Head of Marketing

Job Title: Head of Marketing

Company: Fierce Whiskers Distillery

Location: Austin, TX

About Us:

Making world-class whiskey is not easy, and doing so sustainably adds another layer of complexity. The integrity of the whiskey is everything at Fierce Whiskers Distillery. That means transparency in production, respect for sustainability, and unwavering authenticity to produce the highest quality whiskey, efficiently. Every single decision we make revolves around uncompromising quality.

Fierce Whiskers is on a mission to become a forethought for “what the world thinks of when they think of Texas Whiskey.” We distill, age, and bottle whiskey all in-house at our state-of-the art sustainable production facility in Austin, TX. With our superior quality standards, we’re proud to serve Austinites, whiskey novices and connoisseurs and just about anyone who can respect a great whiskey. Our award-winning whiskies set the tone for a brand with high aspirations to become THE Texas Whiskey.

Our first product hit shelves in 2023, and our flagship Bourbon Whiskey launched in May 2024. The Tasting Room at our distillery is a vital part of our strategy, attracting new and existing customers to taste our products and experience our brand firsthand.

Job Description:

We’re looking for a seasoned marketing leader to bring Texas’s newest whiskey to market by developing marketing strategy, elevating brand awareness, activating social channels, and evolving integrated marcom with events, concert series, and press to win hearts and minds.

As Head of Marketing, you will be critical to Fierce Whiskers Distillery’s ambitious growth trajectory and will drive customer demand for our products. You’ll own marketing strategy & clear execution of full-funnel GTM across marketing (Brand, Social, Website, Emails, Ads, Events, Concert Series, PR) and partner with Sales, Production, and Tasting Room retail experience. This role requires someone who acts as a thought leader, can influence cross-functional partners, develops creative and innovative solutions, crafts compelling narratives, defines success criteria and measures against performance metrics, has a track record of driving impact, and truly lives for big challenges.

This leader will work with emergent channels and develop new GTM methods, stay relevant to current landscape trends with products and customers, create alignment and action across many teams, move roadblocks and simplify complex concepts, and command confidence with partners. You will be expected to apply analytical rigor and the right mix of brand and product knowledge to deliver effective marketing plans for measurable ROI to the business. This marketer will help us launch a portfolio of Special Release products and help build the next chapter of Texas whiskey for the world. This role requires a passion for the alcohol industry and its customers, strategic thinking, and strong communication and collaboration skills since you’ll brief a wide set of cross-functional teams in the development and launch of our new marketing strategy.

Head of Marketing Responsibilities:

• Leads strategic vision and execution of Fierce Whiskers Distillery’s brand and marketing programs, with ROI >1.0 efficiency.
• Creates & executes holistic marketing strategy and GTM launch plans for product portfolio / audiences / moments across marketing, sales, and press channels.
• Develops & manages a high-performing team of integrated, social, and brand marketers to produce compelling content across narratives, Tasting Room demos, digital assets, and campaigns in everyday motions, events, concert series, and for product launch moments.
• Leads market assessment, quant analysis, and qual research to gather insights from customers & competitors to build effective go-to-market strategies.
• Engages community through metrics-based alignment of GTM channels & iterative campaigns (Email, Web/Microsite, Paid/Social, Customer surveys, Events, Press, etc). Goal’d to increase brand awareness and new customer adoption.
• Partners with Sales teams, Tasting Room staff, and Production teams to influence/drive product improvements and represent key customer and internal priorities in the product development process.
• Stays updated on product vision and roadmaps. Be the product expert on existing and new features to internal and external ‘customers’, regularly presenting to audiences both large and small.
• Leads & collaborates with a wide set of cross-functional teams.
• Embody Fierce Whiskers Distillery’s leadership principles acting with urgency, and delivering excellence.

Basic Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience with brand and product marketing, consumer products and/or brand management, or related roles at a beverage or CPG company
• 8+years of experience with team leadership, cross-functional team leadership, or team management
• Track record of developing brand strategy and delivering ROI-positive marketing campaigns locally & nationally
• BA/BS degree in Marketing, Business, or equivalent working experience

Preferred Qualifications

• Growth mindset, curious, self-aware, and a desire to test and learn, seeing data as a success metric
• Strong attention to and command of detail, and project management skills to focus on key outcomes amidst competing priorities and tight deadlines
• Proven experience leading fast paced teams amongst constantly evolving priorities; self-starter who can manage through ambiguous situations in a start-up type of team
• Deep experience with brand development, messaging, and creating engaging content that romances product scenarios; passion for the alcohol industry and the ability to translate complex ideas into simple, clear prose
• Deep experience in modern marketing through integrated marketing, campaign design, and execution across omnichannel experiences, marketing owned and paid channels, events, and press activations
• Outstanding leadership and deep and unwavering commitment to diversity and inclusion; track record of partnering with a diverse set of team members along with the ability to mentor, develop, and grow the people on the team, helping them accomplish their career goals

Suggested Skills:

• Strategic leadership
• Executive Communication
• Influential Synthesis
• Brand management
• Marketing strategy & analytics