Country Marketing & Communication Lead - Germany

Job description

## 🚀 Why this role matters ZOE is expanding into continental Europe, and Germany is our flagship market. We are the world’s leading gut health science company, best known for our science-backed app, the world’s #1 nutrition podcast, and breakthrough publications in *The Lancet* and *Nature*. We are the world’s leading gut health science company, best known for our science-backed app, the world’s #1 nutrition podcast, and breakthrough clinical research published in top journals like *The Lancet* and *Nature*. We already see strong organic brand search demand across Germany and we need a senior, hands-on operator on the ground to turn that momentum into a live, market-leading presence and sustainable revenue growth. This is a 0-to-1 build role, not a maintenance position, nor one about delegating to agencies from a distance. You will be ZOE’s senior marketing and communications lead in-market, standing up our commercial growth strategy, brand narrative, in-person partnerships, and Tier-1 media presence with clarity, structure, and local cultural precision. ## ## 🎯 About the role As our Country Marketing & Communication Lead – Germany, you will hold total ownership over our German market entry (roughly 75% focus) while collaborating on global brand and science moments (roughly 25% focus). - **Senior Hands-On IC:** This is a senior, independent individual contributor role with approximately 5 to 10 years of relevant experience. Seniority here reflects craft maturity, autonomy, and strategic judgment, rather than people management. You will be a hands-on operator who builds, executes, and owns workstreams end-to-end with no direct reports. - **Commercial & Comms Hybrid:** You lead local GTM growth, in-market partnerships, and PR strategy, acting as the primary lead on the ground who briefs and collaborates with central UK and US performance, creative, lifecycle, and finance teams. - **Reporting & Matrix Structure:** Reports directly to the **GM of International Growth**, with the **Head of Global Communications** as your key PR partner. You will operate independently in Germany while plugging directly into a supportive UK and US matrix engine across Science, Performance, Creative, and Lifecycle. ## 👥 The team You’ll be joining a supportive, senior global team spanning Growth, Performance, Lifecycle, PR, Corporate Communications, Brand, Science, and Product. While you will operate independently on the ground in Germany, you'll be backed by a world-class engine in the UK and US providing a constant pipeline of clinical research, spokesperson availability, and proven playbooks to adapt for your market. ## 🛠️ What you will do **1. Own the Germany Market Entry (~75% Focus)** **Commercial Growth & In-Market Partnerships:** - Act as the commercial strategist on the ground. Partner with Finance and brief central Lifecycle, Performance, and Product teams to test local growth levers, including pricing, email programmes, and local acquisition campaigns. - Build and execute local partnership and offline activation strategies by meeting partners, ambassadors, and key industry stakeholders face-to-face to drive brand awareness and revenue. - Take direct accountability for local commercial targets, measuring impact through structured data metrics (brand search volume, web traffic, user sign-ups, and conversion) rather than vanity metrics. **PR & Brand Localisation (Culture-Specific Narrative):** - Adapt ZOE’s science-led story for the German consumer mindset by focusing on scientific proof, clinical rigor, and functional benefits rather than hype or translated UK copy. - Stand up and run the German press office end-to-end: build media lists, write press pitches, cold-outreach journalists, secure Tier-1 coverage, and coordinate product sampling and media events. - Personally execute local PR and communications workstreams. Select, brief, and oversee external support (such as freelance designers or local event production agencies) only when needed for execution scale. **2. Global Integration & Cross-Market Support (~25% Focus)** - **Leverage Global Science Moments:** Adapt major company-wide science publications, global product launches, and brand campaigns for the German market. - **Cross-Market Playbooks:** Share local DACH market insights, commercial test results, and PR playbooks back and forth between Germany and the established UK/US teams. - **Executive & Spokesperson Support:** Draft high-impact briefing documents, opinion pieces, press releases, and Q&As in both German and English, supporting ZOE spokespeople for international engagements. ## 📋 Who you are - **Commercial Brand Experience:** 5 to 10 years of experience launching or scaling a consumer brand in Germany, ideally in health, wellness, nutrition, science, or consumer tech. You lead with structured business outcomes such as revenue, brand search, traffic, and sign-ups. - **True Hands-On Operator:** High autonomy, structured self-management, happy operating without a local team, and excited to personally build commercial partnerships, write pitches, and establish media presence from scratch. - **Tier-1 Media Network:** Active, direct relationships with German consumer, lifestyle, health, and national news journalists (such as *Der Spiegel*, *Süddeutsche Zeitung*, *FAZ*, *Handelsblatt*, and top podcasts), with a proven track record of landing major press coverage. - **Language Precision:** Native or certified C2 German (capable of localising complex scientific and health concepts into nuanced, high-trust German prose) AND fluent C1/C2 English, which is our primary internal working language. **The Nice-to-Haves** - Basic familiarity with German health marketing regulations (HWG / EU Health Claims) and consumer data privacy expectations (DSGVO). - Additional European languages (French, Spanish, Italian, or Nordic languages). - Previous experience navigating a matrix remote organisation across time zones (UK/US). ## 🎯 What Success Looks Like - **By Month 3:** A signed-off German market-entry plan, scoped commercial growth tests with Finance/Performance teams, an active network of Tier-1 German press contacts, and initial local partnership leads. - **By Month 6:** Live PR, growth, and partnership campaigns in Germany, early Tier-1 media placements, measurable brand search growth, and a draft playbook for further European expansion. - **By Month 12:** A self-sustaining, repeatable German growth and PR playbook driving revenue and brand authority, reviewed at C-suite level. ## 💼 What we offer - **Position Type:** Permanent, full-time employment contract via Employer of Record (Deel) under German labor law - **Base Salary:** €69,000 to €88,000 gross per year, benchmarked by experience. - **Equity:** Share option package so you become an owner in ZOE’s growth. - **Remote-First Flexibility:** Work from home anywhere in Germany, with structured quarterly team syncs in London. - **Benefits:** Full local benefits package [***here***](https://joinzoe.notion.site/ZOE-Benefits-Perks-Germany-EOR-3c2f5c8e54968070a57ad54531c4bf77) - **Budgets:** Allocated social, work-from-home setup, and Learning & Development budgets. ## **✨ Our Hiring Journey** We value your time. While the exact steps and timeline can vary slightly depending on the role, seniority, and team, we’ve designed a streamlined **4-step blueprint** to get us from *"Hello"* to *"Welcome to the team"* as efficiently as possible: 1. 👋 **Intro Chat with the Talent Team:** A high-energy alignment check to learn about you and share our vision. 2. 🧠 **Hiring Manager Interview:** A tactical conversation focused on your craft, experience, and aspirations. 3. 🔄 **The Remote Loop:** 2 to 4 focused interviews assessing your technical expertise, behavioural approach, and collaboration style. 4. 🎉 **Offer & Welcome:** Finalising the details and getting you ready to hit the ground running! Once we connect, we pride ourselves on moving fast. Our average hiring process takes between **20 to 30 days**, depending on the complexity of the role. We love momentum, but we’re always happy to adjust the timeline to match your schedule and personal preference. ### ___________________________________________________________________________ ## 🚀 **Ready to thrive? Apply Now** If you are genuinely excited about ZOE's mission and this opportunity, please don't hesitate to apply—even if you don't meet every single requirement listed. We fundamentally value potential and commitment above all else. *ZOE is an equal opportunity employer. If you require any reasonable accommodations during the interview process, just let us know—we are here to support you.* ___________________________________________________________________________ ## **Not the perfect match?** *Join* [*ZOE's Talent Community*](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/zoe/form/talent-community)*!*  If this role isn't the exact right fit, or the timing isn't right, don't let the journey end here. Drop your resume here. When a role opens up that matches your unique superpowers, you'll be the first person we reach out to. ## **📸 Stay Curious. Follow the Journey.** Want to see life behind the scenes, our latest health breakthroughs, and how we're changing the world through food? Follow us on our socials: [**LinkedIn**](http://linkedin.com/company/joinzoe/) | [**Instagram**](https://www.instagram.com/zoe/) | [**TikTok**](https://www.tiktok.com/@join_zoe) | [**YouTube**](https://www.youtube.com/@joinZOE) | [**Facebook**](https://www.facebook.com/joinzoe1/)