Head of Community Programs

Sandboxx is the leading platform dedicated to finding and building technology solutions throughout a service member's military life cycle. We're looking for people with drive and initiative who are excited about making great technology and a positive attitude for our service members.  Come help us build meaningful solutions for the military community!

About Sandboxx:

Sandboxx is the industry-leading platform connecting military recruits with their support system through physical mail, in-app messaging, and a rapidly growing online community. Every week, tens of thousands of recruits send letters that forge unbreakable bonds with family and friends—and drive thousands of new users into our ecosystem.

About the Role:

Community is at the heart of everything we do at Sandboxx. We’ve built a passionate base of nearly 100,000 supporters—families, friends, veterans—who come together to celebrate recruits, swap stories, and find resources. Now it’s time to turn that energy into a thriving, self-sustaining ecosystem—and we need someone who’s been there before.

As our Head of Community Programs, you’ll own the end-to-end strategy for growth, engagement, and monetization. You’ve proven you can launch paid tiers, build ambassador networks, and integrate partner offerings at scale. You’ll design the roadmap for content, events, and premium experiences that keep members coming back week after week—and build a sustainable business in the process.

This is a hands-on leadership role. You’ll create playbooks for virtual meetups, quarterly challenges, and tiered membership offerings; set the metrics for success; and build the processes and tooling to make it all repeatable across tens of thousands of members. You’ll partner closely with Product, Marketing, Engineering and the Executive team to ensure community feedback shapes our roadmap—and that our programs deliver real value to both members and the business.

Why We’re Hiring For This Role Now:

This is a pivotal moment. Our community already outperforms on retention and spend, but turning that into a reliable, revenue-driving machine demands deep, hands-on expertise.

• We need a leader who treats community as a P&L responsibility—defining clear business goals, measuring ROI, and iterating programs to hit both engagement and revenue targets
• We’ve seen community members deliver significantly higher lifetime value than non-members, but our current efforts are ad hoc and inconsistent
• Our passionate supporter base needs structure—regular content, events, challenges, and tiers—to keep engagement high and advocacy growing
• Monetization isn’t just about paid tiers; sponsorships, branded merch, in-community activations, and strategic upsells represent untapped revenue streams
• Integrating complex partnership offerings requires someone who can weave them seamlessly into the member journey
• We need a repeatable, scalable engine—clear playbooks, tooling, and metrics ownership—so our community becomes a self-sustaining growth driver rather than a nice-to-have

What You’ll Be Responsible For:

• Launching and optimizing monetization programs—paid tiers, sponsorships, etc. and iterating on pricing, benefits, and go-to-market plans to meet revenue targets
• Designing and executing a 12-month community strategy covering content themes, virtual events, member challenges, ambassador cohorts, and premium offerings
• Defining and tracking core metrics—DAU/MAU, engagement rate, NPS, LTV—and reporting progress to leadership with clear business insights
• Building and managing a team of community managers, moderators, and contributors who bring your vision to life
• Developing onboarding flows and in-community prompts that guide new members toward “aha” moments within their first week
• Partnering with Marketing on cross-channel campaigns to drive sign-ups and reactivation, and with Product to surface member feedback into feature planning
• Creating toolkits and training for ambassadors and volunteer leaders to host meetups, run challenges, and grow local chapters
• Expanding our programs far beyond initial recruit cohorts—engaging veterans, new military spouses and families to build lifelong relationships

What We’re Looking For:

• A seasoned community operator who has grown an online membership from early traction to tens of thousands of active users
• Proven track record monetizing communities through paid tiers, sponsorships and strategic upsells
• Deep experience architecting end-to-end programs—content calendars, event series, ambassador networks, partner integrations, and long-term initiatives
• Data-driven mindset with expertise defining KPIs, building dashboards, and iterating programs based on real engagement, NPS, and revenue metrics
• Hands-on with mature community platforms (Circle.so, Discourse, Slack, Discord) and comfortable surfacing insights into business decisions
• Excellent communicator and mentor who can rally teams, train volunteers, and guide junior team members without hand-holding

What Success Looks Like:

Within the first month, you’ll:

• Deliver a “state of community” report that audits channels, content, and events and highlights three quick wins
• Launch one recurring touchpoint (weekly Q&A, themed discussion, or mini-challenge) that drives a 20% lift in active participation
• Propose five high-level monetization concepts (e.g. sponsored webinars, micro-donations, merch drops, premium badges, partner activations) and map each to estimated revenue and resources
• Establish baseline metrics—DAU/MAU, engagement rate, NPS—and set up a live dashboard for ongoing tracking
• Recruit initial ambassador cohort framework: outline roles, incentives, and onboarding materials

Within the first 3 months, you’ll:

• Introduce and pilot a premium tier or add-on offering, hitting at least 5% conversion of active members
• Roll out a structured content calendar and event cadence that maintains at least 10% cohort attendance
• Establish the first ambassador cohort—recruit, train, and empower 10 members to host local or virtual meetups
• Embed community feedback loops into product and marketing—deliver a “Voice of the Member” report synthesizing top insights

Within the first 6 months, you’ll:

• Introduce and iterate a premium or paid offering (tiered membership, paid micro-course, partner bundle), achieving ≥7% conversion of engaged members
• Grow DAU/MAU by 30% through targeted re-engagement campaigns and ambassador-led initiatives
• Develop a self-serve toolkit for ambassadors: event playbook, content templates, and reporting dashboard, driving 50% adoption among cohort
• Partner with Marketing to integrate community-sourced content into two major cross-channel campaigns

After 12 months, you’ll:

• Build a self-sustaining community engine where 75% of events and content are created or led by ambassadors and members
• Drive community-attributed revenue to contribute at least 5% of Sandboxx’s total revenue
• Raise community NPS to ≥60 and maintain a DAU/MAU ratio of ≥25%
• Scale beyond Basic Training cohorts—engaging military spouses, veterans, families, and new service segments with dedicated sub-communities or programs
• Embed community feedback loops into Product and Marketing roadmaps via a quarterly “Voice of the Member” report

What You’re Like:

• You lead with kindness and empathy, building trust and genuine connection in every interaction
• You’ve built and scaled vibrant online communities from scratch, growing active membership into the tens (or hundreds) of thousands
• You think of community as a P&L channel, setting clear goals, measuring ROI, and iterating until you hit both engagement and business targets
• You know how to turn passion into programs—launching paid tiers and sponsor activations that delight members and drive real revenue
• You thrive in ambiguity, writing clear processes and playbooks so your team can execute without needing constant direction
• You’re a natural connector who can rally cross-functional teams, train volunteer leaders, and mentor your direct reports without hand-holding
• You obsess over data—defining the right KPIs, building accessible dashboards, and using insights to guide every decision
• You’ve navigated complex partner integrations before and know how to weave external benefits seamlessly into the member experience
• You bring a genuine passion for mission-driven work and feel energized by serving military families and supporters

Ideally, you:

• Have built and scaled a subscription or membership program that reached 100K+ members with strong retention and revenue metrics
• Know how to integrate partner benefits and third-party platforms into a seamless member experience that drives value for both sides
• Bring expertise in executing hybrid events—virtual and in-person—and the ability to capture and repurpose content effectively
• Are comfortable with basic design or video tools for quick promo assets, highlight reels, and event recaps
• Have an existing network of potential ambassadors, speakers, or sponsors in the military, nonprofit, or enthusiast space

Preferred Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, Communications, or a related field (MBA or advanced degree a plus)
• 8+ years in community or program management roles, with a focus on revenue‑driving initiatives
• Demonstrated success with subscription or membership businesses, including pricing strategy and renewal optimization
• Hands‑on experience with community platforms (Circle, Discord) and support tools (Zendesk, Intercom)
• Strong analytical skills: experience building dashboards, conducting cohort analyses, and using data to inform strategy
• Track record running virtual and in‑person events and ambassador programs at scale

Bonus Points For:

• Prior work with military, veteran, or family‑support organizations
• Experience negotiating and managing multi‑year sponsorship or partnership deals
• Familiarity with financial modeling and P&L management for community products
• Public‑speaking experience at conferences or large‑scale community events
• Certification or training in community management or customer‑experience frameworks
• Startup or high‑growth environment exposure
• Experience coaching for performance and accountability

Compensation, Benefits & Perks:

• Equity incentive plan
• 401k with matching and sharing
• Top-tier health insurance and family benefits
• Flexible paid vacation
• Paid parental leave

We look for people with a good sense of humor and zest for life, especially during interviews.

Sandboxx is an equal opportunity employer - if you are a continuous learner who enjoys startups in either tech or military, you'll thrive at Sandboxx.  We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive workforce and take affirmative action to not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, veteran or military status, or any other legally protected characteristics.  This policy applies to all employment practices within our organization, including but not limited to recruiting, hiring, promotion, termination, compensation, benefits, and training.  Sandboxx is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for candidates with disabilities who need assistance during the hiring process. 

To all recruitment agencies: Sandboxx does not accept agency resumes.  Please do not forward resumes to our jobs alias, Sandboxx employees, or any other organization location.  Sandboxx is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes.