Head of Brand

Job description

Apify is the largest marketplace of tools for AI. 25,000 Actors helping people and agents get real-time web data, track competitors, generate leads, or integrate their apps. Actors are built by a global creator community that now earns more than $1M every month. Join us to help people put the web to work. Apify can find missing children https://blog.apify.com/fighting-child-traffickers-with-technology/, protect consumers from fake discounts across the EU https://blog.apify.com/how-web-scraping-ai-and-the-eu-have-come-together-to-sweep-away-fake-discounts-in-europe/, and feed data to AI chatbots https://blog.apify.com/intercom-customer-support-ai-chatbot-web-scraping/. We’re looking for a Head of Brand to define and amplify Apify's voice in the global market and make Apify a distinctive brand. We need someone who can craft a compelling brand narrative that resonates with developers, enterprise leaders, and the broader AI ecosystem. You will be the architect of how the world perceives Apify. You will drive our presence at global events, shape our social media voice, and launch campaigns that make Apify synonymous with the future of web data. WHAT YOU'LL DO: - Define and orchestrate the long-term brand vision to transform Apify into a global “distinctive brand” that people are proud to use. You will bridge the gap between our roots in web scraping and our future in AI to create a narrative that is both logical and emotionally compelling. - Make Actors the industry-standard synonym for web automation tools, AI agents, and web scrapers. Your goal is to make the term "Actor" as ubiquitous in our space as "container" is in DevOps. - Build and lead the brand team, shifting our approach from ad-hoc activities to a cohesive, high-impact strategy that amplifies our reach. - Move beyond standard marketing to conceptualize and drive the creation of new categories for Apify, executing bold campaigns that drive awareness and sentiment, such as viral community challenges, major partnership announcements, out-of-home advertisements, and digital PR pieces. - Act as a strategic partner to the senior team, defining the thought leadership narrative and identifying high-leverage speaking opportunities (podcasts, panels, press) that establish Apify as the category leader. - Work hand-in-hand with the marketing leadership to ensure that our brand awareness campaigns and performance acquisition efforts are perfectly synchronized. You will align on messaging and timing so that "Brand" creates the demand that "Performance" captures while “Content” makes sure the messaging is consistent across all touch points. - Collaborate closely with the PeopleOps team to shape our employer branding, ensuring Apify is recognized as a top-tier destination for world-class engineering and GTM talent. - Use data to prove the value of the brand. You understand that brand isn't just "fluff" and you will build the framework to measure success through share of voice, sentiment analysis, direct traffic lift, and organic search volume. WHO WE’RE LOOKING FOR: - You have 5+ years of experience in brand marketing, ideally at a technology company with a strong focus on software developers and B2B SaaS/PaaS. Experience with the US market is a must, as you understand the cultural nuances required to win there. - You have a proven track record of building and managing high-performing teams; you know how to hire, mentor, and lead a team of event managers, social media pros, and creatives. - You understand the mechanics of building a distinctive brand. You know that strong brands are built on emotion, not just logic, and you have experience turning standard users into passionate fans and advocates. - You have successfully repositioned a company or defined a new market space in the past. You know how to take a product known for "X" and shift the narrative so the market sees it as "Y" (e.g. from a niche tool to a critical platform). You don't just compete on features. You change the story of why the product exists. - You are a master storyteller who can take complex technical capabilities (such as an MCP server, headless browsers, or AI agents) and distill them into a clear, exciting vision that works for both engineers and C-level executives. - You have strong creative and visual fluency, capable of setting the standard for our visual identity and briefing designers/video teams (both internal and external) to produce work that stands out in a crowded feed. - You value authenticity over corporate speak; you understand that to win the trust of developers, we must remain transparent, genuine, and avoid empty buzzwords. - You thrive in cross-functional environments and can build trust with the Content team, Design team, DevRel, leadership team, and others to ensure the brand promise matches the product reality. - You have excellent written and verbal communication skills in English and experience working directly with a variety of people, including product managers, engineers, designers, and senior leadership. WHAT WE EXPECT FROM YOU IN THE FIRST 6 MONTHS: You will join as a key member of the Marketing leadership team. Your initial focus will be to audit our current position and quickly establish a compelling narrative while taking over management of the existing brand functions. You must balance high-level strategy with the "hands-on" reality of a scale-up. This role requires regular communication with multiple stakeholders across Apify. You'll work closely with many teams, including the company’s senior leadership, while also being part of the Marketing team. You should spend most of your onboarding in the Prague office to meet everyone and build relationships. BY THE END OF THE FIRST MONTH, WE EXPECT YOU TO: 1. Complete the general onboarding plan. 2. Audit our entire brand footprint by reviewing our website, ads, social channels, events, sales collateral, and existing brand resources, and present your findings to the leadership together with recommendations. 3. Build an advanced automation workflow using Apify that will help you monitor our brand, proving you understand the core product value. 4. Meet individually with all key stakeholders to understand the soul of the company and our history, as well as our current gaps. 5. Review Apify’s current customer journey and have at least 15 calls with existing high-value customers and leading community creators to learn how they perceive Apify. 6. Take over management of the Social Media team, establishing a rhythm for feedback and planning. 7. You know where to find and interpret data on retention, number of users, and revenue, so you can answer questions like the following: Which customer segment is the most important? Which is the most influential? Which one is the fastest-growing? BY THE END OF THE FIRST 3 MONTHS, WE EXPECT YOU TO: 1. Develop a deep understanding of Apify's existing products, including our API, webhooks, and key partner integrations. 2. Deliver and roll out the new "Apify strategic narrative," giving the entire company (from Sales to Engineering) a unified way to talk about who we are and where we are going in the AI era. 3. Assume strategic oversight of the social media and events functions, setting clear KPIs for the team (e.g. engagement rates, event leads) and proposing a roadmap for the rest of the year. 4. Execute your first brand campaign or experiment designed purely for awareness, demonstrating to the company what a brand-led initiative looks like under your leadership, and measure its impact. BY THE END OF THE FIRST 6 MONTHS, WE EXPECT YOU TO: 1. Demonstrate a measurable shift in market perception, evidenced by an increase in share of voice against competitors and qualitative feedback from partners/customers. 2. Successfully execute a flagship brand activation (e.g. a major owned event, a viral video series, or a community contest) that sets a new bar for our marketing standards. 3. Drive top-tier visibility for the Apify leadership, by establishing a PR strategy (or onboarding a PR partner) that results in at least 3 notable US-based media placements or podcast appearances for the founders. 4. Take full ownership of the Brand's budget, optimizing spend to ensure we are investing in high-impact activities rather than just "noise.” WHY SHOULD YOU WORK FOR APIFY? - Full-time position in our amazing offices in Prague (100Yards) or Brno (Titanium) 🏰 - Hybrid work model. 🏢🏠 - Flexible working hours (perfect for both night owls 🦉 and early birds 🐥) - Nobody counts holidays as long as the work gets done 💪 - Unlimited Claude for every Apifier. We don't count tokens. Just use them well 🤖 - Stock options and profit sharing 💰 - We welcome pets, kids, and bikes at the office 🐕👨‍👧🚲 - Epic team buildings and offsites 🚢 with biking, canoeing, and other adventures 🪂 - Generous hardware budget to give you the tools you need 💻 - Free entry to the wonderful Prague Zoo for you and your guests 🐘 - Ping-pong, chess, PS5, lightsabers, foosball league after lunch, free Multisport card🏓 - Completely free lunches every day, either in a restaurant or delivery 🌮🍱🍜🍕🥡 - Unlimited supply of ☕ and great 🍺 and snacks - Solid education and training budget, conference tickets, internal “Eat & Learn" sessions, and the opportunity to work across teams 👩🏼‍💻👨🏽‍💻 For more details about Apify and what it is like to work with us, see our Careers page. https://www.startupjobs.cz/startup/apify