Brand Director

There’s Always a Seat at Our Bar 

The Lagunitas Brewing Company began on a kitchen stove in Northern California in 1993 and has always looked to the future – whether supporting local communities by turning beer into money for the cause, or fueling stories, songs, and experiences with our IPA. Wherever you go: Beer Speaks, People Mumble. 

You’ll Get

• Benefits – Awesome coverage for: Medical, Dental & Vision
• Time off - Approx 33 days off in your first year (combo of vacay, holidays and personal days)
• Retirement – up to 5% contribution on 401K plan
• BEER – and non-alcoholic Lagunitas beverages
• Schwag – 50% off food and merch
• Gym Membership – $50 monthly reimbursement for that beer belly (or at least to prevent it)
• Pet Insurance – keep your fur babies covered with pet insurance options
• Skills to Pay the Bills – professional development, 24/7 operation
• Opportunities – Expand your horizons in CA, Chicago . . . the world!
• It’s Friday, Ya’ll – Get Paid every other Friday, starting at: $144,826.24-$162,929.52

The Gist

This key leadership role will be a steward of the Lagunitas brand, responsible for overseeing global creative and communications. The Brand Director is responsible for the brand health and growth of the overall Lagunitas portfolio, including Core Beers, Specialty / Seasonal beers, Beyond Beer, and non-alcoholic products. They lead consumer marketing efforts through strategic planning, programming development, execution/implementation, and analysis of existing products and innovation performance.

This leadership role has a strong emphasis on people management, as they will energize and coach a team of 6 including brand managers, associates & creative team members. Leading them in the management of marketing activities including integrated campaigns (media, digital/social, event/experiential, sampling). Additionally, they will provide strategic priorities / direction, and budgetary guidance for other marketing teams including Innovation, Trade Marketing, Retail / TapRoom marketing.

The ideal candidate would be a strong team leader, creative & out of the box thinker, business savvy, passionate about building brands, and have strong multitasking abilities.

What You’ll Do

Strategic Brand Plan Development and Execution:   (40% time allocation)

• Partners closely with CMO to provide leadership, strategic direction and vision for Lagunitas portfolio and creative
• Fosters a culture that inspires creativity, challenging the status quo, collaboration and innovation
• Oversees the development of break through creative and activation ideas that align to the brand mission, connect authentically with consumers, and ensure consistency of brand voice and visual identity across all touchpoints
• Lead the development of the annual brand plan and budget recommendation based on market data and relevant brand / consumer insights
• Work cross-functionally (Sales, Legal, Supply Chain, Communications, etc.) to ensure solid implementation of agreed plans
• Leads the strategic rationale and presentation for all major brand initiatives, providing direction to in-house teams/departments (media/communications, events, customer marketing) as well as external agencies (media, PR, creative).
• Partners with Leadership Team Peers (Customer Marketing, Innovation, Insights, Finance & Sales) to develop multi-channel programs that drive brand awareness and sales

People Management:    (30% time allocation)

• Manage, coach, and develop a team of BM, ABM and Associates to success in roles
• Cross-functional team Management with key internal groups including legal, creative, customer marketing, communications, finance, and production as required.
• Fosters a culture that inspires creativity, collaboration and innovation, and encourages embodiment the brand personality as well as company motto “Find a way, make a way”
• Develop best practices to improve execution

Analytic and Financial Oversight:

Commercial Strategy, Analytic and Financial Oversight and Execution:    (20% time allocation)

• Via management of Brand Managers & ABM, monitor on-going business and competitive analyses and provide findings and recommendations for corrective action where appropriate to CMO and Lagunitas LT to overcome key commercial challenges
• Oversee the ongoing analysis of category, competitive and consumer trends working with Datadogs team
• Oversee marketing projects through all stages, ensuring that work is delivered on time and regularly reports the status of projects to the team
• Lead the management of business relationships with agencies and vendors
• Develop scopes of work as needed for external agency support in partnership with Procurement teams
• Identify, brief and lead in-house creative team, agency partners and freelancers on brand initiatives
• Ensure implementation of approved plan on time and ensure quality of execution 
• Strong ability to analyze price and product positioning, priority SKUs vs category
• Knowledge and proven leadership with Sales team and specific channel accounts in the US market
• Partnership / interaction with sales operations, sales force, and on occasion, key distributor personnel in support of sales efforts and execution of marketing programs. 
• Via management of Brand Manager & ABMs, monitor and evaluate results/impact to brand performance
• Oversee budgeting, forecasting / phasing of budget, reconciliation.
• Recommend budget shifts across portfolio or programming based on brand/market performance or opportunities
• Proven knowledge and understanding in consumer research and analytics

Brand Ambassador:   (10% time allocation)

• Serve as an effective ambassador for Lagunitas embodying the brand values and personality, representing the brand and it s mojo at key internal and external events (i.e. distributor visits, trade events, sales meetings, association meetings, etc.).
• Visit key markets in support of market blitzes, new product launches, surveys, etc. and report brand and competitive findings as well as any market driven recommendations to management team 

What We’re Lookin’ For

• A minimum of 10 years of brand management experience at a high-profile brand.
• Ideally craft beer and/or counter-culture lifestyle brand experience, as well as CPG
• Strong knowledge & experience of executing digitally led marketing initiatives and ability to apply to our overall communications strategy.
• Proven ability to think strategically, creatively, and executional in developing marketing strategies, tactics and initiatives that may vary across different regions
• Proven leader with the drive to learn and thrive in a high-growth, dynamic and entrepreneurial environment.
• Demonstrated capacity to cultivate strong relationships within and outside the organization- agency teams
• Love of dogs is optional, but tolerance of dogs is mandatory

Key Relationships                               

• Reports to Chief Marketing Officer
• Collaborates with and influences cross functional marketing partners to ensure consistent execution across every platform

Physical Requirements

• Typical office environment (by Lagunitas standards)
• Hybrid work policy: Required to be in the Petaluma office at least 3x per week in order to foster collaboration, Tuesday/ Thursday mandated.
• Occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds
• Travel approximately 20% per year

Come as You Are 

At Lagunitas, we welcome people (and dogs) from all walks of life. Anyone, regardless of their race, creed, nation of origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability status, veteran status, marital status, or age, has a home here. Love, progress, and acceptance will always have a seat at our bar.