Head of Social Marketing (Food & Beverage start-up)

Job Title: Head of Social Marketing (Food & Beverage start-up)

Location: New York City

Industry: Food & Beverage industry

Market: US market

Channel: Online first, then planned physical location in NYC

Reporting to: Founder

Salary Range: (USD) $175k to $200k in annual base bonus equity

Visa: No sponsorship possible. Must have valid work authorization

Job ID: ZR_9578_JOB

Remote work policy: On-site

Job Seniority: Executive Level, Middle Management Level

Company size: Small (1-50 ppl)

Company Ownership: Privately Owned

Industry(ies): Beverage, Food, Food & Beverages / Confectionery,

Function(s): Marketing, Digital Marketing,

Region(s): NORTH AMERICA, USA, New York City area

Company Description

Our client is an early-stage luxury food and beverage lifestyle company based in New York City. The company is building a premium consumer brand around highly curated products and experiences across wine, chocolate, coffee, and tea, with a business model that will include e-commerce, gifting, subscriptions, physical retail, and selected consumer packaged goods.

The brand is positioned for discerning consumers who value craftsmanship, quality, thoughtful design, and a refined but approachable lifestyle experience. The company is well funded, founder-led, and being built with long-term ambitions, while maintaining the standards, discipline, and culture required to create a high-quality luxury brand from the ground up.

Objective of the Role

The Head of Social Marketing will be one of the company’s first key marketing hires and will play a central role in shaping how the brand is introduced to the market. The primary objective of the role is to build and own the company’s social media voice, content strategy, audience development, influencer relationships, and community engagement.

This person will work closely with the Founder, the Head of Brand, and internal product experts to create a distinctive, credible, and human brand presence. The role requires someone who can combine strategic thinking with hands-on execution in a startup environment, while ensuring that the brand’s voice remains consistent, elevated, and commercially effective.

Ideal Profile

The ideal candidate will bring strong social media and content marketing experience within a premium or luxury consumer brand environment. Experience in direct-to-consumer businesses is important, particularly where social media, storytelling, influencer relationships, and community building have played a significant role in brand growth.

Relevant backgrounds may include luxury food and beverage, wine and spirits, specialty coffee, fine chocolate, premium hospitality, luxury lifestyle, watches and jewelry, fashion, beauty, or other consumer categories where craft, taste, expertise, and brand desirability are central to the customer proposition.

The successful candidate will likely be a strong Director-level marketer, or an ambitious senior social/content leader ready to take broader ownership. They must be entrepreneurial, resourceful, highly collaborative, and comfortable operating without the infrastructure of a large corporate marketing department.

Responsibilities

• Develop and lead the company’s organic social media strategy across key platforms, including Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, and emerging relevant channels.
• Build and manage a content calendar tied to product launches, seasonal moments, cultural opportunities, retail experiences, and brand storytelling.
• Partner closely with internal experts and brand ambassadors to create authentic content, including short-form video, long-form video, behind-the-scenes stories, product education, interviews, podcasts, and written content.
• Translate the brand positioning into a consistent social voice that is refined, engaging, human, and commercially relevant.
• Build and manage influencer, creator, and community programs, with a focus on credible micro-influencers and niche communities in food, beverage, lifestyle, luxury, and New York culture.
• Identify brand collaboration opportunities with aligned partners in hospitality, lifestyle, fashion, media, and related premium consumer sectors.
• Engage actively with the online community to drive awareness, loyalty, user-generated content, and organic reach.
• Partner with external agencies or internal resources as needed on paid media, performance marketing, email, analytics, and e-commerce conversion initiatives.
• Establish performance metrics across organic social, influencer activity, community engagement, content performance, and customer acquisition.

Requirements

• Minimum of 5 years of marketing experience, including significant responsibility for social media and content strategy in a consumer brand environment.
• Proven ability to create or lead high-quality content, not only manage outside agencies.
• Demonstrated experience building or managing influencer, creator, ambassador, or community programs.
• Strong understanding of premium or luxury consumer positioning, with genuine interest in food, beverage, craft, hospitality, lifestyle, or related categories.
• Experience in a direct-to-consumer or e-commerce environment is strongly preferred.
• Ability to operate strategically and hands-on in an early-stage company.
• Strong communication skills, excellent judgment, and a collaborative working style.
• Comfort working directly with founders, senior leaders, creative partners, and product experts.
• Full-time, in-person presence in New York City is expected, with limited flexibility as appropriate.