Title: Digital Marketing and Growth Director
Reports to: Executive Director
Location: Chicago or Los Angeles Metro Areas (Hybrid). Remote work from home or co-working with weekly in-person events and meetings. Occasional (approx. 4-6x/year) national travel.
Posted: March 5, 2026
Salary Range: $70,000 - $90,000
IMPORTANT: How to Apply - No Exceptions
You must apply following these specific directions. Please read them carefully. Candidates who only apply on LinkedIn will not be considered. Please send the following in PDF format to careers@picklesgroup.org, with a subject line that reads (exactly as written): Digital Marketing & Growth Director – Application. We request your resume and a cover letter answering the following questions (in no more than one page, 11 point font):
1 - What excites you about this role and Pickles Group’s mission? If you have a personal connection to the work that you’re comfortable sharing, we’d love to hear more.
2 - Tell us about a specific digital marketing campaign you personally built and executed that drove measurable growth that you’re especially proud of. What was the goal, what did you do, and what were the results?
3 - This role requires you to be the entire marketing department. Describe a time you independently owned a function or project end-to-end without a team or agency support. How did you prioritize, and what did you learn, and how would that inform the way you approach this role?
Who We Are
Pickles Group is a rapidly growing national 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides free peer-to-peer support and resources to kids and teens who are impacted by a parent or caregiver’s cancer. We’ve doubled our impact every year since we launched, supporting 4,916 families and distributing 66,250 Family Cancer Support Kits across all 50 states and 13 countries to date.
Our team is caring, collaborative, and focused on making a big impact. We support each other and believe that the culture we’re building within our organization is as important as the work we do. We believe that every family navigating a parent or caregiver’s cancer deserves access to support and resources that help them heal and thrive. You can learn more about what that commitment means here.
In 2026, we are deepening our national reach with a goal of enrolling 1,500 children in our programs and significantly increasing Family Cancer Support Kit distribution, approximately double our enrollment and reach from 2025. We’re hiring our first-ever Director of Digital Marketing & Growth to drive our impact and reach for families.
Role Overview
At Pickles Group, ‘Director’ reflects ownership of a function in a young, growing organization. This role is both strategic and deeply executional. You will personally design, build, launch, analyze, and optimize our digital marketing engine.
This role prioritizes enrollment growth through performance marketing and conversion optimization. Brand storytelling and fundraising communications support that primary objective.
This is an individual contributor role with no direct reports. You will execute campaigns yourself across social media, paid acquisition, website optimization, email marketing, and analytics. You will be directly accountable for measurable enrollment growth.
This role manages a dedicated paid acquisition budget (approximately $50,000 annually) to support enrollment and support kit growth, with autonomy to test, optimize, and allocate spend based on performance and outcomes.
Primary Outcomes
• Drive enrollment of 1,500 children into Pickles Group programs
• Double Family Cancer Support Kit requests (from approximately 30,000 annually to 60,000)
• Increase qualified website traffic by 50%
• Increase conversion rate from site visit to Support Kit request by 15%
• Launch and optimize the Google Nonprofit Ad Grant
• Build and maintain a weekly KPI dashboard tracking traffic, conversion rates, and cost per enrollment from the ground up
• Present monthly digital marketing performance and growth insights to the Executive Director
What You'll Do
1- Paid Acquisition and Social Recruitment
Develop and execute organic and paid strategies across Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and search (Google, Bing). Build campaigns that convert families into program enrollments. Create, test, iterate, and optimize creative, audiences, messaging, and retargeting funnels. Manage and allocate paid budget based on performance metrics including cost per enrollment and return on investment.
2 - Digital Storytelling and Content Execution
Write and produce emotionally intelligent, ethically responsible content across website, social media (Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube), and email channels. Translate clinical expertise, family experiences, and proprietary data into stories that motivate action while honoring families’ experiences with sensitivity and respect. Create social media calendars, copy, and promotional content for events, including webinars and community programming. Create short-form, video-forward content (including Reels) and design graphics using Canva or similar tools.
3 - Website, SEO & Conversion Optimization
Lead website revamp, landing page creation, SEO optimization, and user experience improvements. Continuously analyze funnel performance and independently implement improvements.
4- Google Ad Grant & Search Strategy
Launch and optimize high-intent search campaigns through the Google Nonprofit Ad Grant. Monitor keyword performance, quality scores, and conversion tracking.
5 - Email and Fundraising Communications
Execute email newsletters, program recruitment, and fundraising campaigns through Mailchimp. Support Annual Report production and ensure fundraising communications align with overall growth strategy.
How You'll Do It
Be a team player: We are a small team that is continually growing and evolving. We have an all-hands-on-deck approach in a remote working environment (working both from home and in the field) using Google Workplace and Zoom. To succeed in this role, you must be responsive to emails, texts, and calls. You will need to work occasional evenings and weekends, the times that often work best for our families and supporters for events and programs, with opportunities to take other weekdays off.
This Role is Not
• A strategy-only position
• A PR-heavy communications role
• A role supported by a marketing team or external agencies
Who You Are
• A high-agency operator who takes ownership and moves quickly and decisively while remaining thoughtful, sensitive, and detail-oriented
• Comfortable executing strategy independently without a team
• Fluent in paid social, analytics, and conversion optimization
• A strong digital storyteller with emotional intelligence
• A creator and visual designer comfortable producing branded content independently
• Comfortable being accountable for numeric growth targets
• Organized, disciplined, and self-directed
• Mission-aligned and sensitive to the needs of medically and emotionally vulnerable families
Required Experience
• 5–8 years of hands-on digital marketing or growth experience
• Direct experience running paid social and/or search campaigns
• Direct experience with MailChimp or other email newsletter software
• Experience managing and optimizing advertising budgets
• Strong working knowledge of SEO and website optimization
• Experience using analytics platforms (GA4, Search Console, Meta Ads Manager)
• Proven track record of driving measurable audience growth or conversions
• Comfort and confidence creating reels and video-forward content and using Canva or other design tools for graphic design
What Would Be Great to Bring
• Familiarity with tools like Monday.com, Airtable, Asana, or Salesforce
• Comfort working remotely or in hybrid environments
• A healthy sense of humor
• Experience working with diverse communities
• A personal connection to our mission
• Familiarity with AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or AI-powered features within platforms like Canva or Mailchimp) and a willingness to experiment with AI to accelerate content creation, research, and campaign optimization
Salary and Benefits
The starting annual salary range offered for this role is $70,000 - $90,000: your salary will be commensurate with your experience and competitive for the role. As a full-time staff member, you’ll receive a generous annual healthcare and retirement savings stipend, three weeks of paid time off, three months of paid family leave, and a home/co-working office stipend. The location for this position is the Greater Chicago, IL or Los Angeles, CA metro area.
Pickles Group is an equal opportunity employer. We value a diverse and inclusive workforce. We encourage applications from all qualified individuals across race, ethnicity, color, spirituality, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, national origin, marital status, citizenship, ability, veteran status, health, socioeconomic status, healthcare access, and other personal identities.
