Boston - Massachusetts - United States of America, New York City - New York - United States of America
About The Role
The Director, Marketing AI & Innovation leads AI-powered transformation across Global Marketing — focused on new ways of working, not just new tools. This role drives behavioral change, productivity gains, and measurable performance impact across CBRE's global marketing organization.
Sitting within the Marketing Technology function and reporting directly to the Sr Director, Marketing Technology, this role is responsible for driving our innovation roadmap from strategy through execution, translating AI opportunity into real changes in how marketing teams operate — across content, media, planning, decision-making, collaboration, agency models, and workflow automation.
The Director sets the platform and AI strategy: which systems are deployed, how they are configured, and how AI is embedded in the marketing technology stack. The Director, Marketing AI & Innovation makes that strategy real: driving the adoption, behavior change, and innovation programs that ensure CBRE's technology investments translate into measurable business impact. As a trusted expert and change leader within the MarTech function, you will guide teams through adoption, establish clear governance and KPIs, and build systems that enable rapid testing, learning, and global rollout.
The role is intentionally hands-on. We are looking for a strategic leader who can design, run, and learn from experiments themselves — not just oversee them.
What You'll Do
AI & Emerging Technology Integration
- Lead a cross-functional AI program team to support AI innovation throughout the marketing organization, including development of our AI roadmap, evaluation and oversight of implementation for new platforms, tools, and processes.
- Lead change management for AI adoption efforts across global marketing teams.
- Serve as the primary bridge between the Marketing Technology team's platform capabilities and the global marketing teams who need to use them — translating what the technology can do into how marketers actually work differently.
- Provide requirements and adoption feedback into platform decisions owned by the Senior Director; platform selection, vendor management, system configuration, and data governance remain within the Marketing Technology function.
Marketing Innovation Strategy
- In partnership with the Sr Director and marketing leaders, develop a roadmap for innovation across the marketing organization, aligned to both efficiency and business growth.
- Partner with global marketing leaders to execute marketing innovation roadmaps relevant to their teams and responsibilities.
- Maintain a sharp, current point of view on how AI is reshaping marketing — across content, media, planning, decisioning, agency models, and workflow automation — and bring forward-looking recommendations to senior leadership with clear business cases and sequenced adoption plans.
Change Management & Enablement
- Own the organizational change agenda for AI and marketing transformation — including AI literacy programs, mindset and culture change, new ways of working, and cross-functional alignment.
- Act as a bridge between strategy and execution, translating visionary ideas into operational plans.
- Create frameworks for testing, learning, and scaling new approaches across global teams.
- Be an undisputed change champion to ensure successful and positive implementation of new ways of working.
Governance, Process & Training
- Establish KPIs and success metrics for innovation initiatives, in alignment with the Sr Director's overall MarTech measurement framework.
- Build feedback loops and reporting mechanisms to track progress and iterate quickly.
- Systemize the project management process used for large projects and programs across the marketing organization.
- Explore the development of a project management community within marketing to share best practices, mentorship, and create a network for all PMs within marketing.
What You'll Need
To perform this job successfully, an individual will need to perform each crucial duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.
- Bachelor's degree (BA/BS) from a 4-year college or university.
- Minimum 8 years of related experience, with minimum four years of leadership or program management experience required.
- Proven success in leading enterprise-scale marketing transformation initiatives in a global, matrixed organization.
- Deep expertise with AI/ML technologies in marketing contexts — generative AI, predictive analytics, personalization engines, and agentic workflows.
- Deep understanding of AI applications in marketing: content generation, customer journey orchestration, media optimization, and workflow automation.
- Track record of building internal training and enablement programs, including AI literacy, prompt engineering, and experimentation culture.
- Skilled in leading cross-functional teams and managing change across global marketing organizations without direct authority.
- Ability to influence senior stakeholders and drive alignment across marketing, IT, data, and legal teams.
- High level of problem-solving skills in ambiguous environments.
Why This Role Matters
Technology alone does not transform organizations — adoption does. This role exists because CBRE's investment in AI and marketing technology will only deliver its full value if marketing teams around the world actually change how they work. The Director, Marketing AI & Innovation is the bridge between what is technically possible and what becomes operationally real: building the skills, systems, and culture that turn AI tools into durable competitive advantage across 65+ countries. Within the Marketing Technology function, this role ensures that every platform capability the team builds finds its way into how marketers think, decide, and execute every day.
Why CBRE
When you join CBRE, you become part of the global leader in commercial real estate services and investment that helps businesses and people thrive. We are dynamic problem solvers and forward-thinking professionals who create significant impact. Our collaborative culture is built on our shared values — respect, integrity, service and excellence — and we value the diverse perspectives, backgrounds and skillsets of our people. At CBRE, you have the opportunity to chart your own course and realize your potential. We welcome all applicants.
Our Values in Hiring
At CBRE, we are committed to fostering a culture where everyone feels they belong. We value diverse perspectives and experiences, and we welcome all applications.
Disclaimers
Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States without the need for visa sponsorship now or in the future.
Applicant AI Use Disclosure
We value human interaction to understand each candidate's unique experience, skills and aspirations. We do not use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to make hiring decisions, and we ask that candidates disclose any use of AI in the application and interview process.
About CBRE Group, Inc.
CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBRE), a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company headquartered in Dallas, is the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm (based on 2024 revenue). The company has more than 140,000 employees (including Turner & Townsend employees) serving clients in more than 100 countries. CBRE serves clients through four business segments: Advisory (leasing, sales, debt origination, mortgage serving, valuations); Building Operations & Experience (facilities management, property management, flex space & experience); Project Management (program management, project management, cost consulting); Real Estate Investments (investment management, development). Please visit our website at www.cbre.com.
CBRE carefully considers multiple factors to determine compensation, including a candidate’s education, training, and experience. The minimum salary for the Director, Marketing & AI Transformation Programs position is $165,000 annually and the maximum salary for the Director, Marketing & AI Transformation Programs is $185,000 annually. The compensation offered to a successful candidate will depend on their skills, qualifications, and experience. Successful candidates will also be eligible for a discretionary bonus based on CBRE’s applicable benefit program. This role will provide the following benefits: 401(K), Dental insurance, Health insurance, Life insurance, and Vision insurance.
Equal Employment Opportunity: CBRE has a long-standing commitment to providing equal employment opportunity to all qualified applicants regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, veteran status, political belief, or any other basis protected by applicable law.
Candidate Accommodations: CBRE values the differences of all current and prospective employees and recognizes how every employee contributes to our company’s success. CBRE provides reasonable accommodations in job application procedures for individuals with disabilities. If you require assistance due to a disability in the application or recruitment process, please submit a request via email at recruitingaccommodations@cbre.com or via telephone at +1 866 225 3099 (U.S.) and +1 866 388 4346 (Canada).
Service line: Corporate Segment
