Director – Gift Card Program Management & Marketing

The Team:

Fanatics Gift Card Business sells over 200 different gift cards through tens of thousands of ecomm and physical stores in more than 10 countries, serving our clients’ fandom aspirations around gifting, self-rewarding, and business needs — and materially scaling it is a strategic priority for the company. The Global Gift Card Team operates as a high-velocity, entrepreneurial unit inside Fanatics, with the agility of a FinTech startup backed by the infrastructure of a global sports platform powerhouse: a highly collaborative, cross-functional team transforming, shaping, and scaling the business into a high-growth global acquisition engine, grounded in proactive ownership, creative problem-solving, and a shared passion for connecting sports fans worldwide to the brands they love.

The Role:

Fanatics is seeking a Head of Gift Card Program Management & Marketing to lead the day-to-day operational team, serving as the beating heart of the business, drive the team’s approach and execution across all special tech/ops/modernization projects, and scale the company’s gift card program across marketing, external existing partnerships with a focus on 3P, and internal business channels. This is a highly cross-functional role responsible for driving omnichannel marketing strategy, managing key distribution and financial partnerships, and overseeing day-to-day program operations — both domestically and internationally. The ideal candidate is a strategic operator who thrives at the intersection of program management, marketing with a focus of performance marketing, business operations, and business development, and is excited to build and lead a growing team. This role will manage a team of two full-time employees and two contractors, with the expectation of continued growth alongside the business.

What You’ll Do:

Internal Business Development & Program Operations

• Oversee end-to-end team and program and management, including design and creative workflows, timeline management, and operational execution to keep the program running efficiently
• Lead internal account management across B2B, B&M, and Events channels, ensuring alignment with broader program goals and maximizing cross-sell opportunities
• Manage all domestic and international program operations, with responsibility for supporting continued growth in both areas
• Lead the respective day-today program interface around all tech and ops modernization for the gift card business
• Build, develop, and lead a growing team of direct employees and contractors, fostering a high-performance, collaborative culture

External Account Management

• Serve as the primary relationship owner for all day-to-day external distribution and operational partners, spanning gift card processing networks, third-party vendors, retail distribution platforms and printing vendors
• Manage the full lifecycle of external distribution and operational partner relationships, including day-to-day account management, performance reviews, issue resolution, and cross-sell initiatives, with a focus on opportunities development directly with the distribution partners
• Identify and pursue new external partnership opportunities to expand gift card distribution reach and drive incremental revenue

Marketing Leadership

• Lead omnichannel marketing execution across all channels, including third-party platforms, first-party channels, social media, paid social, paid search, B2B, athlete relations, influencer marketing, affiliate programs, and sponsorships, with a focus on performance marketing
• Own the annual marketing strategy and planning process, including budget allocation, campaign execution, performance tracking, and reporting across all channels
• Develop and manage relationships with media partners, agencies, and platform vendors to optimize channel performance and return on investment

What We’re Looking For:

• 8–12 years of progressive experience in gift card, including technical advanced knowledge operations, set-ups, architecture, data & reporting, with at least 3 years in a leadership capacity
• Demonstrated experience leading integrated, omnichannel marketing campaigns across paid, owned, and earned channels, with material understanding in performance marketing
• Deep understanding and connections across the gift card ecosystem, including third-party retail and digital distribution, corporate B2B programs, processors and printers
• Proven track record managing strategic external partnerships with financial institutions, retail distributors, or digital platforms, and delivering on cross-selling and bizdev opportunities with such partners
• Strong people manager with a track record of building and developing high-performing teams
• Excellent organizational and project management skills, with the ability to manage multiple workstreams simultaneously including design and creative workflows
• Strong analytical capabilities; comfortable with performance tracking, reporting, and budget management across multiple channels
• Ownership mindset, strong work ethic, and natural curiosity to proactively identify and pursue opportunities beyond what is explicitly requested
• Collaborative, relationship-driven leader who thrives in ambiguity, manages competing priorities effectively, and balances strategic thinking with hands-on execution
• Passion for the sports fandom space
• Ability to work in the NYC office 4 days per week
• Managing internal business channels such as B2B, B&M, and event-based programs preferred
• Experience supporting or leading international programs is a plus

Salary Range 180000 - 250000 USD