Head of Brand & Retail Marketing

Location: Onsite - Santa Ana, CA
Type: Full-Time
Salary: $180,000 - $220,000 depending on experience

About Us

BugMD makes plant-powered pest control that actually works. Our line of sprays, controls, and devices helps people deal with pest problems quickly and with confidence, and it’s sold on Amazon, direct-to-consumer, and at major national retailers including Walmart and Home Depot.

We’re not a startup hoping something works. We’ve taken pest control from an idea to a category leader on Amazon and onto retail shelves nationwide, and built a brand that consumers love. We move with the speed of a startup: small teams with real ownership and accountability.

This is the place where you’ll see the entire machine: sourcing, product development, formulation, packaging, manufacturing, compliance, marketing, marketplace strategy, retail, all in one team. If you want to build and ship consumer products at scale, there is no better place than this.

The Role

We're looking for the first true brand leader at BugMD — a pest control brand with real household demand, a product people swear by, and a category nobody has ever bothered to make interesting. There's no brand playbook to inherit. You write it.

BugMD makes plant-powered pest control that actually works — kills on contact, no harsh chemical smell, and formulated for use around the whole household. We're in Walmart, Home Depot, and on Amazon, and growing fast. We have a product that converts and a performance marketing engine that works. What we don't have yet is a brand that lives in culture — and that's what this role is for.

You'll partner directly with the General Manager and sit alongside the Head of Performance Marketing as peers. Performance scales what you build. You build what's worth scaling.

This role oversees Brand Strategy, Creative Direction, Organic Social, Content, Influencer Marketing, PR & Communications, and Cultural Activations. You're responsible for every consumer touchpoint that isn't a paid ad — and you'll have a strong voice in shaping the ones that are.

What You'll Do

• Define and document BugMD's voice, visual identity, and strategic positioning — building the brand bible from scratch
• Own organic social (Instagram, TikTok) — setting the content strategy, managing execution, and building a community that engages because the content is genuinely good
• Lead influencer and creator partnerships — home hacks, cleaning, DIY, gardening, pet and parent creators — managing relationships and ensuring content feels on-brand
• Drive PR and earned media — securing meaningful placements in home, lifestyle, DIY, and culture publications that build the brand story beyond product features
• Plan and execute cultural activations and real-world moments that put the brand in front of homeowners and renters when they actually need us
• Ensure visual and tonal consistency across every touchpoint — from social content to retail shelf to performance creative
• Manage agencies, creators, and production partners — knowing when to push and when to let them run
• Partner with the performance marketing team so brand and paid creative feel like the same company

Requirements

• 6–10 years in brand marketing, creative strategy, or brand management — ideally in food/bev, better-for-you CPG, or DTC with real cultural cachet
• You've managed or significantly contributed to a brand's voice and visual identity — not just executed other people's directions
• You understand culture as a participant, not a spectator — you know what's happening before it trends
• Experience managing agencies, creators, and production partners
• Comfortable in a lean, fast-moving environment where you don't need a large team to do great work
• Strong opinions about brand — you'll push back on what's wrong and advocate hard for what's right
• Excited to build from scratch rather than inherit a finished playbook

This Is Not You If...

• You built your career inside Big CPG and think in quarterly brand plans and legal-review timelines
• Your instinct when asked about TikTok is to hire an agency and monitor the reports
• You've never personally drafted a caption, written a creative brief, or argued for a logo treatment
• You're looking for a role where brand and performance operate in completely separate lanes

Compensation

• Equity: Profit interest units with meaningful upside participation as we grow
• Annual performance bonus tied to brand and business milestones

Benefits

• On-site role with travel budget for activations, market visits, and events
• Health, dental, and vision
• Amazing, dog-friendly office environment
• 401k matching
• Learning & Development Opportunities
• Flexible PTO
• 14 Holidays

Why BugMD

• We operate with speed, ownership, and accountability
• Ideas move quickly from concept to execution
• Every team member has direct impact on company growth
• We value operators who think strategically and execute decisively

Equal Employment Opportunity

BugMD is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace where all team members feel valued and respected. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability, medical condition, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local laws.

We believe diversity drives innovation and strengthens our ability to serve our customers. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment based on merit, qualifications, and business needs.