Director of Marketing-Retail

Shanghai, Shanghai Permanent View Job Description
The Director of Marketing is the guardian of the global brand voice and identity at local level. This is a lea*dership role with end-to-end ownership of the marketing function in a start-up environment.
  • To join a growth phase business and build its marketing function
  • To perform the business transformation and growth in China market

About Our Client

Our client is a heritage retail apparel brand going through transformation and growth phase in China market.

Job Description

The role activates global and local campaigns end-to-end to drive traffic and demand, optimizing performance in real time across channels while protecting brand consistency. This is a lea*dership role with end-to-end ownership of the marketing function - not a creative agency, content production, or campaign coordination position.

● Translates global brand and campaign strategy into clear local activation priorities and seasonal plans, owning seasonal activation planning and channel-level budget direction in line with commercial goals.

● Activates global brand campaigns locally, adapting messaging and execution while protecting brand consistency and elevating local relevance.

● Drives traffic, demand, and commercial performance across digital, retail, wholesale, and omnichannel environments.

● Owns campaigns end-to-end - from strategy and ideation through production, activation, in-season optimisation, and post-campaign learning - and shares campaign and activation plan inputs with the global team.

● Defines and drives brand strategy and positioning, ensuring consistent messaging, visual identity, and storytelling across all internal and external channels.

● Lea*ds brand visibility initiatives - including campaigns, PR, content, and partnerships - and supports organic digital presence, strengthening recognition, reputation, and audience engagement in line with global brand guidelines.

● Builds local consumer, culture, and competitor knowledge and uses insights to guide activation choices.

● Uses data, consumer insights, and KPIs to optimise campaigns in real time, manage in-season performance, and reallocate spend based on ROI and demand signals.

● Partners credibly with Product, Merchandising, and Demand Planning, with a clear understanding of how marketing accelerates commercial outcomes.

● Builds strong processes and team capability, fostering accountability through collaboration, ownership, and shared execution rather than hierarchy, and ensures business continuity.

Our ambition is to build a culture that reflects the brand itself: utilitarian, practical, and purposeful. Everyone is expected to be useful, resourceful, and willing to solve problems - we value doers over talkers. Success comes from shaping strategy, building capability, driving flawless execution, and continuously improving performance across the full marketing funnel; someone who inspires through action as much as direction, enjoys being close to the work, and removes obstacles rather than simply delegating.

The Successful Applicant

Key Persona Attributes

● Bold, commercially minded, and consumer-obsessed, combining creative vision with analytical rigour and a deep understanding of consumer behaviour and market dynamics.

● Fast, decisive, digitally fluent, and comfortable making informed decisions in a dynamic, fast-changing environment.

● Equally strategic and hands-on: lea*ds by example, rolls up their sleeves, and thrives in fast-paced seasonal trading cycles.

● A practical problem solver with strong creative judgement, balancing bold ideas with disciplined execution and commercial focus.

● Cultural Translator - adapts global brand strategy and campaigns into locally relevant activations.

● Campaign Commander - orchestrates campaigns seamlessly across paid, owned, and earned channels.

● Consumer Champio*n - anchors decisions in deep local consumer understanding, culture, and insights.

● Growth Driver - tracks KPIs, optimises ROI, and reallocates spend based on demand signals.

● Brand Guardian - builds brand equity, amplifies voice, and lands visual consistency across all touchpoints.

● Momentum Builder - creates pace, energy, and alignment to keep teams moving and performing.

Knowledge, Skills

● Strong expertise across brand strategy, campaign execution, media, agency management, and budgeting.

● Understanding of performance marketing and the ability to connect brand-building to commercial growth.

● Solid grounding in digital, retail, wholesale, and omnichannel marketing environments.

● Knowledge of the full marketing funnel, from brand awareness through in-season performance optimisation.

● Footwear, fashion, or retail experience is a plus but not essential.

Skills

● Ability to activate global campaigns locally while protecting brand consistency and elevating local relevance.

● Strong analytical rigour combined with creative judgement to balance bold ideas with disciplined execution.

● Ability to lea*d by example, roll up sleeves, and thrive in fast-paced seasonal trading cycles.

● Excellent collaboration and stakeholder management skills across Product, Merchandising, and Demand Planning.

● Strong campaign, KPI, and budget management skills, with the ability to reallocate spend quickly based on in-season signals.

● Inclusive lea*dership: builds capability, supports the team, and fosters accountability through collaboration rather than hierarchy.

Educational Qualifications and Work Experience

● 10+ years' experience in marketing, brand activation, or commercial marketing roles, ideally within an international organisation operating across global and local markets.

● Footwear, fashion, or retail experience is a plus, but not essential; the critical capability is lea*ding integrated campaign activation, building brands, and delivering channel performance.

● Proven experience across brand strategy, campaign execution, media, agency management, budgeting, and performance marketing.

● Experience from other consumer-facing categories is equally valuable; passion for footwear and sneaker culture can be developed through onboarding and close collaboration with the local Product team.

● Track record connecting brand-building to commercial growth, with the ability to move fast in a dynamic, fast-changing environment.

Fluent in English and Mandarin

What’s on Offer

Great career opportunity in a high growth start-up environment; To build a business.

Contact
Samantha Li
Quote job ref
JN-082026-7086097

Job summary

Function
CMO – Chief Marketing Officer
Subsector
CMO – Chief Marketing Officer Subsector
Industry
Consumer & Retail
Location
Shanghai
Contract type
Permanent
Consultant name
Samantha Li
Job reference
JN-082026-7086097

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