Director - Social Media & Cultural Marketing

Director - Social Media & Cultural Marketing

This position is based at our corporate offices in Alexandria, VA. The Director Social Media and Cultural Marketing is responsible for leading Five Guys' social media and cultural marketing strategies. This position oversees content strategy, community management, earned media, influencer and creator partnerships, and cultural activation efforts designed to support brand awareness, engagement, and affinity. Reporting to the Chief Commercial Officer, the Director collaborates with cross-functional partners to align social and cultural marketing initiatives with brand objectives, business priorities, and consumer engagement strategies.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Social Media Strategy & Content Own Five Guys' social media strategy across all platforms (Instagram, TikTok, X, Facebook, YouTube, and emerging channels), with an emphasis on organic reach and cultural relevance over paid amplification. Develop and execute a content strategy that authentically reflects the Five Guys brand while making it feel alive, modern, and culturally present. Define and drive key social KPIs including organic impressions, engagement rate, follower growth, share of voice, and earned media value; report performance and insights regularly to senior leadership. Build a content calendar and production rhythm that balances evergreen brand storytelling with real-time cultural moment participation. Champion a platform-native mindset, understanding that great content for TikTok is fundamentally different from great content for Instagram or X, and lead the team accordingly. Oversee all social content production, including short-form video, static creative, UGC curation, and partnership content; manage relationships with creators and content vendors as needed.
• Community Management Lead Five Guys' community management approach by establishing the brand's voice, tone, and engagement philosophy across all channels. Build a community management framework that turns fans into advocates, amplifies organic conversations, and ensures the brand shows up with warmth, wit, and speed when the moment calls for it. Manage responses to consumer comments, mentions, and DMs in a way that is consistent with brand values and builds long-term affinity. Monitor social listening signals to surface emerging trends, brand sentiment shifts, and opportunities for cultural participation. Partner with Operations and Guest Experience teams to ensure social community management is coordinated with broader customer care and reputation management efforts.
• Cultural Relevance Identify and activate cultural moments, trends, and conversations where Five Guys can credibly and meaningfully participate, earning media impressions rather than buying them. Develop and execute activations and earned media campaigns designed to land coverage in cultural, lifestyle, and food media beyond traditional trade press. Build and maintain relationships with journalists, editors, food and culture writers, and tastemakers who cover the intersection of food, pop culture, and brand storytelling. Partner with the Director Communications, VP Digital Guest Experience, and the broader commercial leadership to align social and PR activity with brand priorities, product launches, and seasonal moments.
• Influencer & Creator Partnerships Develop and manage an organic influencer and creator strategy, identifying authentic brand fans and collaborators who can extend the Five Guys story without compromising its credibility. Vet and onboard creator and influencer partners; manage relationships, deliverables, and content review processes. Ensure influencer and creator content aligns with brand standards and feels genuinely native to the platforms where it lives. Track and report on the performance and earned media impact of creator partnerships.
• Team Leadership & Cross-Functional Collaboration Lead, develop, and inspire the social media team, establishing a high-performance culture focused on creativity, responsiveness, and results. Serve as the internal champion for brand voice and cultural relevance, partnering with Marketing, Digital, Operations, and Legal to ensure consistency and agility. Work closely with the Digital and Loyalty teams to coordinate social strategies around loyalty enrollment, app promotions, and digital channel growth. Manage agency and vendor relationships, including social analytics platforms and creative production partners. Represent social media in leadership forums, cross-functional planning sessions, and executive updates.

Qualifications Guidelines: To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Education/Experience: Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Communications, Journalism, or related field required. 10+ years of progressive experience in social media, brand marketing, consumer PR, or content strategy, ideally within consumer-facing brands, sports, media, or entertainment. Demonstrated success in building organic social growth and cultural relevance, with a portfolio of specific moments, campaigns, or brand movements that earned reach rather than paid amplification. Direct experience managing community engagement at scale, including crisis response, brand voice development, and fan engagement. Experience developing and executing consumer PR and earned media campaigns that generate measurable press coverage and cultural attention.

Language Ability: Strong verbal and written communication skills are required. This position demands the ability to craft clear brand messaging for public audiences in a distinct brand voice and adapt that voice across all formats and platforms. This position requires the ability to communicate social strategies effectively to executive leadership and cross-functional partners.

Math Ability: This position requires proficient business math skills.

Reasoning Ability: The position requires strong creative and strategic judgment. The successful candidate will be comfortable navigating ambiguity, making real-time decisions about cultural participation, and balancing long-term brand building with short-term opportunity capture.

Computer Skills: Exceptional computer skills required in Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, PowerPoint, Word), Proficiency in social analytics tools (e.g., Sprinklr, native platform insights) and comfort building performance reports for senior leadership. Advanced knowledge of social media platforms and the factors that drive effective content performance on each.

Supervisory Responsibilities: This position has supervisory responsibility.

Physical Demands: This position is primarily sedentary and requires frequent computer use. Occasional travel (approximately 1015%) to restaurant locations, agency partners, media events, and brand activations may be required.