Director of Marketing

Blackbird Labs Inc•New York, NY

18d•$220,000 - $250,000

About The Position

The Director of Marketing sets the high-level strategic vision for Blackbird's brand and owns its execution across every marketing discipline and channel including brand, communications, and consumer growth alike. You'll define how Blackbird shows up in the world and make sure that vision holds together everywhere a diner or partner encounters it, from a press mention to an event. You'll translate strategy into execution across brand campaigns, public relations, and acquisition. This is a builder role: the brand foundations are in place, and your job is to set the direction for where they go next and make sure every team and channel is pulling in the same direction. We're looking for someone who can operate at both altitudes — setting the vision for what Blackbird's Marketing direction should take, and staying close enough to execution to make sure that vision actually 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 actually care about, not just awareness but affinity
Strong storytelling and communications instincts, including experience building or running a PR / earned-media strategy
Strong performance marketing chops; you know how to drive acquisition at scale
Experience at a high-growth startup; you know how to operate with limited resources and high expectations
A writer's sensibility; you can tell when copy is wrong and make it right
Passion for restaurants, food culture, and hospitality

Nice To Haves

Experience in a two-sided marketplace
Background in loyalty, rewards, or payments (not required; a love of the category matters more)
Existing media relationships and press experience in food, hospitality, or consumer tech
NYC market experience and existing relationships in the dining space

Responsibilities

Own the Blackbird brand voice and identity across all consumer channels
Develop campaigns that feel culturally credible: copy, visual, experiential
Build Blackbird's presence in the cities and dining communities where it matters most
Partner with the Restaurants team to make sure brand work serves both sides of the network
Own Blackbird's external narrative — press, media relationships, and executive visibility for Ben and the team
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 and talking points for press moments, partnership announcements, and, when needed, crisis response
Partner with Partnerships and Restaurants teams on co-branded press moments and launch announcements
Drive diner acquisition across paid, owned, and earned channels
Set and hit growth targets for app downloads, new user activation, and retention
Build a performance marketing capability that doesn't sacrifice brand to do it
Work closely with product on onboarding, in-app messaging, and lifecycle
Lead and develop a small in-house team
Manage agency and contractor relationships
Own the marketing budget and report on what's working
Generate reporting and make data-driven decisions to set up strategy