Marketing Lead

MARKETING LEAD 

Reports to: Vice President, Operations

Location: Chicago, IL

ABOUT US

“Mas Sabor Por Favor!” MORE FLAVOR PLEASE! Tortazo By Chef Rick Bayless is a Mexico City-style Torteria and restaurant group serving (of course) tortas, tacos, and agave based cocktails.  We bring the joy of discovery of authentic Mexican flavors to Chicago, New York and many markets to come. While most people use “authenticity” as a buzzword, we embody it in our flavors, ingredients, techniques and hospitality. Led by award-winning chef Rick Bayless, we welcome guests with genuine enthusiasm and graciousness, as if they were friends or family coming to our home for a visit. Lively and inviting, Tortazo lacks pretension or stiff formality. In all that we do, we celebrate the vibrancy of life through full flavors and experiences!

SUMMARY

Chef Rick Bayless’s Chicago-based fast casual brands Tortazo & Tortas Frontera are seeking an in-house marketing lead who loves Mexican food, travel and social media storytelling to join the brand’s growth throughout the Chicago area and beyond. This role will be responsible for the management and execution of all marketing channels within the Tortazo brand ecosystem, including social media, digital marketing, creative assets and customer communications. Working closely with the culinary and operations teams, this role facilitates the creation and maintenance of all brand touchpoints, including email marketing, menus, signage, collateral, website and digital platforms. This team member will also collaborate closely with our external partners and agencies to ensure consistent, strategic and thoughtful marketing of the restaurants and their offerings, strengthen the customer experience across channels, cultivate new audiences, deepen brand affinity and drive revenue via coordinated marketing efforts.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Social Media Management

• Content creation: Drive social platform content, with a focus on Instagram; manage Facebook, Linkedin and TikTok accounts; ensure growth of brand audience; increase engagement; craft creative and compelling content.
• Content Strategy Execution: Lead platform-specific content creation, including content calendar, design and copywriting.
• Content Planning: Spend time in the businesses and with our chefs; develop engaging and playful content on a weekly basis; ensure cohesion with agreed upon positioning, goals and content pillars.
• Community Management: Monitor UGC and comments/DMs; execute brand responses with a high degree of professionalism, knowledge of our offerings and spirit of hospitality.
• Photography & Video: Manage professional content shoots; supplement with self-captured content; edit Reels and TikToks on iPhone using current tools.
• Influencer & Creator Partnerships: Drive interaction with other relevant social media accounts; monitor and share UGC; facilitate and manage local influencer relationships.
• Stay ITK: Keep up to speed on social media trends, platform changes and best practices as they evolve; suggest new strategies and content ideas to the team; try new things and be willing to evaluate/adjust.

2. Design & Marketing Materials Support

• Menu & Signage Updating: Own the process of implementing updates across locations and formats; manage internal review process and team feedback; see through to successful in-store implementation.
• Ensure Accuracy & Consistency: Work to ensure information at each location is brand consistent and audience-tailored.
• Asset Creation: drive creation of informational and promotional signage, supplementing professional design support when needed.

3. Creative Input & Facilitation 

• Creative Design: Support the design of a wide variety of assets including packaging, signage, print and digital collateral; ensure brand standards and vision are upheld and pieces are brand-aligned.
• Oversee Professional Design & Production: Support external design agency; manage review and approval process as well as production of assets.
•  In-Store Brand Experience: Lead updating of menus, design of in-store displays, communications of promotions onsite and environmental branding..
• Marketing Project Management: Drive cross-functional coordination for launches, promotions, and operational initiatives.
• Translate Creative Direction: Ensure aesthetic sensibility and overarching brand vision are translated across all manifestations of the brand.

4. Digital Marketing

• Email Marketing: Execute email marketing campaigns from design to content creation, approvals to analytics.
• Paid Marketing: Manage the execution of paid media strategies across platforms; working with external SEO support to oversee campaign budgets, creative and performance optimization; drive paid digital content; provide necessary assets; manage campaign adjustments to ensure ROI.
• Website etc: Manage the Tortazo digital ecosystem (websites, mobile app, online ordering, guest feedback platform and DSP channels), ensuring accuracy, functionality, and brand-aligned experience.

5. Partnerships & Relationship Building 

• Strategic Partnerships: Work with key stakeholders, business partners and relevant  organizations on co-branded promotional efforts and events; build trusting, mutually beneficial relationships with relevant partners.
• Public Relations Support: Manage all PR and media relations duties; plug Tortazo into key moments, local happenings and holidays; execute light local outreach (with guidance and support);  facilitate external PR agency if applicable; work to generate excitement for new store openings and offerings, events and key seasonal moments.
• Event Leadership: Plan, staff, and execute activations including store openings, community/partner events, chef appearances, and seasonal campaigns; oversee logistics and event promotion.
• Collaboration with Chef’s Team: Work closely with Chef Rick Bayless team to find and manage opportunities for collaboration across his businesses. 

WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR

• 5 years of marketing experience including social media execution; ideally involving brands within food/hospitality, lifestyle or similar with a strong point of view, aesthetic and voice. 
• You actually like social media and are on Instagram and TikTok (even if you don’t actively post)
• You are creative and design-minded, enjoy taking photos (amateur iPhone shots - or otherwise) and writing copy. 
• You have a passion for marketing and an interest in building meaningful brands that have something to say.
• You share our love of food, have an innate sense of hospitality and comfort working closely in and around restaurants and with culinary and operations colleagues.
• You thrive in ever-evolving, self-directed environments that feature a mix of in-person and remote work time, with some travel. 
• This work is collaborative, fast-moving and cross-functional. It also involves tight timelines, taking initiative and will sometimes require flexibility and changing direction. 
• Interest in what is happening around you, including in the city, within the culture and across spheres (food, lifestyle, the arts, sports etc.)
• Experience working with digital tools including Instagram, Canva, Capcut or similar for social media video editing, website CMS and Email Marketing Platforms. 
• Ideally you love Mexican food (and are excited to eat a lot of it!) and speak beginner Spanish (more advanced fluency is a plus, but not a requirement). 

WORKING CONDITIONS

The working conditions described below are representative of those a team member encounters while performing the essential duties and responsibilities of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential duties and responsibilities of this job.

• Small to medium office or shared workspace
• General Office Hours with the expectation to respond to email outside of office hours
• We operate in a hybrid work environment that offers up to two remote days per week, provided standards are upheld to the highest degree with respect to output and deliverables.  Additionally, the employee must be available for meetings remotely when they are not physically in the office

COMPENSATION

$85,000-$115,000 annual bonus potential. This is the expected salary range for this position. Ultimately, we’ll consider your experience and other job-related factors.

WHAT WE OFFER

• Health (premium paid in full for employee), Dental & Vision insurance plans
• Competitive base salary eligibility to participate in corporate bonus program
• Vacation & Wellness time
• Commuter Benefits, & Flexible Spending Accounts
• 401k match*
• 6 weeks paid parental leave*
• Career growth & development
• Daily tortas, tacos, guac & more!

*depending on eligibility

BRING THE FLAVOR!

Tortazo provides equal opportunities for everyone that works for us and everyone that applies to join our team, without regard to sex or gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, pregnancy, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, any service, past, present, or future, in the uniformed services of the United States (military or veteran status), or any other consideration protected by federal, state, or local law.

This job description in no way states or implies that these are the only duties to be performed by the employee occupying this position and does not contain all of the essential requirements and functions of the position. Employees will be required to perform any other job-related duties assigned by their supervisor.  This job description does not include all the duties that may be assigned to the employee and it may be revised from time to time with or without notice.