Founding Head of Managed Marketing Services (Contract-to-Hire)

Our Company KUKUI's mission is to provide the automotive after-market industries a platform to enable our clients to capture new market share and provide a customer relationship management system to conduct superior outbound marketing programs, improve their customer relationships, and promote customer retention programs, and ultimately increase their revenue. We give business owners advantages they've never experienced before. Through Kukui's All-in-One Success Platform, businesses from mom-and-pop shops to large enterprises, dominate their local markets. We are creating and redefining industries, and we scare the pants off of our competitors! Kukui is an Equal Opportunity Employer and Prohibits Discrimination and Harassment of Any Kind: Kukui is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all employees and to providing employees with a work environment free of discrimination and harassment. All employment decisions at Kukui are based on business needs, job requirements, and individual qualifications, without regard to race, color, citizenship status, religion, creed, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, age, physical or mental disability, marital status, veteran status, political affiliations, or any other characteristic protected by law where we operate. Kukui will not tolerate discrimination or harassment based on any of these characteristics. Kukui encourages applicants of all ages. Our Team Our team consists of remarkable individuals with incredible stories. Our backgrounds vary from technology, liberal arts, public relations, grad school, and a variety of other experiences. We learn fast, adapt quickly to change, and juggle multiple responsibilities. We're friends, we're committed to what we do, and we're committed to each other. Sound appealing? We think so. The Opportunity KUKUI is expanding its marketing services into a comprehensive, done-for-you managed offering on top of our All-in-One platform, and we are looking for a senior operator to lead it. This is a contract-to-hire role for someone who has built and run a marketing services offering before and wants to shape one, from the offering itself through how it is delivered, with modern AI and automation at the core. You will own the service end to end: what it is, how it is packaged and priced, how it is sold, and how it is delivered to a standard clients can see and feel. Early on you will lead from the front, working directly with our first clients and setting the bar for the team that follows. As the service grows, you will build and lead the team, the playbooks, and the technology that let it scale without losing quality. On a successful engagement, the role converts to a permanent leadership position with re-evaluated scope and compensation. What You'll Own Shape the offering. Define the managed marketing service: its scope, tiers, and deliverables, and the clear line between the KUKUI platform and the managed service. Set pricing, packaging, and the go-to-market: positioning, sales motion, and the story. Define the quality and results standard the service is held to, and hold it there. Lead client delivery from the front. Work directly with the first clients as their marketing strategist and lead, and own their unified marketing roadmap and output. Run the results conversations, interpret performance, and be accountable for ROI. Own full-stack delivery. Own delivery across the whole marketing stack: paid search and social ads, SEO and AEO (AI-search visibility), managed social and content, reputation and reviews, and unified direct marketing, tied together by a single strategy-and-reporting layer. Clients cover hard media costs (ad spend, print, postage) as pass-through; KUKUI recommends, manages, executes, and reports. Make AI and automation central. Design how the service is delivered with AI and automation at the core, so strategists can serve clients at a high standard efficiently. Specify the tooling, data, reporting, and AI-assist that delivery needs, and drive that build in partnership with product and technology, with client delivery as the design center. Own the commercials and build the team. Own the growth and commercial performance of the service. Hire and lead the account and delivery team as it grows, and set the standards, playbooks, and metrics that keep quality high at scale. Partner across Sales, Client Success, Product, and delivery. In Your First Year A clearly defined, priced, in-market managed service, with a clean line between the platform and the service. A first group of clients who are delighted with both the service and the results. A delivery and automation model that sets KUKUI apart and is built to scale. The foundations for growth: the team, the playbooks, and the standards. Must-Have Qualifications A track record of building a marketing services offering. You have stood up a done-for-you marketing service or agency-style practice before, owned it commercially, and made it work. This is the non-negotiable. SMB and local marketing expertise. You understand how small and local businesses buy, what moves the needle for them, and how to deliver marketing a local owner can see the value of. This is a must. Deep, current channel command. Hands-on strength across paid search and social, SEO, and AEO / AI-search visibility, with working command of the rest of the stack (social, content, reputation, direct). AI and automation as a core instinct. You have used, and ideally built, AI and automation to deliver marketing services efficiently and at a high standard. Commercial ownership. Comfortable owning pricing, packaging, go-to-market, and the growth of the service. A hands-on leader. Willing and able to sell, strategize, and run accounts yourself early on, then build and lead the team, ego set aside and sleeves rolled up. Quality-first. You define the standard, and you protect it as the service scales. You deliver on what you promise. Nice to Have Experience in the automotive repair industry, or with franchise, multi-location, or dealer-network marketing. Experience standing up a services line inside a software or platform company. Experience building or directing distributed delivery teams. A network of marketing talent you can draw from as the service grows. The Engagement Contract-to-hire, full-time. The initial contract period is approximately six to nine months. We want candidates who are excited by a contract-to-hire path, so please apply only if that structure works for you. Conversion. On a successful engagement, the role converts to a permanent leadership position with re-evaluated scope and compensation. Remote, Continental US. Must be authorized to work in the United States; KUKUI does not provide visa sponsorship. Compensation & Benefits During the contract period: competitive contract rate Upon conversion to permanent employment, the role includes a competitive base salary and KUKUI's full benefits package: Flexible Work Schedule 4 Weeks Paid Time Off 7 Days Paid Sick Time 1 Birthday Day Annually 1 Floating Holiday 7 Paid Holidays + Annual Holiday Break Annual Anniversary Bonus 401k Family, Medical & Bereavement Leave Employee Assistance Program Employee Work-Life Wellness Program Remote Employee Reimbursement Program Health, Dental, Vision, Life Insurance, and Disability Kukui Active (50% paid gym membership up to $100) Team Building Events LinkedIn Learning Partner Employee Referral Bonus