapping + teardowns.

Who you will work with

In partnership with Nike LA’s Men’s brand team and the NA Basketball brand organization, you will lead and support a x-functional team to orchestrate the marketing offense that drives brand storytelling, fuel consumer demand, and build authentic connections with consumers.

You will collaborate with teammates across Nike to build more effective and efficient ways to encourage and connect with athletes across the geo. Key internal and external partners include:

• LA Men’s Brand Team
• NA Basketball Leadership Team + Additional NA Field of Play (Sports) leadership teams when applicable
• Global Kobe and Athlete Brand Teams
• NA Women’s & Kids Construct Teammates
• Sports Marketing
• Communications (PR)
• Digital Marketing
• Retail Marketing
• Energy Marketing
• Creative
• Media
• Additional City Marketing Teams
• Sales & Merchandising
• Agency & Production partners
• NBA Partners

What you bring

• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, Business, Communications or closely related field or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• 8+ years of experience in brand marketing or related experience with a deep understanding of the basketball ecosystem and the elite and everyday basketball athlete
• Demonstrated genuine passion and deep understanding of basketball, culture, fashion, trends and growing the sport across underserved communities
• Extensive knowledge of the Nike basketball product and athlete portfolio
• Experience leading and managing diverse teams, with a team-first mentality and ability to influence decision makers
• Digital first approach with strong initiative and curiosity to cultivate innovation
• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills
• Ability to balance creativity with organization and discipline in fast moving, ambiguous environment

Functional Competencies:

Team Leadership: Leads by example, with the ability to instill trust & confidence in the team. Brings energy and confidence into every room