Director, Commercial Insights & Innovation

Position Title: Director, Commercial Insights & Innovation

Requisition : R101413

Location: Dallas, TX

Full/Part-Time: Full time

Learfield is the leading media and technology company powering college athletics. Through its digital and physical platforms, Learfield owns and leverages a deep data set and relationships in the industry to drive revenue, growth, brand awareness, and fan engagement for brands, sports, and entertainment properties. With ties to over 1,200 collegiate institutions and over 12,000 local and national brand partners, Learfield’s presence in college sports and live events delivers influence and maximizes reach to target audiences.

With data-based solutions for a 365-day, 24/7 fan experience, Learfield enables schools and brands to connect with fans through licensed merchandise, game ticketing, donor identification for athletic programs, exclusive custom content, innovative marketing initiatives, NIL solutions, and advanced digital platforms. Since 2008, it has served as title sponsor for the acclaimed Learfield Directors’ Cup, supporting athletic departments across all divisions.

Our people-first culture is the foundation of our business and is reflective of our approach to building meaningful relationships with our employees, partners, and fans. The company strives each day to deliver the mission statement and embody the core values that make Learfield an exciting place to work.

Powering the connection of fans to the brands and experiences they love.

Build Trust | Be Fans of One Another | Power Tomorrow | Create & Connect Communities | Have Fun

• Lead the full Commercial Insights function across Local/property support and Corporate/National Sales, establishing clear priorities, service models, operating rhythms, and accountability across each audience.
• Set the commercial insights agenda across brand demand, category trends, consumer behavior, sponsorship decision-making, and competitive dynamics; develop the team to translate research and data into interpretation, storytelling, and actionable commercial implications.
• Provide strategic direction, coaching, and development to the Commercial Insights team while building strong partnerships across Sales, Brand Strategy & Creative, Inventory, Valuation & Pricing, Measurement, Revenue Planning & Analytics, and Sales Technology & AI.

• Translate emerging brand needs, consumer shifts, category demand, sales feedback, and competitive signals into specific commercial opportunity areas for Learfield.
• Identify gaps between what the marketplace increasingly values and what Learfield sells today, framing high-potential opportunities around the target buyer, value proposition, enterprise applicability, and commercial potential.

• Continuously scan professional sports, global sports, entertainment, venues, experiential marketing, media, technology, and adjacent industries for new commercial models, premium concepts, and ideas that can translate into college athletics.
• Turn the strongest observations into defined commercial concepts, business cases, pilot plans, and scalable enterprise offerings - moving opportunities from identification through assessment, design, pilot, proof, and scale.

• Partner with the Director of Inventory and other commercial leaders on targeted property and venue assessments to identify new inventory, premium experiences, campus opportunities, and commercialization whitespace.
• Distinguish property-specific opportunities from repeatable concepts with enterprise potential,…