Event & Community Manager

Job description

ABOUT US We're living through a fundamental shift in how people discover, evaluate, and purchase products. The next generation doesn't respond to traditional marketing -- they build relationships with brands through authentic social interactions, seek recommendations from communities they trust, and expect personalized experiences that feel human, not corporate. At Nectar Social, we're building the AI-native social operating system that enables this new era of commerce. We believe every social interaction should deepen the relationship between brands and their communities while creating genuine value for both sides. Founded by ex-Meta product and engineering leaders, we've raised over $30M in total capital from investors including GV and True Ventures. We work with brands like Oura Health, Caraway, e.l.f. Cosmetics, Kosas, OLIPOP, and many more. We're building the future of social commerce -- where community, conversation, and commerce converge. THE ROLE We're hiring our first Event & Community Manager. This is a founding role: you'll build our events and community function from the ground up, with no existing playbook to inherit and full ownership over how it takes shape. You'll design and run the experiences that bring our customers, prospects, and industry community together — from intimate dinners and executive roundtables to conference presence and always-on digital community — while helping define what "community" means for an early-stage, fast-moving marketing tech company. You'll report directly into the marketing leadership team and work closely with sales, customer success, and the founders to make sure every event and community touchpoint ladders up to pipeline, retention, and brand. WHAT YOU'LL DO Events - Own end-to-end planning and execution for Nectar's event calendar: customer dinners, executive roundtables, happy hours, webinars, and conference sponsorships/booths. - Manage budgets, vendors, venues, and logistics, and build repeatable processes so events scale smoothly as the company grows. - Partner with sales and customer success to build event strategies that generate pipeline and deepen relationships with existing customers. - Track and report on event ROI — attendance, pipeline influence, and customer sentiment — and use that data to sharpen the calendar over time. - Represent Nectar at industry conferences and manage on-site logistics, staffing, and sponsor deliverables. Community - Design and launch Nectar's first customer/industry community program (e.g., a Slack or Discord community, ambassador program, or customer council). - Create a content and engagement cadence that keeps the community active: AMAs, office hours, member spotlights, and peer-to-peer discussion. - Serve as the primary point of contact for community members, building authentic relationships with key customers and industry voices. - Identify and cultivate community advocates who can support case studies, referrals, and word-of-mouth growth. - Feed community insights and feedback back to product, marketing, and customer success teams. WHAT YOU'LL BRING - 3–6 years of experience in event marketing, community management, or a hybrid of both, ideally at a B2B SaaS or martech company. - A track record of planning and executing events end-to-end, from concept through post-event reporting. - Experience building or growing an online or in-person community from scratch. - Comfort operating with high autonomy in an early-stage environment where processes don't yet exist — you're excited to build them. - Strong project management skills and an ability to juggle multiple events and workstreams at once without dropping details. - Excellent written and verbal communication, with a genuine interest in connecting with people. - Willingness to travel for events and conferences (estimated 20–30%). NICE TO HAVE - Experience in the social media, marketing technology, or creator economy space. - Familiarity with community platforms (Slack, Discord, Circle) and event tooling (Luma, Bizzabo, HubSpot). - Prior experience as an early hire at a startup, building a function from zero to one. WHAT WE OFFER - Competitive compensation and early equity - Health, vision, and dental benefits + 401(k) match - Hybrid work schedule (4 days in office) with 3 flex remote days per quarter (available after 3 months) - Comprehensive stipends: $1,000/month housing stipend for living near the office, $50/month mobile stipend, $50/month internet stipend for remote employees, and commuter benefits (train stipend or Palo Alto parking permit reimbursement) - Free lunch in the heart of University Ave. in Palo Alto