Launched in 2014 by former philosophy professor David Barnett, PopSockets is a global digital-lifestyle company that sells empowering, fun, and expressive products that improve people’s digital lives. PopSockets has sold close to 300 million of its iconic phone grips in 75 countries and now has an expanding ecosystem of related products, including phone cases, wallets, mounts, batteries, and chargers.
Our mission is to empower enhanced mobile functionality, self-expression, and authentic human connection. We imagine an Eternal Positivity Machine that sparks joy, creativity, and meaningful relationships. We bring this vision to life by upholding the highest standards in materials, packaging, logistics, and design—while ensuring our supply chain and labor practices remain ethical, responsible, and transparent.
In 2021, PopSockets was honored as one of Fast Company’s World's Most Innovative Companies.
PopSockets has remarkable raw ingredients — a founder story that is genuinely one-of-a-kind, a brand platform built for cultural resonance, and a creator community that already loves us. What we need now is a Director-level leader who can take all of that and build something the industry notices: a best-in-class influencer and PR program that makes PopSockets one of the most desirable and talked-about lifestyle brands in the market.
This is a rare opportunity to come in and own the full strategy — not inherit a playbook, but write one. You'll bring a next-generation vision for how creator marketing and earned media can work together to build brand equity, grow EMV, and turn PopSockets' mission and values into a story the world wants to tell for us.
Reporting directly to the VP of Global Brand & Marketing, the Director will lead the influencer and PR function with influencer marketing as the primary mandate. You will directly manage an Influencer Marketing Specialist, and oversee two agency partners — PR and creative.
YOUR OBJECTIVE: To define and own PopSockets' next-generation influencer marketing and PR strategy — building programs that set the standard for lifestyle brand marketing, drive genuine brand desirability, and use our founder-led story and brand mission as the competitive advantage they truly are.
What You'll Own
Next-Generation Influencer Marketing Strategy
- Set the long-term vision and strategic direction for PopSockets' influencer marketing program — defining what best-in-class looks like for a lifestyle brand at our stage and building the roadmap to get there
- Design and own a next-gen creator framework: a tiered, data-driven system that goes far beyond gifting and paid posts to build genuine, lasting creator advocacy and brand love
- Build and scale a creator roster mapped to our three consumer audiences — Style Mavens, Interest Amplifiers, and Solutionists — with the right creators at every tier driving the right impact
- Lead influencer campaign strategy from brief to post-campaign analysis, ensuring every activation ladders up to the brand platform and generates content that earns cultural attention, not just impressions
- Stay ahead of the creator economy — emerging platforms, new formats, shifting audience behaviors — and consistently bring a perspective on where PopSockets should show up next
- Manage the influencer agency relationship, setting the strategic and tactical bar and holding the agency accountable to output that is on-brand, culturally sharp, and relationship-first
- Own creator contracting, negotiations, and compliance with FTC guidelines, usage rights, and brand standards
PR as a Strategic Brand Equity Driver
- Redefine PR's role at PopSockets — elevating it from a reactive channel to a proactive, always-on brand equity engine that shapes how the world thinks and talks about us
- Champion our founder-led story, brand mission, vision, and values as a true competitive advantage — building a PR strategy that makes PopSockets' origin and purpose as culturally compelling as our products
- Set strategic direction for the PR agency, holding them to ambitious goals and a high bar for results while building a genuine long-term partnership
- Build a proactive media and relationship strategy that earns PopSockets a consistent presence in lifestyle, tech, and culture conversations — not just around launches, but year-round
- Lead press moments, creator events, and brand activations that generate meaningful earned coverage and position PopSockets as one of the most beloved and interesting brands in the lifestyle category
- Track share of voice, sentiment, and earned media performance — translating those insights into a clear, evolving POV on how PR is building brand equity over time
Data, Measurement & Program Excellence
- Build the measurement infrastructure that proves the value of influencer and PR investment — owning EMV reporting, share of voice tracking, and brand health signals that connect to business outcomes
- Use data to lead — from creator selection and investment allocation to campaign optimization and program evolution
- Establish a test-and-learn culture: structured experimentation, clear hypotheses, documented learnings, and fast iteration that makes every future campaign smarter than the last
- Build scalable processes and operational best practices that allow both programs to grow without losing quality or strategic coherence
Organizational & Cross-Functional Leadership
- Serve as PopSockets' internal authority on creator culture, influencer marketing, and earned media — bringing sharp, informed POVs to leadership and shaping the organization's thinking on where these channels are heading
- Directly manage and develop an Influencer Marketing Specialist — setting a high bar, investing in their growth, and building a team culture defined by curiosity, craft, and accountability
- Partner closely with Product & Merchandising, Integrated Marketing, Social, Creative, and Retail teams to ensure influencer and PR are fully woven into every campaign, launch, and always-on moment
- Represent the influencer and PR function in key planning conversations, budget discussions, and leadership forums — advocating for investment with data and a compelling strategic narrative
What You Bring
- 10+ years of experience in influencer marketing, consumer PR, or integrated communications — with significant brand-side experience and a clear track record of building programs that move culture and business metrics
- A genuine, informed perspective on the future of influencer marketing and the creator economy — you don't just follow trends, you anticipate them and help brands get ahead of them
- Proven success building influencer programs that deliver best-in-class EMV and creator advocacy — the kind of program other marketers reference and creators want to be part of
- Strategic PR experience that goes beyond press releases — you know how to build a brand narrative, pitch a story that earns coverage, and use PR to compound brand equity over time
- Deep data fluency: you build frameworks, interpret signals, design experiments, and use performance data to continuously sharpen strategy and defend investment
- Experience managing both influencer and PR agencies at a senior level — setting vision, driving accountability, and building partnerships that produce exceptional work
- Hands-on experience with CreatorIQ required; familiarity with Tribe Dynamics or similar tools a plus
- An executive-level communicator who can influence cross-functional partners, present to senior leadership, and represent the brand externally with confidence and authority
- A people-first leader who builds high-performing team cultures, develops talent intentionally, and leads with clarity and generosity
- Energized by the opportunity to build — you thrive in fast-moving, entrepreneurial environments and see ambiguity as a canvas, not an obstacle
What Success Looks Like
- PopSockets is widely recognized as running one of the best influencer marketing programs in the lifestyle category — a program creators want to be part of and marketers look to as a benchmark
- Our founder-led story and brand mission are showing up organically in culture — generating earned media and creator content that builds genuine brand desirability and love
- A next-gen creator framework is fully operational: tiered, data-driven, and continuously optimized — with clear logic for every investment decision
- Consistent, compounding EMV growth that reflects the depth and quality of our creator relationships, not just the volume of activations
- A PR program that proactively shapes PopSockets' brand narrative year-round — building long-term equity, not just generating launch-day buzz
- Influencer and PR functioning as a unified, integrated force — amplifying each other and showing up cohesively across every brand moment
- A high-performing team and agency ecosystem that is well-led, clearly directed, and built to scale with the brand
$140,000 - $160,000 a year
25% annual bonus potential
PopSockets is dedicated to the practice of equal opportunity employment. We prohibit unlawful discrimination against applicants and employees on the basis of age, race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, national origin, disability, military status, genetic information, color, creed, ancestry, or any other status protected by applicable federal, state or local law. This prohibition includes unlawful harassment based on any of these protected classes. Unlawful harassment includes verbal or physical conduct which has the purpose or effect of interfering with an individual’s work performance, or creating an intimidating, hostile, offensive, unsafe or otherwise non-welcoming work environment. This policy applies to all employees, including managers, supervisors, co-workers; and non-employees such as customers, clients, vendors, consultants, etc.
We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.
