Marketing Lead

We’re looking for a Head of Marketing who will personally build Black Ore’s marketing function from zero. For the first 12–18 months, this is primarily an individual contributor role with leadership scope — you’ll write the copy, run the launches, pitch the journalists, staff the booth, and own the outcomes yourself. You’ll build a team after you’ve proven the motion firsthand. If your first instinct in a new role is to hire three people and retain two agencies, this is not the right fit.

This is a category-defining moment for AI in tax and financial services. You’ll partner closely with our CEO, CTO, Head of Sales, Head of Product, and Head of Operations to define positioning, develop go-to-market strategies, and execute high-impact campaigns that drive awareness, pipeline, and revenue growth. You’ll translate complex product capabilities into clear, compelling narratives that resonate with CPAs, tax partners, and accounting firm leadership — a buyer that’s conservative, regulated, and allergic to AI hype.

What You Will Do

Brand & Strategy

• Define and own Black Ore’s positioning and messaging across all markets
• Develop go-to-market strategies for new products, services, and market entries
• Lead marketing strategy and planning, including objectives, channel mix, and quarterly/annual plans
• Build and evolve brand strategy, identity, and voice in partnership with our CEO
• Establish and enforce brand guidelines across all touchpoints

Content & Creative

• Develop and own content strategy, including themes, formats, cadence, and distribution
• Write the copy yourself — web, ads, email, social, long-form — in the early days
• Craft storytelling & brand narratives that emotionally connect with accounting firm buyers
• Lead creative development including design assets, campaigns, and brand collateral, managing contractors and freelancers as needed

Product Marketing

• Define product positioning and messaging for CPA firms, enterprise accounting buyers, and adjacent segments
• Translate complex AI and tax workflows into clear, differentiated value propositions
• Lead launch planning and execution, coordinating cross-functional stakeholders across Product, Sales, and Operations

PR & Communications

• Build and manage relationships with accounting trade media (Accounting Today, CPA Practice Advisor, Journal of Accountancy) and mainstream business press
• Drive earned media coverage and brand visibility, pitching and placing stories yourself
• Establish thought leadership strategy for exec team and subject matter experts across the team

Events & Experiential

• Plan and execute conferences, summits, and field marketing initiatives
• Manage trade shows, sponsorships, and speaking opportunities, including booth setup, lead capture, and follow-up
• Develop experiential campaigns that create memorable brand interactions with CPAs and firm leadership

Partnerships & Co-Marketing

• Partner with Head of Operations and Head of Sales to develop joint campaigns and co-marketing content with strategic partners
• Support Sales, BD, and channel partners with materials, programs, and activation
• Build marketing programs that extend reach through the accounting ecosystem

Vendor & Agency Management

• Select, onboard, and manage external agencies, freelancers, and technology vendors with a sharp eye on ROI
• Own advertising partnerships and media planning across trade publications, reconciling insertion orders and negotiating placements

Who You Are

You’re a hands-on, no-nonsense, execution-obsessed marketer who gets energy from building things yourself. You thrive in ambiguity, work fast, and have zero tolerance for busywork or performative process. You’ve been the first marketer (or early marketer) at a high-growth B2B company and you know what it takes to make the function real before building out a team.

You’re comfortable:

• Building marketing functions from the ground up — you’ve done this before, or you’re demonstrably ready to
• Operating as an IC before you have a team, and resisting the urge to hire before the work is proven
• Writing your own copy, running your own events, and pitching your own journalists
• Breaking down complex, technical products into clear, compelling messaging for a non-technical buyer
• Operating in ambiguity and creating structure where none exists
• Collaborating directly with founders and senior cross-functional leaders
• Using data to inform decisions and continuously optimize performance
• The unglamorous parts of the job — the press release that needs to go out Friday night, the booth that needs to be built at 6am, the ad reconciliation nobody wants to do

Required

• 6–10 years of marketing experience, including time as the first or early marketer at a high-growth startup
• Willingness and demonstrated ability to operate as a hands-on IC for the first 6-12 months before building a team
• Proven track record of driving pipeline growth and brand development in B2B
• Strong hands-on experience across multiple marketing disciplines — product marketing, content, PR, events, and demand generation
• Excellent written communication — you can produce publish-ready copy without help
• Strong analytical thinking and a bias toward measurable outcomes
• Ability to work independently, manage priorities, and drive work to completion without hand-holding

Preferred

• Experience marketing to accounting, tax, legal, or other regulated professional services buyers
• Experience marketing AI/ML, fintech, or technical products to non-technical audiences
• Experience at a Series A–B SaaS or fintech company going through a category-defining moment
• Familiarity with modern marketing tools, automation platforms, and analytics systems
• Existing relationships with accounting trade media or the broader CPA ecosystem