Company description

At Raaka, we make chocolate from scratch without roasting, focusing on innovative and creative ways to develop flavor while preserving the complexity of cacao in every bite. We’re a team of fifteen people committed to making delicious and unique chocolate and doing so in ways that maximize positive social and environmental impact. We proudly source high quality cacao through a direct trade model that supports healthy communities and sustainability.

Our chocolate showcases the variety of cacao beans we work with and the unconventional and inventive ways we develop their flavors. At our Red Hook factory, we age cacao nibs in bourbon casks, steam them over simmering wine, and infuse them with whole foods, teas, herbs, and spices. In 6 years, we’ve grown organically from making chocolate in an apartment to sell at a farmer’s market into a national brand operating out of a 4,000 square foot production facility.

Job description

We’re seeking a Marketing Director to work with our Brand Manager, CEO, and a consumer packaged goods marketing veteran on our advisory board to develop Raaka’s marketing strategy and design/implement projects which grow brand awareness and sales. As Marketing Director, you'll be part of Raaka's leadership team. We're looking for someone willing to make a 2+ year commitment to full time work with our team.

At its core, this position is about relationship building.  A successful director of sales will identify strategic partners (brands, influencers, publications, etc), then build and maintain healthy relationships with those partners. The director will approach partnerships with spirited creativity to build joyful, mutually beneficial, long lasting relationships.

Primary Objectives:

• Increase brand awareness and generate excitement in Raaka’s target markets
• Support our product in regions where it has been newly introduced on retail shelves
• Strategically communicate core messages

Primary Responsibilities:

• Create the marketing strategy (in collaboration with the Brand Manager, CEO, Director Of Sales, and advisory board)
• Build and manage relationships with strategic partners (coffee/wine/beer/ice cream companies, subscription box companies, hotels, gyms, chefs, etc.)
• Build and manage relationships with key influencers
• Design and execute projects supporting retail sales (demos, events, promos, end caps, etc.)
• Build and manage PR relationships (print/digital publications, trade magazines, etc.)
• Manage the marketing budget
• Measure, report, and assess performance of marketing campaigns, communicate results to the team, and make recommendations based off of findings
• Grow brand awareness by strategically hosting and sponsoring events (at Raaka’s factory and off site)
• Work closely with the Brand Manager to ensure that all content is on brand and optimized for engagement and effectiveness (product packaging, printed materials, trade show booths, digital media, print, video, promotional items, etc.)
• Attend quarterly board meetings (in NYC) and report marketing performance to the board of directors

Required qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Marketing or an equivalent field
• 2+ years of recent marketing, brand, and/or consulting experience, preferably with a CPG, food, and/or luxury brand
• Skilled at thinking strategically and creatively in building mutually beneficial partnerships
• A clear track record of impressing customers and driving growth through marketing strategies and campaigns
• Excellent communication skills and a positive tone

Ideally, we’re looking for someone who:

• Is well connected in the Brooklyn food scene
• Shares our values
• Is a self-starter
• Thrives on challenges and sees failure as a springboard for growth
• Is hungry, wants to be part of a startup culture, loves hard work, and enjoys creative challenges
• Can write an impressive press release
• Has a rolodex of marketing/media contacts

Here’s a bit more about Raaka:

Our Mission: Raaka exists to provide delicious, innovative, groundbreaking chocolate.

Our Passions:

• Innovative processes - We make chocolate starting from the cocoa bean, and we do it in totally unique way.
• Innovative ingredients - Chocolate is versatile, and we love it when surprising ingredients prompt people to rethink chocolate. We’ve worked with basil, hops, saffron, and Douglas fir tips.
• Social impact - Raaka is a social venture. We partner with mission-driven cocoa producers who work hard to produce great cocoa beans, and we always pay a premium for them (generally, at least double the price of commodity cacao).

Our Values:

• Creativity: Creative approaches to chocolate excite us. Also, how can we expect customers to be excited about our chocolate if we’re not?
• Quality: Everything we do, we commit to doing well.
• Sustainability: We work to be good stewards of the environment.
• Joyfulness: Chocolate brings joy! We take a lesson from what it feels like to eat chocolate and practice working from a place of joy and sharing that with others.
• Direct, open, honest communication: We're best off when we understand each other.
• Respect: It’s fundamental to healthy relationships.
• Transparency: Better information leads to better decisions.
• Self-improvement: The workplace is a great place to get better at all kinds of things.
• Community: We’re happiest when we’re connected.

Compensation: Base salary commensurate with experience, stock options, and possibly bonus incentives.

Benefits: Medical & Dental

Employment type: Full-time

Compensation this position is : salaried, varies DOE, $45,000.00 - $60,000.00 Work visa This employer is willing to sponsor a work visa for international applicants Application instructions Deadlineno deadline