Director of Brand & Communications

A profitable DTC pet brand doing $50M+ a year, scaling to $100M+, fully remote is looking for an experienced brand consultant, freelancer or agency to lead our brand revamp and set our brand direction as Head of Brand & Community, on a project / consultant basis! You will own how people see and feel about our two brands: the brand story and identity, and the brand moments that build awareness and goodwill, including shelter and charity partnerships, activations and events, PR and community.

We are looking for someone who has done it before and really understands building a brand: creating brand moments and knowing how to actually make them happen, so we build our brand and brand awareness from the ground up. The ideal candidate has 7+ years in brand, communications or brand marketing at consumer brands, a track record of building awareness through cause partnerships, events and PR, and has run campaigns for a North American audience.

The mission of this role

Make our brands the most loved and trusted pet brands in North America, not just the most bought. You will own how people see and feel about our brands: a clear brand story and identity used everywhere, and the brand moments that build awareness and goodwill, including shelter and charity partnerships, activations and events, PR and community. Success is more people searching for us by name, more customers coming from word of mouth, more earned press, and a giving-back program customers know us for.

Who are we?

We're a profitable DTC pet brand selling premium stainless steel cat water fountains, filters and accessories. We sell across Shopify, Amazon and Chewy, and we're one of the fastest-growing brands in the pet space – $50M+ in annual revenue and scaling to $100M+. We recently launched a dog brand, expanding into an entirely new vertical and customer base. We're a 100% remote, lean, senior team that moves fast, and every person here has a massive impact on the business.

What is our culture like & who is a good fit?

Culture-fit is our #1 factor when hiring! We have a genuine will-to-win. No work is beneath us if it moves us towards our goals. We use creativity to do more with less – and quickly. We use data to make decisions and live by four core values:

• Better Everyday: review every brand moment against its goal, and make the next one bigger, cheaper or better.
• Speed Is King: jump on cultural moments and press opportunities the same day, and launch every brand moment on schedule.
• Work Smart: use partners, agencies and AI instead of a large team. For example, use Claude to draft press pitches and partner outreach, track media mentions, turn reviews into customer stories, and build the monthly brand-health report from search, survey and press data.
• Overdeliver: bring the CEO new partnership and brand-moment ideas before being asked, and get more press and goodwill from each moment than the plan called for.

If you want a stress-free corporate 9–5 job, this isn't it.

If you want to challenge yourself and shape a fast-growing company, work directly with the founder, and play a big role in scaling it to $100M+... If you want to drive results with a group of passionate, smart, hardworking people, in an environment without politics or corporate chicanery, being hands-on and active – then you've come to the right place.

Outcomes (what success looks like)

90-day targets for each outcome are agreed with you before your start date.

• More people know and search for our brands: branded search volume and direct traffic, monthly vs the same month last year
• More new customers come from word of mouth and press: share of new customers who say friend, family, press or social (not an ad) in the post-purchase survey
• We earn press and attention: earned media mentions and their reach each quarter, including press from each brand moment
• Our giving-back program makes a real, visible impact: shelters partnered, pets helped, and product and dollars donated each quarter, shown on the website
• The brand looks and sounds the same everywhere: quarterly brand audit across website, packaging, ads, email and social

Key Objectives

• Own the brand story, positioning, tone of voice and brand guidelines for both brands, and keep the two brands distinct.
• Design and run a giving-back program with shelter and rescue partners that customers know us for, and track its impact.
• Build the yearly brand-moment calendar and run each moment end to end: concept, partners, budget, website and email, social and creators, and press.
• Run pop-ups, events, sponsorships and stunts, each with its own budget and goal.
• Win earned media: pitch every brand moment, cause campaign and launch, directly or through a PR agency you manage.
• Build a super-fan community and turn customer reviews, photos and stories into brand content.
• Report brand health monthly and own the brand budget.

• Fully remote, project / consultant basis (freelancers, consultants and agencies welcome), based in Canada, the United Kingdom or Ireland
• Fluent in English
• Brand Experience: 7+ years in brand, communications or brand marketing at consumer brands is ideal; 5–6 years with strong results is also considered.
• Brand Builder: You have built awareness and goodwill for a consumer brand through causes, events and PR, not just design, ideally from an early stage.
• Brand Moments: You have planned and shipped brand moments end to end, on time and on budget, across many partners.
• Cause Marketing: You have run nonprofit or shelter partnerships that were real, measured and credible, not a logo on a page.
• PR & Storytelling: You turn a moment into a story that press and customers repeat, and you have the press wins to show for it.
• North America: You have run campaigns for a North American audience, and can run events and partners there remotely through agencies, partners and local contractors.
• Brand Taste: A sharp eye for what is on-brand, and you protect consistency across every touchpoint.
• Commercial Mindset: You tie brand work to measurable results like branded search, word of mouth and press.
• No issue working overtime or on the weekends if needed. You are passionate about your work.
• Excellent cultural fit as per our values above.
• Excited to play a big role in scaling the company and work closely with the founder.
• Bonus points: pet industry experience.

Accountabilities

What you own. Each one is checked green, yellow or red every week.

• Brand foundation and guidelines: Own the brand story, guidelines and asset library for both brands, review new pages, packaging, emails and key ads before they go live, and run a quarterly brand audit across every touchpoint.
• Cause and shelter partnerships: Choose each brand's anchor causes with the CEO, sign and manage national and local shelter and rescue partners, run adoption events and donation drives, and track and report the impact.
• Brand moments and activations: Build the yearly brand-moment calendar (National Cat Day, National Dog Day, Clear the Shelters, Giving Tuesday and our own owned moment), run each one end to end, and hand its story and assets to the growth and creator teams.
• PR and earned media: Pitch press and podcasts directly or through a PR agency you manage, win reviews, gift-guide placements and awards, keep the press kit current, and track every mention.
• Community and customer stories: Turn reviews, photos and stories into brand content, build a super-fan community with surprise-and-delight moments, and make the website show the brand properly.
• Brand reporting and budget: Report brand health monthly, own the brand budget (events, donations, PR, sponsorships), set monthly Rocks with the CEO, and write SOPs so the playbook works without one person.

How Our Hiring Works & How We Operate

(1) Application + Screening Interview

(2) In-Depth Interview with the CEO

(3) Reference Calls

(4) Final In-Depth Interview with the CEO

Rate Expectation

US$7,000–10,000 per month retainer (or equivalent day rate), based on experience and expertise.