MLS is seeking a strategic and technically skilled Principal of Digital Content Management responsible for ensuring our digital platforms deliver the best MLS content experience. You will lead the architecture, implementation and optimization of our next generation digital content ecosystem across web and mobile app platforms.

While this role focuses on building and governing the technology and infrastructure that powers our digital content workflows, the ideal candidate will also have a deep understanding of digital product analytics, including measuring digital consumption habits, strong expertise in content performance optimization, and experience in scaling content operations through AI/ML, experimentation, measurement, and automation. This role blends technical expertise with operational strategy to ensure content is efficiently structured, distributed, personalized, and discoverable at scale.

Primary Responsibilities

• Oversee the configuration, customization, and scaling of our headless CMS platforms. Lead the technical configuration and roadmap of CMS, content APIs, and headless content infrastructure.
• Drive optimization opportunities such as automation across the content lifecycle, including metadata generation, tagging, classification, publishing and quality checks.
• Support instrumentation and delivery for new feature development dedicated to content, including discovering, personalizing, and recommending content.
• Manage relationships with third-party vendors including CMS providers, content processing services, and video streaming platforms.
• Stay abreast of industry trends, competitive landscape and technology innovation to inform content platform and delivery strategies.
• Partner with media, marketing and engineering teams to drive optimization of workflows for content ingestion, processing, versioning, and publishing.

Metadata, Taxonomy & Content Modeling

• Design and govern a robust content taxonomy and metadata schema to support personalization, discovery, and content lifecycle management.
• Lead the integration of AI/ML tools to automatically generate or enrich metadata and semantic tags.
• Ensure content models are extensible, aligned with SEO standard methodologies, and support omnichannel publishing.
• Technology & Platform Leadership
• Automate digital content publishing workflows where possible.
• Build a test-and-learn culture, lead A/B testing efforts, continuously experimenting with new content formats, delivery methods, presentation, placement and engagement tactics for maximum impact.

Governance, Standards & Compliance

• Establish governance policies for content version control, metadata consistency, taxonomy evolution, and content tagging accuracy.
• Assist and support implementing key performance data acquisition, measures, KPIs and dashboards to monitor the efficiency and quality of content & operation SLAs
• Ensure compliance with accessibility, privacy, and localization standards for content.
• AI & Content Intelligence
• Partner with Marketing and Media teams to evaluate and implement generative and agentic AI technologies to streamline content workflows, personalization and metadata generation such as vector embeddings (knowledge of video foundational models a plus)
• Drive innovation by piloting new AI tools and processes to increase speed and scale of content delivery.
• Partner with Media, Marketing and Engineering teams to innovate across action and scene recognition, captioning and summarization, search and recommendation, multimodal reasoning and automation of media application such as automatic highlight reels.

AI & Content Intelligence

• Partner with Marketing and Media teams to evaluate and implement generative and agentic AI technologies to streamline content workflows, personalization and metadata generation such as vector embeddings (knowledge of video foundational models a plus)
• Drive innovation by piloting new AI tools and processes to increase speed and scale of content delivery.
• Partner with Media, Marketing and Engineering teams to innovate across action and scene recognition, captioning and summarization, search and recommendation, multimodal reasoning and automation of media application such as automatic highlight reels.

Subscription Enablement

• Collaborate with Media and Marketing teams to design and build infrastructure that supports testing and optimization of journeys for our subscription products (e.g., trial access, metered access, premium content surfacing, content sampling, dynamic paywalls, metered content models, and content access rules based on entitlements.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration & Execution
• Collaborate with Product, Marketing, Editorial, and Data teams to enhance content discovery, personalization, and fan experience.
• Work closely with Digital Product to provide input into interactive content engagement features, and to coordinate content enhancements into the broader Product roadmap.
• Collaborate with League and Club stakeholders to align digital content experiences with broader league initiatives.
• Collaborate with a broad set of team members to drive roadmaps.

Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s Degree required
• 10+ years of experience, with 8+ years of experience in digital content technology, content management systems, and/or enterprise content operations.

Required Skills

Technical Skills

• Deep knowledge of data-driven and headless CMS platforms (e.g., Sanity, Adobe AEM, Strapi, Contentful) and content APIs.
• Strong understanding of metadata management, controlled vocabularies, and content taxonomies.
• Experience with AI/ML tools for metadata extraction, tagging, or summarization.
• Proficiency in video streaming platforms (e.g., Brightcove, Kaltura) & CDN technologies (e.g., Akamai, Cloudflare) and content delivery optimization.
• Familiarity with SEO, accessibility standards (WCAG), and web performance best practices.
• Experience with generative AI solutions and content graph technologies a plus.

Leadership & Soft Skills

• Strong systems thinker with the ability to navigate complexity and lead through influence.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, capable of translating technical concepts into business value.
• Growth mindset, curiosity, and a strong bias for experimentation, innovation, and iteration.
• Excellent communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to effectively communicate complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences, including executive-level stakeholders.
• Manage and mentor a digital content operations team that supports all digital content operations, including matchday digital experiences.
• Excellent collaboration skills with cross-functional teams including engineering, product, design, and data.
• Strong project management skills with the ability to manage multiple initiatives simultaneously and drive them to completion.
• Willingness to travel to club markets as needed.
• Passion for soccer and an understanding of the sports industry is a plus.

Total Rewards
Major League Soccer offers a competitive starting base salary of $185,000 - $200,000, based on individual qualifications, market financials, and operational business needs. We are committed to providing a Total Rewards package that attracts, supports, engages, and retains talent. Our benefits package includes comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage, a $500 wellness reimbursement, and generous Holiday and PTO schedule to promote work-life balance. We also prioritize career and professional development, offering on-the-job training, feedback, and ongoing educational opportunities.

We believe in the power of in-person collaboration to fuel creativity, strengthen connections, and cultivate a vibrant workplace. As a result, employees are required to work from an MLS office at least four days a week. We understand the value of balance, so employees also have the flexibility of working remotely on Fridays, along with the option to take up to two additional remote flex days each month.

At Major League Soccer, we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We value diversity and inclusion and believe that a diverse workforce enhances our ability to compete in the marketplace. We are committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all individuals regardless of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, age, national origin, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

We are dedicated to ensuring that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation throughout the job application or interview process, essential job functions, and other benefits and privileges of employment. If you require accommodation, please contact us to request it.

Join our team and be part of the Major League Soccer family, where we elevate the game and inspire greatness!