US Managing Director

Project Slingshot • Full-time • Remote, USA Only • $110k - $150k / year • 1d ago

You are the founding senior hire for Slingshot in the US, responsible for taking a proven playbook and making it land in American culture. This is a builder's role: in your first six months you will hire the initial US team, secure out-of-home and transit inventory in the Bay Area, adapt the creative and tone for a US audience with our Senior Leadership Team, and deliver the first San Francisco campaign launch, before expanding further.

You'll own the US campaign budget end to end: planning it, deploying it across media, production, team and agencies, and being accountable for what it delivers.

This is a remote position within the US. However, we have a strong preference for candidates based in the Bay Area considering the role responsibilities and need to be present in the Bay Area.

What you'll do

Own the US campaign strategy and its delivery, starting with the San Francisco launch and the drumbeat campaigns that follow it.
Recruit, lead and develop a small, exceptional US team, setting clear expectations, coaching people to do the best work of their careers, and building a culture that is bold, supportive and relentlessly focused on impact, and manage agency, media-buying, production and talent relationships.
Lead media placement strategy across out-of-home, transit, digital and podcast channels, and negotiate with US media owners, owning the budget and making sure every dollar of spend delivers pressure.
Adapt Slingshot's creative, tone and messaging for US audiences, running proper message testing rather than assuming London translates, including with sympathetic contacts inside the tech community.
Build Slingshot's presence on the ground: conferences, events, partnerships and relationships across the Bay Area tech and philanthropic community, so the campaign has a human face as well as a billboard.
Drive earned media, influencer seeding and celebrity partnerships with the support of our Chief Communications Officer and CEO.
Work with our MEL lead to measure what matters: salience shift, decision-maker response, and the conversations and commitments the campaign generates.
Represent Slingshot with funders, movement partners and press as the campaign's senior US voice.
Anticipate risks, decision points and approvals early, so campaigns launch on time and land well, and spot the capacity and capability the US operation will need as it grows.

Who we're looking for

We care about capability and judgement, not sector background. You may not have worked in animal advocacy, and that's fine with us; we value different perspectives from those who are outside of the sector.

You probably have:

A track record running major integrated campaigns: brand, political, cultural or advocacy, at real scale and pace.
Genuine fluency in the Bay Area and its culture, or the ability to acquire it fast. You understand why an ad that works in London might not work on the 101.
Experience building and leading small high-performing teams from scratch.
Strong instincts for creative work and the confidence to make calls on tone, humor and taste, plus the humility to test them.
Comfort owning budgets, plans and outcomes, and making balanced calls at speed.
Comfort operating with founders, funders and senior media owners, and the ability to open doors in rooms where Slingshot isn't yet known.
Appetite for the mission. You don't need to be vegan. You do need to believe factory farming should end and be willing to say so in public.

Success looks like

By the end of the first six months: the San Francisco launch has landed hard, the founding US team is hired and performing, and Slingshot is a name the Bay Area tech and philanthropic community knows.

Within twelve months: the US campaign strategy is clear, ambitious and on track; campaigns and activations are earning attention, pressure and momentum; advertising and marketing spend is coordinated, cost-effective and demonstrably working; the US team is thriving with clear priorities and strong delivery; and Slingshot is visible and connected across the US movement, with the next city in planning.