Senior Digital Marketing and Communications Specialist

Specialty Restaurants•Costa Mesa, CA

1d•$80,000 - $90,000

About The Position

Specialty Restaurants is seeking a strategic, highly organized and hands-on Senior Digital Marketing & Communications Specialist to oversee key digital touchpoints across our portfolio of restaurant and hospitality brands. This role sits at the intersection of guest engagement, technology and brand communications. The Senior Digital Marketing & Communications Specialist will help shape the guest journey- from the first loyalty enrollment or website visit through repeat visits, VIP recognition and long-term brand affinity. This is an execution-focused role for someone who is equally comfortable developing a guest communication strategy, building an email or SMS campaign, updating a website, reviewing performance data and troubleshooting an inaccurate restaurant listing.

Requirements

3-5 years of experience in digital marketing, CRM, lifecycle marketing, loyalty marketing, website management
Degree in Marketing, Communications, Digital Media, Hospitality, Business or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and professional experience.
Restaurant, hospitality, multi-unit retail or consumer lifestyle brand experience - working across a portfolio of multiple brands or locations.
Demonstrated understanding of the guest or customer journey, including acquisition, engagement, retention, loyalty and reactivation.
Experience with loyalty and CRM platforms such as Punchh, Paytronix, Thanx, Salesforce, Marketo, Mailchimp or comparable systems.
Experience supporting a loyalty, rewards, VIP or membership program.
Experience managing digital listings through Google Business Profile, Yelp and Tripadvisor.
Hands-on experience updating websites through platforms such as Popmenu, WordPress, Shopify or comparable content management systems.
Strong writing, editing and proofreading skills with the ability to adapt communications across multiple brands.
Strong analytical skills and the ability to translate performance data into practical recommendations.
Exceptional attention to detail, particularly when reviewing promotional terms, links, audience segments, restaurant information and website content.
Excellent communication and relationship-management skills.
Proactive, resourceful and comfortable troubleshooting digital-platform issues.
Working knowledge of website accessibility, digital privacy, consent management and email/SMS compliance practices.
Experience working with external agencies, software providers, developers and technology partners.

Nice To Haves

Must be knowledgeable of programs such as Toast, Punchh, Thanx
Must be knowledgeable of programs such as Fishbowl, Marketo, Sales Force or similar

Responsibilities

Support the strategy, execution and ongoing development of the company's loyalty, VIP and membership programs.
Develop a strong understanding and campaigns of the complete guest journey, including acquisition, enrollment, onboarding, first visit, repeat visitation, birthdays, anniversaries, lapsed-guest re-engagement, VIP recognition and long-term retention.
Create and maintain an annual CRM and loyalty communications calendar aligned with restaurant priorities, seasonal promotions, new openings, menu launches and companywide initiatives.
Manage automated and triggered communications, including welcome journeys, enrollment rewards, birthday offers, member benefits, expiration reminders, win-back campaigns and VIP communications.
Track program performance, including enrollment, active-member participation, visit frequency, retention, offer redemption, incremental revenue, member engagement. Also tracking any potential fraud.
Create, edit and proofread compelling, brand-appropriate copy for email campaigns, SMS messages, landing pages, website promotions, loyalty communications and membership updates.
Adapt messaging for different restaurant concepts while maintaining consistent brand standards - develop targeted campaigns based on guest behavior, restaurant preference, location, visit frequency, spending, loyalty status, engagement and lifecycle stage.
A/B testing subject lines, creative, when possible.
Partner with graphic designers, agencies and internal marketing team members to develop campaign creative and digital assets.
Own the accuracy, consistency and ongoing maintenance of restaurant listings across Google Business Profile, Yelp and Tripadvisor, as well as other relevant discovery platforms.
Maintain current restaurant hours, holiday hours, menus, pricing links, contact information, addresses, reservation links, online-ordering links, amenities, categories, descriptions and photography.
Conduct routine listing audits to confirm that information is consistent across platforms and restaurant websites - optimizing listings to improve local visibility, search relevance and guest conversion.
Monitor listing performance, including impressions, searches, website visits, phone calls, direction requests, reservation activity and other available engagement metrics.
Overseeing Google Key Words ads
Directly manage and update content across the company's restaurant and corporate websites - working confidently within content management systems such as Popmenu, BentoBox, WordPress, Shopify or similar.
Update menus, restaurant hours, promotions, events, private-dining information, photos, leadership biographies, press mentions, reservation links, online-ordering links, gift card information and other guest-facing content.
Build and update landing pages, announcement bars, website pop-ups, forms and promotional modules and perform routine quality-assurance reviews.
Maintain SEO fundamentals, including page titles, metadata, image naming, alternative text, internal links and location-based content.
Serve as the primary day-to-day marketing contact for the company's website accessibility, privacy and compliance agencies.
Coordinate recurring website audits and translate agency findings into clear, actionable updates for internal teams, website vendors and developers.
Make direct content-level corrections when possible and escalate development-level issues to the appropriate technical partner.
Maintain accessibility-friendly website content, including meaningful alternative text, descriptive links, logical headings and properly formatted digital content.
Assist with the maintenance of privacy notices, accessibility statements, cookie and consent tools, data-request forms and other required website content.
Maintain organized records of audits, remediation requests, vendor correspondence, completed updates and outstanding issues.
Create recurring reports covering loyalty performance, email and SMS engagement, membership growth, website activity and digital-listing performance.
Monitor key metrics such as enrollment, active-member rate, repeat visitation, redemption, revenue, open rate, click rate, conversion, unsubscribes, SMS opt-outs, website traffic and local-listing actions.
Use tools such as Google Analytics 4, Google Search Console, CRM dashboards and platform-level reporting to identify trends and opportunities.
Provide clear, actionable recommendations rather than reporting data alone.
Partner closely with Marketing, Operations, Information Technology, Culinary, Private Events and restaurant-level leadership.
Coordinate with CRM providers, website developers, compliance agencies, digital-listing platforms and other external vendors.
Manage multiple restaurant brands, campaigns and website requests simultaneously while meeting firm deadlines.
Protect the integrity of each restaurant's individual brand while supporting consistent companywide standards.
Maintain organized platform credentials, campaign archives, training materials, standard operating procedures and vendor documentation.

Benefits

Competitive salary in the range of $80,000-$90,000 annually depending on experience
Vacation pay
Medical insurance
Dental insurance
Vision insurance
Lifestyle Spending Account
Weekly lunches provided on site Mondays-Wednesdays
Company dining package with allotted spending amount each month
Variety of Supplemental Benefit Plans
401k with annual employer match after 12 months
Employer paid life Insurance throughout the length of employment
Paid/Floating holidays for 10 major holidays
Education Assistance Program (EdAP) for hospitality related education growth
Employee Assistance Program (EAP) to assist with work life balance
Management Referral Program with up to a $4,000 payout for qualifying management positions