Senior Manager-Marketing Strategy, Sports and Water Parks

Job Posting Title:

Senior Manager-Marketing Strategy, Sports and Water Parks

Req ID:

10139947

Job Description:

“It takes people to make the dream a reality." Walt was on to something when he said that, and it continues to ring true today. No matter the stage in your career, being part of Walt Disney World Resort (WDW) means being a member of a team where you help to bring innovation to life through unsurpassed products, services, and most importantly, remarkable experiences. As a Cast Member, you are the connection to our legacy and the backbone of our thriving organization.

A runDisney race is anything but ordinary. From virtual events to a full on-site marathon; Disney characters, live entertainment and a commemorative Disney finisher medal all await our Guests. At runDisney, every mile is magic!

At ESPN Wide World of Sports, we are celebrating youth and amateur sport athletes everyday. As an emerging epicenter for global youth sports, we are building programs and creating experiences that our Guests will never forget. Built around competition, teamwork, and drive this is where Champions are made, and teams become family.

Our Water parks provide a fantastic complement to a full vacation experience at WDW. With magic in every drop, we have the opportunity to share a unique experience through the Disney quality and theming that no other water park can provide.

Walt Disney World Marketing Strategy is a critical part of the Commercial Strategy organization and leads the development of consumer insight-driven marketing strategies to achieve planned revenue, attendance, and managing the return on our marketing investment.

As the Sr. Manager, Marketing Strategy for Sports and Water Parks, you will lead the Walt Disney World marketing efforts to drive on-site and virtual runDisney attendance, Sports event participation, and Water Parks visitation. You will lead a team that will focus in each business area. The Sr. Manager effectively leads and navigates complex Commercial Marketing efforts, managing a high volume of tasks and multiple scale marketing programs while leading a large team with significant budgets. As part of the Commercial Strategy organization, you will also help support short and long-term strategic needs and opportunities, helping shape product, experience and commercial activations with a cross-functional team. This role requires solid executive interaction and the ability to mobilize multiple areas across the site to meet strategic goals. This leader should be able to navigate change and ambiguity with courage, flexibility and optimism. The Sr. Manager leads and develops individual contributors and leaders of leaders.

You will report to the Director of Marketing Strategy.

Responsibilities:

• Deliver on-site and virtual runDisney attendance, Sports event participation, and Water Parks visitation.
• Lead development of multilayered and innovative marketing strategies to drive annual business results by developing distinctive product positioning and go-to-market (GTM) initiatives that reflect strategic planning, critical thinking, analytics, and commercial impact
• Leverage business and marketing analytics, consumer insights to inform KPIs, strategies and evaluate opportunities for each of the Sports and Water Parks brands, in addition to informing and influencing senior leaders
• Lead and supervise development and execution of commercial marketing plans (GTM, ICP, Commercial Mktg Plans) to deliver business goals.
• Inspire, grow and nurture a team of marketing professionals across different levels of experience while collaborating with world-class internal partners
• Be positioned as the marketing lead for the sports business and water parks and represent with confidence in front of executive leadership and across the organization
• Establish and maintain an understanding of our positioning and differentiators for the Sports and Water Parks while keeping pace with the leisure travel industry
• Serve as lead liaison with the business development team, the marketing disciplines and the wider marketing strategy organization including centers of expertise
• Oversee the social media strategy for Sports and Water Parks
• Provide overall creative, media and promotional feedback to ensure flawless execution of tactics
• Cultivate an environment of creativity, innovation, and activation
• Manage annual / quarterly budget planning in addition to ensuring the delivery of projects within allocated budget and time frame

Basic Qualifications:

• 7+ years in Marketing Strategy, Commercial Strategy, Brand Management or related roles
• 5+ years with direct leadership experience
• Broad and comprehensive understanding of marketing model, theories, execution, business drivers, and tourism industry (or consumer products)
• Deep subject matter expertise of the consumer journey to help inform and shape key marketing/commercial strategies to drive business goals
• Strong commercial sensibility and familiarity with distribution dynamics
• Proficient in understanding and guiding the creative and media planning process
• Knowledge of content creation and various platforms
• Expertise in crafting strategies based on consumer insights and data analysis
• Strong presentation and communication skills with a unique ability to create strategic and compelling visual stories for all levels of leadership
• Ability to influence at all levels of leadership both internally and externally
• Demonstrated leadership skills with a deep track record of developing teams and nurturing relationships
• Skilled at situational analysis, problem solving and ability to anticipate outcomes and needs
• Excellent partnership and collaboration skills
• Superior professionalism
• P&L experience

Preferred Qualifications:

• Previous work experience in other business leadership roles
• Professional experience in the travel, lodging and sports industry

Required Education:

• Bachelor's Degree in Marketing, Business, Communications, or equivalent

Preferred Education

• Master's Degree in Marketing, Business, Communications, or equivalent

  

Additional Information:

This position is located in Celebration, FL

Benefits and Perks: Disney offers a rewards package to help you live your best life. This includes health and savings benefits, educational opportunities and special extras that only Disney can provide. Learn more about our benefits and perks at https://jobs.disneycareers.com/benefits

Job Posting Segment:

Commercial Strategy

Job Posting Primary Business:

Marketing Strategy (WDW)

Primary Job Posting Category:

Marketing Strategy

Employment Type:

Full time

Primary City, State, Region, Postal Code:

Celebration, FL, USA

Alternate City, State, Region, Postal Code:

Date Posted:

2026-01-13