Vice President of Marketing

Description:
ABOUT FRESH KITCHEN

Fresh Kitchen is redefining what "fast food" can be: real food, made from scratch, with ingredients and standards guests can feel good about. That means 100% pure olive oil (no seed oils), hand-cut veggies, antibiotic- & hormone-free meats, responsibly sourced seafood and 100% gluten-free recipes. We call it Good Food Forever.

Our vision is big: 100 remarkable restaurants by 2034. We're building a brand that's as serious about people and culture as we are about food quality and performance, and we're looking for leaders who want to build something that lasts.

THE ROLE

As the VP of Marketing, you'll have ultimate ownership of how the Fresh Kitchen brand shows up, grows and performs across Florida and beyond - so it stays synonymous with great, quality food and a cool, elevated vibe. That means setting the strategy for brand energy, awareness, traffic, frequency and loyalty, and holding your team and partners accountable for a consistent, compelling guest experience across every touchpoint.

You'll report directly to the CEO, sit on the executive team, and lead a team of two - a Digital Marketing Manager and a PR & Communications Manager - plus agency and freelance partners across creative, social and media. Everything marketing rolls up to you: you set the direction, make the calls, and are accountable for the results, even where your team and partners are doing the day-to-day execution.

You'll own the marketing budget end-to-end - planning, allocating and reporting against it - and you'll be the person the executive team looks to for how marketing dollars translate into brand health, traffic and revenue.

THE VIBE

You're a builder who knows how to get the best out of your team and out of agency partners. You're passionate about our brand and driven to make your mark on it - growing an emerging, beloved brand into something bigger, and you know the difference between marketing that just "looks good" and marketing that moves guests, traffic and sales.

You're dynamic - comfortable touching a lot of different parts of marketing in the same week: brand and creative one minute, a digital campaign or loyalty push the next, then a PR moment or a local opening. You move fluidly between big-picture brand thinking and rolling up your sleeves to get an NRO campaign executed on time. You have sharp creative instincts and a strong point of view, but you make decisions with data, not just taste.

You lead people well - your team and agency partners know exactly what's expected of them and feel supported in delivering it. You're energized by the idea of putting Fresh Kitchen on the map, market by market, and you want real ownership over how that happens.

This person must sit within the Florida market and able to commute to Tampa, Florida occasionally as needed.

CORE ACCOUNTABILITIES

1. Brand Strategy & Creative Direction

• Hold ultimate ownership of brand positioning, target audience, brand promise, voice and visual identity.
• Set and protect design standards across digital platforms, photography, campaigns, packaging and guest-facing materials - ensuring the brand stays consistent as FK expands into new markets.

2. Digital Growth, Loyalty & Guest Lifecycle

• Hold strategic ownership of guest acquisition, conversion, retention and lifetime value across all digital channels - SEO, SEM, AI discovery, local search, paid media, website, app, digital ordering, loyalty, email and SMS.
• Direct segmentation, personalization, frequency and reactivation strategy to grow guest value.
• Partner with IT/Digital and technology vendors to set the roadmap for a best-in-class digital ordering and loyalty experience.

3. Social, Content & Influence

• Hold ultimate ownership of social media strategy across all platforms, including organic and paid content, community management, creators, influencers, user-generated content and strategic partnerships.
• Own the brand storytelling and creative calendar-defining what FK talks about and when, developing compelling moments and ensuring cross-functional execution from idea through launch.
• Partner with our agency on creative, strategy and performance; hold them accountable to results, not just output.

4. Local Marketing & Openings

• Hold ultimate ownership of the local marketing strategy for new restaurant openings and underperforming-store support.
• Set the playbook for progressive experiential marketing through targeted seeding, sampling, innovative activations, partnerships and cultural moments that drive trial, engagement and advocacy in local markets.
• Partner with Real Estate Development and Operations so every new opening has a marketing plan in place before day one.

5. PR, Guest Communications & Reputation

• Lead earned media, brand storytelling, corporate and crisis communications.
• Set the reputation management framework - online review monitoring, response standards, guest issue escalation and public-facing service recovery.

6. Digital Commerce & Marketplace Performance

• Hold ultimate ownership of guest experience and commercial performance across first-party ordering, Olo and third-party marketplaces.
• Set the strategy for menu merchandising, sponsored placements and promotions to drive conversion and channel optimization.

7. Marketing Leadership, Team & Budget

• Build and lead the marketing team (Digital Marketing Manager, PR & Communications Manager) and manage agency and freelance partners.
• Own the marketing strategy, calendar, budget and measurement framework.
• Report on brand health, traffic, frequency, loyalty, sales growth and return on marketing investment to the CEO and executive team.

YOUR DELIVERABLES

• Third-party and Olo digital sales channels grow year-over-year, with healthy channel economics.
• Social channels build real reach and engagement that shows up in measurable growth - social views, followers and engagement.
• The loyalty program grows in size and depth - sign-ups, share of sales coming from loyalty members, and guest conversion to a first return visit all trend up.
• App downloads and usage grow alongside overall guest engagement.
• Every new restaurant opening has a local marketing plan in place before day one, and hits its traffic and sales targets in the first 90 days.
• The brand shows up consistently and on-standard everywhere guests encounter it, as FK expands into new markets.

RECIPE FOR SUCCESS

• Successful marketing leadership experience with a growing emerging restaurant, hospitality, lifestyle or consumer brand.
• High-energy, curious and culturally aware, with a genuine passion for restaurants, hospitality and emerging brands.
• You make things happen. You are entrepreneurial and highly hands-on, with the ability to move fluidly between strategy, ideas and execution.
• Guide the look: exceptional creative judgment and a strong eye for design, photography, content and physical brand experience.
• Demonstrated ability to grow a distinctive brand while driving measurable traffic, frequency and revenue growth.
• Strong command of both brand building and growth marketing, including digital acquisition, loyalty programs, social, local marketing and communications.
• Proven ability to build and lead a team, manage agency partners, and own a marketing budget with accountability for ROI.
• Proven ability to collaborate effectively with Operations, Culinary, Development and executive leadership.
• Commercially minded and comfortable using data to evaluate performance, prioritize investments and improve results.

WHY PEOPLE STAY

REALLY GOOD COMPENSATION | Top in Class Salary + annual bonus + equity package

BENEFITS | Affordable Group health, vision and dental Plans + a 401(k) match

A REAL CAREER PATH | People development is intentional - we invest in leaders who want to grow with us

FREE FOOD | Your FK meals are on us

CULTURE | Values driven company that is good to people

HOLLA-DAYS | Closed for 9 holidays, so you can enjoy time with family and friends

WORK-LIFE BALANCE | Progressive PTO + balanced schedules, including our commitment to not exceed a 50-hour workweek.

A VIBEY BRAND | Food you're proud to serve and a brand you feel good to rep

FOOD FIRST | KEEP IT REAL | EMBRACE THE HUSTLE | STAY FRESH | LOVE | PARTNERS