Marketing Director in Seattle, Washington at Dick's Drive-Ins, Ltd., L.P.

Company Overview:

We are a thriving, family-owned, 72-year-old quick service restaurant business dedicated to delivering timeless value and building life-long memories with our customers, employees and communities. As we continue to grow with new locations and introduce ourselves to newcomers to the region, we remain committed to creating a workplace where people belong, grow, and have the opportunity to build skills that support their long-term goals. Our core values—Integrity, Quality, the Golden Rule, and Industriousness—guide how we work, how we serve our customers, and how we care for our team.

We are seeking a strategic yet hands-on Marketing Director to lead our marketing efforts, nurturing our legacy brand while at the same time attracting and connecting with customers who are trying a Dick’s burger for the first time.

• Position: Marketing Director

• Location: Seattle, Washington

• Reports to: President & CEO

• Direct Reports: Marketing Team (4 salaried + 1 hourly team members)

• FLSA Status: Exempt

• Base Salary Range: $130,000 to $180,000

Role Overview:

This role requires a strategic mindset, strong leadership capabilities and hands-on involvement in day-to-day marketing activities and on-site events. We are looking for someone who is creative, highly organized and able to engage a diverse set of stakeholders. As the Marketing Director, you will be responsible for overseeing and executing all aspects of our marketing strategies. You will lead and develop a small internal team and partner with external vendors as needed in crafting and implementing initiatives across various channels including social media, in-person events, sponsorships, email marketing, creative design, and public relations.

At Dick’s Drive-In, everyone either serves our customers directly or supports those who do. Success in this role requires leading with empathy and partnership—engaging restaurant teams early, understanding operational realities, and developing marketing initiatives that work for both our customers and the people serving them. You and your team will continue to build and cultivate brand awareness, continuously nurture the already strong connection we have with our customers, drive traffic, craft special memory making events on and off premise, and communicate important information to our customers at the right time.

Key Responsibilities:

• Strategic Planning: Develop comprehensive marketing strategies aligned with company objectives and growth plans. Collaborate closely with the CEO and COO to ensure marketing initiatives support overall business goals. Make tough decisions on where our limited resources are spent as there are always more good ideas than time and dollars to dedicate in any given year.

• Team Leadership: Develop, manage and mentor the marketing team providing guidance, support, and fostering a collaborative environment. Delegate tasks effectively and ensure team members are equipped to achieve targets.

• Campaign Management: Oversee the planning, execution, and optimization of marketing campaigns across multiple mediums with a strong emphasis on social media and customer engagement events. Monitor campaign performance and ROI, making data-driven decisions based on KPIs to optimize results. Lead our team in exploring and integrating AI-based tools to help us execute campaigns more effectively and sharpen how we measure their impact.

• Brand Management: Our company’s brand is bigger than our physical footprint. We are a leader in the community and a unique voice in many respects. Our brand reaches diverse customers and target audiences with at times conflicting interests. Cultivating and nurturing our brand amongst this broad audience is fun and challenging. It is the Marketing Director’s responsibility to understand, measure and continue to grow our brand awareness, goodwill and impact in the region.

• Budget Management: Work with the finance and accounting team to track execution against the budget and align resource investment with the marketing plan and desired outcomes.

• Communication and Reporting: Present high-level marketing KPIs and outcomes to the senior management and the executive team. Provide regular updates on marketing performance, budget utilization, and strategic initiatives.

• Sponsorships: The Marketing Director will Identify and negotiate strategic partnerships with a variety of aligned brands in the region. We go beyond simply paying for our logo to appear at big events or other audiences. We want all of our sponsorships to include authentic active engagement and memory making opportunities for our customers and fans. Ideally, all sponsorships tie back to enjoying a meal at our restaurants before, during or after these events.

• Customer Engagement Events: Oversee the planning and execution of in-person customer engagement events and off-site activations to create memory making opportunities with our customers, promote brand visibility and enhance community involvement.

• Creative Development: Collaborate with internal and external teams to create compelling marketing materials, including digital content, print collateral, and promotional items. We are actively learning how AI can enhance our creative process. You will help us shape our approach by experimenting with new tools while establishing the right guardrails for when to use AI and how to remain transparent with our customers.

• Customer Listening Program: Execute our always-on customer survey program and provide quarterly results to operations and executive leadership. Continuously improve this program over time and explore and test AI-based social listening to gain deeper insights into customer feedback, helping us better understand how to deliver timeless value.

Other Duties & Responsibilities

This Job Description is meant to describe the general nature and level of work being performed; it is not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required for the position. Dick’s Drive-In Restaurants reserves the right at any time, with or without notice, to alter or change job responsibilities, reassign or transfer job positions or assign additional job responsibilities, subject to applicable law.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Business Administration, or related field, or equivalent combination of relevant education and experience; MBA preferred or comparable advanced business experience preferred

• 5+ years of proven experience in marketing management, preferably direct-to-consumer industry

• Demonstrated success in developing and executing integrated marketing strategies.

• Strong leadership skills with experience managing and developing a team.

• Experience cultivating a strong relationship with cross-functional partners, especially with operations teams who are responsible for providing consistent quality experiences for customers daily

• Excellent communication and presentation abilities, with the capacity to interact with senior leadership and external partners.

• Strategic thinker with a passion for driving growth and innovation.

• Proficiency in digital marketing tools and analytics platforms.

• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment with a lot of autonomy to try new things while balancing that imperative with our long standing traditions and operational processes

• Previous experience as a Dick’s Drive-In crew member is always a plus.

Additional Information:

This is a full-time, in-person role based in Seattle, Washington, with occasional regional travel 1-2 days per week and occasional evenings and weekends required for events and meetings. We offer competitive compensation and benefits, along with the opportunity to make a significant impact on our growing business. The interview process will include an initial phone or video interview, followed by in-person interviews, and will conclude with a panel interview and brief presentation.

Work Environment:

The physical demands and work environment described below represent the activities and surroundings of the positions. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.The work is typically performed in an office with a moderate noise level. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit for long periods, stand, walk, use hands to finger, handle, or feel, and reach with hands and arms to type. The employee must regularly talk or hear on the telephone and in person with individuals and groups. The employee must rarely lift and/or move up to 20 pounds. Extensive keyboard typing is required. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, extensive computer screen work, and the ability to adjust focus to produce or review reports.

This position requires occasional local travel.

Benefits:

100% employer-paid health insurance for employees (children 75%, spouses 50%)

Dental coverage: 100% for non-smokers, 50% for smokers

Employee Assistance Program: Support for employees and their families

Life and disability insurance

Bonus eligibility

401(k) Tax-Deferred Retirement Plan with matching

Mileage reimbursement

PTO/vacation

Paid holidays

Scholarships & Childcare: $36,000 Four-Year Scholarship for college, vocational programs, or self-improvement. Childcare assistance $5,000–$13,000/year, usable through the scholarship program

Free unlimited ORCA card after 30 days of employment

Equal Employment Opportunity & Accommodation

Dick's Drive-In is an equal opportunity employer. Employment decisions are based on job-related qualifications and business needs without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, genetic information, or any other protected status under federal, state, or local laws. Dick's Drive-In provides reasonable accommodations to qualified applicants and employees as required by law. Applicants who require an accommodation during the hiring process may contact Human Resources.

Join us in shaping the future of our beloved restaurant brand and contributing to our community-focused mission. If you’re a results-driven marketing professional with a passion for values-driven family businesses (and delicious burgers, fries and shakes) we’d love to hear from you.