Senior Manager, Social & Cultural Engagement

Job Description

The Opportunity

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Rip Van is on a mission to reimagine sweetness for a healthier world. We've built a fast-growing snack brand by proving that delicious treats and better-for-you ingredients can go hand in hand. Now we're ready to bring Rip Van to more consumers, in more places, more often.

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We're looking for a creative, culturally connected and entrepreneurial Senior Manager, Social & Cultural Engagement to help turn Rip Van into a brand people don't just buy, but discover, talk about and love.

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You'll lead our organic social presence, creator and influencer ecosystem, community engagement and earned media activation, bringing Rip Van's personality to life and creating moments that spark conversation, advocacy and organic discovery.

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Great brands aren't built by broadcasting messages alone. They're built by participating in culture, creating content people want to engage with, and developing authentic relationships with consumers and creators. You'll work closely with Brand, Creative, Digital and external partners, with the freedom to bring bold ideas, experiment and help shape how Rip Van shows up in the world.

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What You'll Own

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1. Organic Social Strategy & Content

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• Develop and lead Rip Van's organic social strategy across Instagram, TikTok and emerging channels, aligned with the brand's positioning and marketing priorities.
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• Own the social content calendar, balancing brand campaigns, product storytelling, cultural moments, trends and always-on engagement.
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• Partner with Creative on platform-native content, providing clear briefs, creative direction and performance feedback.
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• Act quickly on emerging trends and cultural opportunities while keeping a consistent, recognizable brand voice.
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• Test new formats and storytelling approaches, using performance insights to refine the strategy and set standards for quality and brand consistency.
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2. Creator, Influencer & UGC Ecosystem

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• Build and manage a creator and influencer program that drives authentic discovery, advocacy and culturally relevant storytelling.
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• Identify, recruit and develop relationships with creators who genuinely connect with Rip Van's products, personality and consumers.
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• Lead partnerships from selection and briefing through negotiation, content development, execution and measurement.
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• Build scalable programs spanning product seeding, gifted partnerships, paid collaborations and long-term creator relationships, with a steady pipeline of creator and UGC content for organic, paid and retail channels.
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• Partner with Digital & Omnichannel to amplify top creator content through partnership ads, whitelisting and Spark Ads.
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3. Community Building & Consumer Engagement

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• Lead community engagement, fostering two-way relationships with consumers, fans and brand advocates.
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• Oversee day-to-day community management, including comments, DMs, social listening and proactive engagement.
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• Create programs and moments that surprise and delight fans and encourage participation, advocacy and word-of-mouth.
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• Set community guidelines, escalation processes and a consistent brand voice.
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• Turn community conversations into insights for Brand, Innovation and Customer Experience.
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4. Earned Media, PR & Brand Buzz

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• Partner with Brand and external PR resources to develop earned media opportunities that build awareness, credibility and cultural relevance.
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• Identify compelling stories, newsworthy moments and creative activations around Rip Van, its products, people and mission.
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• Manage PR agency and freelance partners with clear briefs, priorities and expectations.
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• Support media outreach, product seeding, brand collaborations and cultural partnerships, and amplify launches and milestones through earned-first storytelling.
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• Coordinate with Brand and leadership on reputation management and sensitive consumer or media issues.
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5. Integrated Brand & Cultural Activation

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• Translate the annual marketing calendar (campaigns, launches, seasonal moments, cultural tentpoles) into social, creator, community and earned activations.
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• Bring forward social-first and earned-first ideas that can become larger brand moments beyond paid media.
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• Connect creator content and organic engagement with paid media, retail activation and commerce opportunities alongside Digital & Omnichannel and Sales.
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• Keep brand storytelling consistent while tailoring it to each platform and audience.
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6. Performance, Insights & Ways of Working

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• Set clear objectives and reporting across organic social, creators, community and earned media.
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• Monitor performance, cultural trends, competitors and emerging platforms to find growth opportunities.
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• Evaluate content and partnerships on meaningful engagement, reach, earned exposure, advocacy and content effectiveness, not vanity metrics alone.
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• Build efficient workflows with Creative, Digital, agencies, freelancers and creators, and manage program budgets for the highest impact.
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• Use AI and emerging tools to speed up social listening, ideation, creator discovery and reporting while protecting brand authenticity.
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How We'll Measure Success

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Making Rip Van more discoverable, more talked about and more loved, turning consumers into fans and fans into advocates. Key measures: organic reach and discovery, content effectiveness (shares, saves, watch time), creator impact and efficiency, community health and advocacy, earned media and share of voice, and contribution to campaigns and launches.

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What You Bring

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Must Have

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• 6+ years of progressive experience in organic social, creator/influencer marketing, community engagement or related brand marketing, ideally in CPG, food and beverage, lifestyle or consumer brands.
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• Deep organic social expertise, with a track record of distinctive content strategies that grow awareness, engagement and cultural relevance.
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• Strong creator and influencer marketing experience: discovery, relationship building, campaign development, briefing, negotiation and measurement.
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• Excellent creative judgment and storytelling instincts, and a strong sense of what makes content entertaining, shareable and platform-native.
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• Strong cultural fluency: you spot trends early, understand online communities and turn cultural moments into authentic brand opportunities.
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• Experience building and engaging consumer communities, including social listening, advocacy and community management.
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• Working knowledge of PR and earned media.
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• Strong cross-functional collaboration with Brand, Creative and Digital teams.
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• Analytical and commercially minded, able to separate real brand impact from vanity metrics.
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• Hands-on, resourceful and entrepreneurial, comfortable moving between strategy, creative and execution in a lean, fast-moving team.
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• Strong project and partner management across agencies, creators and deadlines.
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• Curiosity and comfort with AI and emerging tools.
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Nice to Have

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• Built the social presence or creator ecosystem of an emerging CPG or challenger brand.
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• Experience with food, snacking, wellness or lifestyle brands with strong communities.
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• Earned-first campaigns, brand collaborations, cultural activations or experiential programs.
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• Creator-led commerce, TikTok Shop, affiliate programs or social-to-commerce activation.
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• Managing PR agencies, media relations or product seeding programs.
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• Brand ambassador programs or scalable UGC pipelines.
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Who Will Thrive Here

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You're equal parts creative thinker, cultural observer and hands-on builder. You know the difference between a brand that posts content and a brand people want to follow. You love discovering emerging creators and spotting cultural opportunities before they become obvious. You're strategic enough to connect your work to business objectives, and scrappy enough to jump into the comments, brief a creator or bring a timely idea to life. Most of all, you're excited to help build a brand with personality, momentum and a growing community of passionate fans.

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Location & Schedule

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Remote, United States. This role works Eastern Time.

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How to Apply

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Apply with your resume and a link to your portfolio: accounts, campaigns or creator programs you led. Applications without a portfolio link won't move forward.

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Equal Opportunity

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Rip Van is an equal opportunity employer. We consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status or any other legally protected status.