Pro Influencer Manager (Hybrid)

About the Role

As Pro Influencer Manager, you own paid influencer partnerships end-to-end across four distinct tiers—Global Ambassadors, Brand Ambassadors, Academy-certified Master Stylists, and Stylist Insiders—and build the operating model that underpins them. This includes defining how talent is sourced and tiered, structuring and pricing deals, tracking deliverables, and measuring performance against KPIs that stand up to financial scrutiny. You’ll establish the program, processes, and reporting framework that will eventually scale with a dedicated team, requiring equal comfort negotiating retainers with celebrity stylists’ managers and proving their ROI through data.

The four tiers each serve a unique purpose, operate under different economic models, and demand distinct success metrics. Your role is to determine which tier aligns with each objective, ensuring discipline in avoiding top-tier costs for bottom-tier outcomes. You’ll define and maintain the program’s structure, including entry criteria, compensation bands, deliverable standards, renewal/exit decisions, and the path for advancing Stylist Insiders up the pyramid.

Responsibilities

• Paid partnership strategy: Own the full paid influencer strategy and annual roadmap across all four tiers, aligned with launch calendars, education enrollment goals, and pro-account acquisition targets.
• Budget ownership: Manage the pro influencer budget, including allocation across tiers, forecasting, reconciliation, and advocating for optimal spend.
• Contracting and negotiation: Source, negotiate, and execute paid agreements (retainers, per-post fees, usage/whitelisting rights, exclusivity, and performance-based structures). Partner with Legal and Finance on terms and hold talent accountable to deliverables.
• Talent sourcing and vetting: Build a disciplined pipeline, evaluating candidates on audience quality, professional credibility, content standards, and brand fit—not just follower count. Audit for authenticity before committing funds.
• Ambassador relationship management: Serve as the primary point of contact for Global and Brand Ambassadors. Manage briefs, approvals, expectations, renewals, and foster partnerships that feel collaborative, not transactional.
• Measurement framework: Define KPIs for the program, establishing what success looks like for each tier and how impact ties back to revenue and pro-account growth. Set baselines where none exist.
• Reporting cadence: Deliver monthly and quarterly performance reports at partnership, tier, and program levels, with actionable recommendations for leadership.
• Tooling and infrastructure: Select and implement platforms for discovery, tracking, affiliate links, and reporting. Ensure data hygiene to maintain trust in the numbers.
• Content amplification: Collaborate with Pro Social and Paid Media to extend high-performing partner content through whitelisting and paid amplification, securing necessary usage rights.
• Seeding and gifting programs: Design the Stylist Insider seeding model to ensure product distribution drives measurable content and conversion.
• Cross-functional integration: Align the influencer program with Education, Pro Sales, Creative, and E-Commerce to support class enrollment, distributor relationships, and pro-account revenue.
• Design the future team: Document processes, define roles, and build the business case for scaling the function with dedicated headcount.

Qualifications

• 5–7 years in influencer marketing, creator partnerships, or talent management, with direct ownership of a paid influencer budget.
• Experience at a modern beauty brand (hair, color, tools, skin, or cosmetics) with exposure to a professional or salon-channel audience. Strong agency experience on beauty accounts also qualifies.
• Demonstrated fluency in the professional beauty community, including stylist relationships, education programs, trade shows, or licensed-pro audiences.
• Track record negotiating and managing paid creator agreements, including retainers and usage/whitelisting rights.
• Proven experience building or substantially rebuilding a measurement framework, with clear examples of KPIs defined and decisions influenced.
• Working knowledge of influencer management and affiliate platforms, plus proficiency in spreadsheets and dashboards to conduct independent analysis.
• Experience managing multi-tier ambassador, affiliate, or advocacy programs at scale.
• Excellent written communication skills for briefs, contracts, and reporting.
• Willingness to travel for shoots, classes, and industry events (~15–20%).

Preferred Qualifications

• Active cosmetology license or hands-on experience behind the chair.
• Experience with hair extensions, including wearing, installing, or selling them.
• Prior experience standing up an influencer function from scratch.
• Paid social and creator-whitelisting experience.
• Experience with international or multi-market ambassador rosters.
• Bilingual (Spanish) a plus, given the pro-community.

Skills

• Data-driven: Instinctively prioritize numbers over opinions, skeptical of vanity metrics, and comfortable delivering hard truths (e.g., declining renewals based on performance).
• Negotiation: Skilled in deal-making with managers and agents, capable of holding firm on rates, walking away when necessary, and preserving relationships.
• Pro community fluency: Deep understanding of licensed stylists—how they build clientele, weigh retail, and define credibility. Ability to distinguish genuine authority from superficial influence.
• Builder mindset: Energized by unstructured programs; prefers designing systems over inheriting them.
• Commercial fluency: Able to discuss attribution, incrementality, and payback periods clearly, without jargon, and explain models to non-marketing stakeholders.
• High-touch and process-driven: Balances personalized talent management with rigorous operational discipline.

Benefits

• Base pay of $95,000+ with an additional 5% annual bonus.
• 401(k) with company match—dollar-for-dollar up to 4%, immediately vested.
• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance.
• Life and AD&D insurance.
• Paid vacation and holiday leave.
• Opportunities for growth and advancement.