Brand Director, BuzzBallz

Build your career at Sazerac! With almost 400 years of rich history, Sazerac Company has thrived as an independent, American family-owned company with operations in the United States and around the world. Since the 2000s, Sazerac has averaged double digit growth every year! Sazerac Company produces and markets the most award-winning bourbons and whiskeys in the world, including Buffalo Trace, Pappy Van Winkle, Eagle Rare, Blanton’s, and Sazerac Rye. Additionally, Sazerac owns many popular brands across a range of spirits, including Fireball, Southern Comfort, Seagram’s V.O., Myers’s, Goldschläger, Parrot Bay, 99 Brand, and Platinum Vodka. 

We’re proud of our award-winning culture and distilleries. Our Louisville office has been named one of the “Best Places to Work in Kentucky” four times, and our Buffalo Trace Distillery has earned the title of “world’s most award-winning distillery” through the dedication of our craftsmen for well over 200 years. Whether you’re a recent graduate or an experienced professional, Sazerac provides extraordinary opportunities for growth with competitive salaries and benefits in an exciting, entrepreneurial industry.

The Brand Director, BuzzBallz is the senior brand leader and thought partner to the President of BuzzBallz, responsible for the brand's global identity, creative direction, and innovation architecture — from the U.S. and Americas core through all 50 global expansion markets. This role will own brand strategy end-to-end, and partner with the President to define expansion, route-to-market, and strategic partnerships.

This is a builder's role. This role leads the US/Global Brand organization and is charged with extending BuzzBallz brand equity, creative standards, and category-creation playbooks into new international markets — setting the global innovation framework, The role carries shared accountability for brand-driven revenue and margin performance alongside the President and is intended as a proving ground for future general management responsibility.

Location: Louisville, KY or Dallas, TX preferred - other remote locations considered within Sazerac's approved hire locations.

What You’ll Do:

• Lead the global BuzzBallz brand strategy and creative vision, owning brand identity, storytelling, packaging, and creative standards across all markets while driving culturally relevant, social-first demand generation and ensuring consistent global execution with flexibility for local market needs.
• Lead brand strategy and integrated marketing across the U.S. and core international markets, driving campaigns, shopper activation, localized execution, and commercial growth through close partnership with Sales to increase brand velocity, distribution, and retail impact.
• Lead global brand expansion strategy across new markets, developing scalable market-entry playbooks, category creation strategies, and localized brand plans while partnering cross-functionally to drive successful launches and continuously refine global best practices.
• Lead the global innovation strategy and portfolio architecture, defining the innovation framework, flavor and format roadmap, and portfolio priorities while driving end-to-end innovation in the Americas and guiding market-specific decisions to accelerate growth and strengthen brand equity.
• Lead and develop a high-performing global brand team, coaching talent, fostering collaboration, and building organizational capability to deliver bold, commercially impactful marketing as the business expands.
• Partner cross-functionally to drive commercial success, collaborating with executive leadership, Sales, Finance, and Operations to translate brand strategy into measurable revenue growth, market execution, and business results.

Required:

• Bachelors degree
• 10+ years in brand, marketing, or creative leadership at a brand known for disruptive, culturally fluent marketing.
• Proven ability to build cultural momentum for a brand and convert it into a new go-to-market model — not just execute within an existing one. Track record of driving trial and demand through social-first, community-led, or drop-based strategies before or alongside traditional retail/distribution.
• Bold, original creative instincts; a demonstrated point of view on what makes a brand culturally relevant, evidenced by work the candidate can point to as genuinely their own.
• Strong commercial acumen and a demonstrated ability to partner effectively with Sales, without needing to own the RTM/distributor relationship directly.
• Proven people leader with experience managing a multi-function brand team and developing talent.
• Highly creative with excellent strategic, analytical, and communication skills; comfortable operating in ambiguity.
• Executive presence and judgment consistent with being a senior leader and who can eventually step into broader general management scope.

Preferred:

• MBA
• RTD, beverage alcohol, or traditional FMCG experience is a plus but explicitly not required — strong candidates may come from beauty, fast fashion, DTC, or creator-economy brands.
• Experience building brand strategy in new or underdeveloped markets a strong plus — comfort creating a category, not just competing in one.

Culture and Benefits:

Sazerac offers a comprehensive compensation and benefits package that includes medical, dental, vision, 401K, paid time off, and more. These benefits may vary depending on location and work type. Learn more about how we support our employees here.

The annual salary range for this role is $170,000 - $255,000. Final compensation will be based on relevant experience, qualifications, geographic location, and internal pay equity considerations.

Sazerac is committed to equality of opportunity without regard to race, color, religion, national or ethnic origin, veteran status, age, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, genetic information, physical or mental disability or any other legally protected status.

What’s Next:

After you apply, a recruiter will review your application and reach out to qualified candidates. Selected candidates will follow our interview process, which may include a phone screen, hiring manager interview, and panel interviews with business leaders. There may be additional steps or assessments throughout the process dependent on the position. Applicants who are not selected to move through the process, at any stage, will be notified via email.

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