VP, Retail Marketing

About the Role

Key Responsibilities

• Owns the end-to-end marketing strategy for the retail business, driving customer acquisition, retention, and brand affinity at scale.
• Architects retail marketing budget in service of the broader P&L, accountable for delivering measurable results that are beneficial to the business.
• Partners with P&L owners to align marketing strategy and spend, translating goals into clear business outcomes.
• Sets and leads the retail brand vision, positioning, and identity, ensuring cohesion across store design, visual merchandising, content, e-commerce, and owned brand.
• Builds and scales marketing programs that can be executed locally with nuance and effectively across stores in partnership with field operations and store teams.
• Leads measurement and optimization of full-funnel marketing, from discovery through repeat visits, using structured KPIs.
• Leads digital-first retail innovation, including loyalty programs, personalized e-commerce experiences, and frictionless transactions both in-store and online.
• Defines and executes the digital product roadmap for retail marketing, collaborating with product and engineering teams.
• Owns the development and performance of CRM channels, including personalized email and SMS marketing.
• Drives paid media, national advertising, outreach, referral, and review programs to convert satisfied customers into promoters and new traffic.
• Leads the in-house creative agency to deliver high-quality creative and production output on time and on brief.
• Provides dotted-line leadership to regional marketing teams supporting day-to-day execution and cross-functional alignment.
• Partners with Regional VP of Retail to execute regional programs ensuring brand consistency and performance.
• Establishes a culture of accountability and ownership within the marketing team, delivering results with operational excellence.
• Collaborates cross-functionally with Retail Operations, Merchandising & Planning, Development, Finance, HR, and Wholesale Marketing to ensure unified execution.
• Champions a feedback and testing culture, leveraging data to iterate and improve marketing programs.
• Owns internal marketing operations systems and tools, ensuring processes are scalable, repeatable, and consistently executed.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree and 10 years of marketing leadership experience in high-growth, multi-unit retail environments.
• Proven success in leading digital and omnichannel retail marketing, including loyalty, e-commerce, CRM, and performance marketing.
• Deep understanding of customer segmentation and lifecycle marketing, with ability to personalize experiences for measurable outcomes.
• Experience building and evolving brand systems across physical and digital retail touchpoints.
• Ability to define and lead digital product roadmaps in collaboration with cross-functional teams.
• Strong analytical mindset with comfort in KPIs such as CLV, NPS, frequency, retention, ATV, CAC, ROAS, and loyalty engagement.
• Outstanding communication and stakeholder management skills with a proactive, transparent approach.
• Experience leading high-performing teams, setting high standards, and developing future leaders.
• Ownership mindset with a focus on delivering excellence, following through, and proactively solving problems.
• Must be Chicago-based and able to participate in a hybrid work environment (office in Fulton Market 2-3 days per week) with quarterly in-market travel.
• Must be 21 years of age or older and comply with all legal and company regulations for working in the industry.

Nice to Have

• Cannabis industry experience (not required but a plus).
• Experience assessing and integrating M&A activities.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree.
• 10 years of marketing leadership experience in retail environments.

Benefits & Perks

• Major medical, dental, and vision insurance.
• 401(K)-match program.
• FSA/HSA programs.
• LTD/STD options, life insurance, and AD&D.
• Paid holidays and paid time off.
• Annual discretionary bonuses and stock options.
• Participation in employee discount program.