COMPANY OVERVIEW

Cresco Labs is one of the largest public, vertically integrated, multistate operators in the cannabis industry. Our portfolio of in-house cultivated and manufactured brands features some of the highest quality, most awarded and most popular cannabis products in America. With dozens of locations nationwide, our owned and operated Sunnyside® dispensaries provide a welcoming, positive, judgement-free place to shop for anyone at any point on their cannabis journey.
Founded in 2013, Cresco Labs’ mission is to normalize and professionalize cannabis through our passionate employees. As stewards of the cannabis industry, our teams are constantly focused on supporting the needs of our fellow colleagues, consumers, customers, and communities alike. With a focus on Social Equity and Educational Development, our SEEDTM initiative ensures that our company reflects the communities in which we serve, ensuring equal opportunity for all to have the knowledge and resources to work in and own businesses in cannabis.
At Cresco Labs, we aim to revolutionize and lead the nation’s cannabis industry with a focus on quality and consistency of product, and to bring legitimacy to the industry with the highest level of integrity and professionalism.
If you’re interested in joining our mission, click the below links to join our team today!

JOB SUMMARY

Cresco Labs is seeking a strategic and execution-oriented VP, Retail Marketing to lead and scale marketing for the Sunnyside business. This individual will report directly to the SVP of Retail and serve as the key architect of our retail brand, digital experience, shopper communications, and national marketing programs. The role requires a retail-first and digital-first thinker with deep experience in building scalable marketing systems that connect seamlessly across channels and store teams. Success in this role demands someone who thrives in a dynamic, high-growth environment and approaches their work with ownership, follow-through, and operational excellence. The ideal candidate will have experience leading performance-driven marketing organizations at the forefront of retail innovation. They must be able to define a compelling vision and lead with clarity, structure, and accountability.

REQUIRED EXPERIENCE, EDUCATION AND SKILLS

• A bachelor’s degree and 10+ years of marketing leadership experience in high-growth, multi-unit retail environments; cannabis experience is a plus but not required.
• Best suited for someone who is Chicago-based and can participate in our hybrid work environment (office in Fulton Market 2-3 days per week). Quarterly travel in market.
• 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 demonstrated ability to personalize experiences that drive measurable outcomes.
• Experience building and evolving brand systems across all physical and digital retail touchpoints, including store concept and design.
• Demonstrated ability to define and lead digital product roadmaps in collaboration with cross-functional teams.
• Experience assessing and integrating M&A is a plus but not required.
• Strong analytical mindset and comfort with KPIs spanning both customer behavior and commercial metrics (e.g., CLV, NPS, frequency, retention, ATV, CAC, ROAS, loyalty engagement).
• Outstanding communication and stakeholder management skills, with a proactive and transparent approach to cross-functional collaboration.
• A builder and leader of high-performing teams, who sets a high bar, offers strong support, and develops future leaders.
• Operates with an ownership mindset — delivers with excellence, follows through on commitments, and proactively solves problems.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

• Must be 21 years of age or older to apply
• Must comply with all legal or company regulations for working in the industry
  Cresco Labs is an Equal Opportunity Employer and all applicants will be considered without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran, or disability status.

CORE JOB DUTIES

• 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 accretive to the business.
• Partners closely with P&L owners to align marketing strategy and spend, translating goals into clear business outcomes. Educates cross-functional stakeholders on the impact of marketing levers, driving understanding, trust, and shared accountability for results.
• Sets and leads the retail brand vision, positioning and identity, ensuring cohesion across store design, visual merchandising, content, e-commerce, and Sunnyside owned brand.
• Builds and scales marketing programs that can be executed with nuance locally and are effectively implemented across stores in partnership with field operations and store teams.
• Leads the measurement and optimization of full-funnel marketing, from discovery through repeat visits, using structured KPIs to assess and drive impact.
• Leads digital-first retail innovation, including loyalty programs, personalized e-commerce experiences, and frictionless transactions in-store and online.
• Defines and executes the digital product roadmap for retail marketing, collaborating with product and engineering teams to bring to life seamless customer journeys.
• Owns the development and performance of CRM channels, including personalized, high-conversion email and SMS marketing.
• Drives paid media and national advertising, scalable outreach, referral and review programs, building systems to convert satisfied customers into promoters and new traffic.
• Leads the in-house creative agency, delivering exceptional creative and production output on brief and on time, balancing the needs of high quality and high quantity work.
• Provides dotted-line leadership to a regional marketing team that supports day-to-day execution and cross-functional alignment across markets, ensuring continuity of brand expression and consistency with national commercial strategies.
• Partners with Regional VP of Retail to execute approved regional programs that drive consistency, performance, and adoption of marketing processes.
• Establishes a culture of accountability and ownership within the marketing team, setting clear expectations and delivering results with operational excellence.
• Partners cross-functionally across Retail Operations, Merchandising & Planning, Dev, Finance, HR, Wholesale Marketing etc. to ensure unified execution of initiatives and proactive communication of plans.
• Champions a strong feedback and testing culture, leveraging performance data to continually iterate and improve marketing programs.
• Owns internal marketing operations systems and toolkits, ensuring processes are scalable, repeatable, and consistently executed across teams.