Director, MarTech

Marriner Marketing is an award-winning agency that has been specializing in the food, beverage, hospitality, and tourism industries for nearly four decades. We help brands drive growth through a combination of innate curiosity, fearless creativity, purposeful collaboration, mutual trust, and a generosity of spirit.

We are looking for a Director of MarTech who sits at the intersection of strategy, technology, and execution. The ideal candidate will be able to define and manage what should be built, how it should work, and how to bring it to life.

This is NOT an IT role. This is NOT a media role. This is NOT a role for someone who just wants to manage a large team.

This is a strategy and implementeation position for someone with an entrepreneurial mindset who is eager to be a player/coach.

IMPORTANT NOTE: You must be willing and able to work onsite at our Columbia, MD office each Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

THE ROLE

As Director of MarTech, you will help shape how technology drives growth for both our clients and our agency by defining digital solutions, scoping/selling them, and guiding their execution.

From websites and digital ecosystems to CRM, and AI-powered experiences, you will ensure what we build is grounded in strategy, aligned to budget, and built to perform.

You are not waiting for requirements. You are defining them.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

Solution Architecture & Scoping

•  Lead early-stage conversations to identify digital opportunities and define the right solutions
• Translate business goals into clear, actionable plans that utilize web, MarTech, data, and AI
• Develop scopes of work, budgets, and implementation roadmaps
• Ensure solutions align with client ambition, timelines, and real-world constraints

MarTech Strategy & Ecosystem Design

• Evaluate and optimize clients’ websites and digital ecosystems
• Identify opportunities where technology can drive measurable business impact
• Integrate MarTech thinking into annual planning and campaign development
• Partner with Strategy, Creative, and Media department leads to build fully integrated solutions

Build Oversight & Technical Leadership

• Guide internal teams and external development partners through execution
•  Review technical architecture, integrations, and outputs to ensure quality
•  Ensure all builds are scalable, maintainable, and aligned with defined scope
• Establish clear processes for development, QA, and delivery
• Ideal candidate will have the ability to QA and guide PHP code development

Innovation (Applied, Not Theoretical) 

• Identify practical ways technology (including AI) can enhance client solutions and agency operations
• Help define and prototype MarTech-powered features (e.g., personalization, automation, content systems)
• Ensure all technology is used to solve real problems and not just added as a trend

New Business & Commercialization

• Serve as the public facing subject matter expert for Marriner’s MarTech strategy and implementation
• Lead the digital and MarTech components of new business pitches
• Turn ideas into clear, sellable solutions with defined scope and pricing
• Help position Marriner as a strategic partner.

Internal Enablement & Agency Growth

• Identify opportunities to make the agency more efficient and effective through technology
• Introduce tools, systems, and workflows that improve output and reduce friction
• Elevate digital and technical fluency across teams
• Contribute to Marriner’s long-term digital and MarTech roadmap

What Success Looks Like

• We are scoping smarter, more profitable digital work more often
• Clients see us as a strategic partner in technology, not just execution
• Our digital solutions are clearer, more integrated, and more effective
• We are using technology to increase both impact and efficiency
• Ideas move faster from concept to execution, with fewer gaps and surprises

WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR:

• 10 years in digital, MarTech, or solution strategy within an agency or growth-driven environment  
• Proven ability to define, scope, and sell digital solutions, not just execute them
• Experience working across websites, digital ecosystems, CRM systems, analytics, and marketing automation
• Strong understanding of how digital ecosystems connect (front-end, back-end, data, integrations)
• Ability to guide developers and technical partners without needing to be the primary coder
• Experience contributing to or leading new business pitches
• Strong financial acumen with an ability to align scope, effort, and pricing
• Comfortable turning ambiguity into clarity