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Salary: USD 220,000 - 250,000 / annual
Blackbird Labs is a loyalty and payments platform connecting restaurants with their customers through customizable loyalty programming and a consumer app. Founded in 2022 by Ben Leventhal (co-founder of Eater and Resy), Blackbird is backed by Union Square Ventures, a16z, Amex Ventures, and Variant Fund.
As Director of Marketing, you will set the high-level strategic vision for Blackbird's brand and own its execution across all marketing disciplines. You'll define how Blackbird presents itself to the world and ensure consistency across every customer touchpoint—from press coverage to events. This is a builder role: the brand foundations exist, and you'll chart the direction forward while ensuring every team and channel aligns.
Key responsibilities include:
**Brand:** Own the Blackbird brand voice and identity across all consumer channels. Develop culturally credible campaigns (copy, visual, experiential). Build Blackbird's presence in key dining communities and partner with the Restaurants team to ensure brand work serves both sides of the network.
**PR & Communications:** Own Blackbird's external narrative, including press, media relationships, and executive visibility for leadership. Build and run a proactive PR strategy that keeps Blackbird part of the conversation in dining, tech, and culture press. Manage relationships with PR agencies, freelance writers, and media contacts. Prepare messaging for press moments, partnership announcements, and crisis response.
**Consumer Growth:** Drive diner acquisition across paid, owned, and earned channels. Set and hit growth targets for app downloads, new user activation, and retention. Build performance marketing capability without sacrificing brand. Work closely with product on onboarding, in-app messaging, and lifecycle.
**Team & Operations:** Lead and develop a small in-house team. Manage agency and contractor relationships. Own the marketing budget and report on performance. Generate data-driven reporting to inform strategy.
You'll operate at both strategic and tactical levels—setting vision while staying close enough to execution to ensure it ships.
**Requirements:**
- 8+ years of marketing experience, with meaningful time in consumer-facing roles
- 5+ years of leadership experience with a builder's mindset
- Proven ability to build brands people care about (affinity, not just awareness)
- Strong storytelling and communications instincts, including PR/earned-media strategy experience
- Strong performance marketing skills; ability to drive acquisition at scale
- Experience at a high-growth startup; comfort operating with limited resources and high expectations
- Writer's sensibility; ability to refine copy and messaging
- Passion for restaurants, food culture, and hospitality
**Nice to Haves:**
- Experience in two-sided marketplaces
- Background in loyalty, rewards, or payments
- Existing media relationships and press experience in food, hospitality, or consumer tech
- NYC market experience and dining industry relationships
