Group Director of Influence

Thesocial Lights; Minneapolis (MN); Remote; USD 140,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health Insurance

Dental Insurance

Vision Insurance

HSA + Company Contribution

401(k) + Company Match

New MacBook Pro + AI Tools

Cell Phone Stipend

Summer Hours + Flexible Work Options

Paid Employee Parking (MN)

Dog-Friendly Office (MN)

Job summary

The Social Lights is seeking a Group Director of Influence to lead and grow our influencer marketing discipline. This role requires deep expertise in the creator economy, guiding strategies, and overseeing complex programs that drive measurable business impact for brands.

You will lead a portfolio of engagements, counsel senior clients, and partner with multiple agency disciplines to scale our influence offerings and deliver exceptional results in a fast-paced environment.

Qualifications

• 15+ years of marketing/agency experience.
• Deep expertise in paid and earned influencer marketing.
• Experience leading high-profile influencer programs.
• Strong leadership and mentoring abilities.

Responsibilities

• Lead strategy, development, and delivery of influencer programs across multiple clients.
• Provide senior strategic counsel and hands-on leadership across influencer marketing.
• Oversee a portfolio of engagements and ensure exceptional delivery and client satisfaction.
• Set standards for excellence and guide measurement, reporting, and optimization.
• Partner with cross-functional teams to integrate influencer marketing into broader programs.
• Mentor and develop the Influence team and manage staffing and growth.

Skills

Influencer marketing leadership

Team leadership

Strategic advisory

Client leadership

Negotiation

Tools

CreatorIQ

Sprout Social Influencer Marketing

Job description

Group Director of Influence

Department: Influence/Creator Partnerships

Employment Type: Full Time

Location: Open to Remote

Compensation: $140,000 - $150,000 / year

Description

At The Social Lights, we’re a band of creative and energetic problem solvers who love nothing more than helping brands and individuals powerfully connect with their consumers through the power of social media. In other words, our superpower is transforming social capital into brand equity.

We’re looking for a Group Director of Influence to lead and grow our Influence discipline. This is an opportunity for an experienced influencer marketing leader who knows how to build standout creator programs, inspire high-performing teams, and turn influence into measurable business impact for brands.

The Group Director of Influence is equal parts practitioner, strategic advisor, and people leader. This person embodies deep expertise in the creator economy, a track record of leading complex influencer programs, and the confidence to counsel senior clients and make big ideas happen. They will oversee a portfolio of influencer marketing engagements, guide the strategy and execution of high-profile programs, and set the standard for excellence across the discipline.

Key Responsibilities

Influence Strategy and Program Leadership

• Lead the strategy, development, and delivery of high-impact influencer marketing programs across a portfolio of clients, ensuring work is innovative, culturally relevant, and delivers measurable results.
• Provide senior strategic counsel and hands-on leadership across the full spectrum of influencer marketing, including paid creator partnerships, earned influence, gifting and seeding, ambassador programs, and always-on creator ecosystems.
• Lead the development of compelling creator strategies and big ideas grounded in audience insights, cultural trends, platform behaviors, and client business objectives.
• Guide the end-to-end influencer marketing process, from strategic planning and creator identification through negotiations, contracting, activation, measurement, and optimization.
• Maintain a high bar for creative and strategic excellence, knowing when to lead our clients and creators, challenge the thinking, and help teams turn good work into exceptional work.
• Bring deep knowledge of creators, talent, platforms, and industry dynamics to help clients navigate opportunities, solve challenges, and make informed investment decisions.
• Partner closely with Strategy, Content, Social Media Management, Social Intelligence, Paid Social, and other agency disciplines to integrate influencer marketing into broader social-first and marketing programs.
• Establish clear measurement frameworks and use performance insights to continually improve programs, demonstrate value, and inform future recommendations.

• Serve as a trusted senior advisor to key clients, building strong relationships and demonstrating how influencer marketing can solve business challenges and contribute to broader brand and marketing objectives.
• Oversee the health and performance of a portfolio of influencer marketing engagements, ensuring exceptional delivery, strong client satisfaction, and sound financial management.
• Lead high-stakes client presentations, strategic discussions, and program recommendations with confidence, clarity, and compelling storytelling.
• Anticipate client needs, proactively identify opportunities, and bring forward fresh thinking that strengthens our partnerships and expands the impact of our work.
• Partner with account management, project management and agency leadership to ensure programs are appropriately scoped, staffed, and delivered against agreed-upon commitments and financial expectations.
• Navigate complex client, creator, and campaign challenges with sound judgment, professionalism, and a solutions-oriented mindset.
• Build confidence in The Social Lights as an essential influence partner through deep expertise, strong relationships, and consistently exceptional work.

• Shape and scale The Social Lights' Influence discipline, establishing the standards, capabilities, and ways of working needed to support a growing portfolio of clients.
• Partner with executive leadership and Growth on organic growth and new business development, including pitches, proposals and the communication of our influence offering.
• Establish and continually refine best practices, processes, tools, and playbooks that improve the effectiveness, consistency, and scalability of our influencer marketing work.
• Champion the use of influencer marketing technology, data, and emerging tools to improve creator discovery, campaign management, reporting, and operational efficiency.
• Build strong partnerships across agency disciplines, helping teams understand where and how influence can create meaningful value for clients.
• Bring a forward-looking perspective to the discipline, identifying new services, capabilities, partnerships, and ways to create value as the creator economy evolves.

• Lead, mentor, and develop a growing influencer team, creating an environment that encourages collaboration, curiosity, ownership, and exceptional work.
• Set clear expectations for performance, accountability, and quality while empowering team members to confidently own their work and grow their expertise.
• Provide ongoing coaching, actionable feedback, and professional development opportunities to strengthen individual performance and build future leaders.
• Partner with agency leadership to anticipate staffing needs, define roles, recruit exceptional talent, and build a team structure that supports sustainable discipline growth.
• Oversee team capacity, workload, and resource planning in partnership with project management and agency operations.
• Create opportunities for knowledge sharing, training, and skill development that raise the collective expertise of the Influence team and the broader agency.
• Foster a positive, high-performing team culture where people feel challenged, supported, and motivated to do the best work of their careers.

• Serve as a leading voice and subject matter expert in influencer marketing, bringing a strong point of view on the evolving creator economy and its implications for brands.
• Stay ahead of emerging creators, platforms, cultural shifts, industry innovations, regulations, and best practices to keep our thinking and capabilities relevant.
• Cultivate meaningful relationships across the creator economy, including talent, managers, agents, platforms, technology partners, and industry organizations.
• Contribute to agency thought leadership, industry conversations, and initiatives that strengthen The Social Lights' reputation as a leader in social-first marketing.
• Champion a culture of curiosity, creativity, and continuous improvement, encouraging teams to challenge convention and find better ways to deliver value for our clients.

*This job description is not designed to cover or encompass a comprehensive listing of required activities, duties, or responsibilities. Specific functions may change, or additional ones may be assigned during the course of employment.

Skills, Knowledge and Expertise

• 15+ years of relevant marketing and agency experience, including significant experience in influencer and creator marketing, with a proven track record of leading complex programs and developing high-performing teams.
• Deep expertise across paid and earned influencer marketing, including creator partnerships, ambassador programs, seeding, large-scale activations, and ongoing creator relationships.
• Experience leading high-profile, multi-faceted influencer programs for major brands, with the ability to translate business challenges into creative, strategic, and measurable solutions.
• Demonstrated success managing and mentoring teams, building capabilities, and establishing processes that enable a growing practice to scale effectively.
• Strong business acumen, including experience in client portfolio management, program budgeting, scoping, financial stewardship, and identifying opportunities for organic growth.
• Exceptional client leadership and presentation skills, with the confidence and credibility to advise senior-level marketing executives and navigate complex stakeholder relationships.
• Proven ability to develop compelling influence strategies and creative ideas, connecting cultural and audience insights to brand objectives and business outcomes.
• Deep understanding of the creator economy, including platform dynamics, talent relationships, industry trends, creator compensation, content usage rights, contracting, and FTC disclosure requirements.
• Strong knowledge of influencer marketing measurement, reporting, performance optimization, and the role of paid media in amplifying creator content.
• Advanced experience with CreatorIQ and influencer marketing platforms, ideally including Sprout Social Influencer Marketing (formerly Tagger), with familiarity across other relevant creator discovery, campaign management, and social intelligence technologies.
• Ability to confidently lead cross-functional teams and collaborate with internal disciplines and external agency partners to deliver integrated marketing solutions.
• Highly proactive, resourceful, and adaptable, with strong judgment and the ability to balance big-picture strategic thinking with hands-on problem-solving.
• Strong organizational, communication, and prioritization skills, with the ability to successfully lead multiple clients, programs, and team priorities in a fast-paced agency environment.
• A genuine passion for social media, creators, culture, and building meaningful connections between brands and people.

Benefits

• Health Insurance
• Dental Insurance
• Vision Insurance
• HSA + Company Contribution
• 401(k) + Company Match
• New MacBook Pro + AI Tools
• Cell Phone Stipend
• Summer Hours + Flexible Work Options
• Paid Employee Parking (MN)
• Dog-Friendly Office (MN)