Freelance Vertex Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Description
This is going to be one of the most influential brand marketing roles in the country. We're building Rylo into a household name for the Deaf and hard of hearing community, an outlaw brand with a real mission behind it, and we're looking for the person who can own that vision and make it impossible to ignore.
We move fast. We've been building this product for years, we relaunched as Rylo this June, and we are not slowing down. You'll step into a brand team that's already in motion and a moment that's wide open. This is a senior leadership role: you set the vision, you lead the team, and you still react at the speed of culture.
The Difference You Will Make
You're senior in judgment and scrappy in execution. You set the direction, you lead the team, and you hold the standard on everything that goes out the door. You're the final filter, and you're almost never wrong.
You lead with the mission. Rylo exists to serve the Deaf and hard of hearing community, and you build every campaign, asset, and activation from that purpose first. The brand wins because the mission is real. You understand Deaf culture and the lived experience of this community, and you know how to honor it authentically: bold, never preachy, never pandering. You make the category's incumbents look slow and out of touch, and you make Rylo the brand people root for.
You think in activations, not just campaigns. Stunts, partnerships, launches, cultural moments, and earned-media plays that get the brand talked about and punch 10x above the spend. You know how to manufacture a moment from nothing and make it impossible to scroll past.
You react to culture in real time and ship in days, not quarters. When a moment opens, you're already building. You use AI every day to generate, iterate, and scale creative faster than teams five times your size.
You don't think brand and growth are separate teams. You feed the funnel, sharpen the creative, and treat every brand play as a growth lever. You hold both sides at once, brand love and CAC, vibes and spreadsheets, and every swing has a thesis. You have a real appetite for scale, and you take it personally when the number doesn't move.
On a day to day, you will:

• Own how Rylo shows up in the world: voice, visual identity, narrative, website, social, packaging, and every external asset.
• Lead and grow the brand and social team, and direct creative vendors, agencies, and film crews.
• Mastermind massive brand activations and cultural moments, not just campaigns. Stunts, partnerships, launches, and earned-media plays that punch 10x above the spend.
• Partner hand-in-glove with performance marketing, turning brand swings into funnel results.
• Deploy serious budgets across paid, partnerships, and talent with discipline and nerve.
• Set the bar for celebrity, founder, and talent-led storytelling, turning a face and a point of view into a movement.
• Stand in front of the CEO, the board, an agency, or a crew and make the vision unmistakable in one breath.
• Use AI daily to generate, iterate, and scale creative.

Requirements

• You've taken a brand from "who?" to "everyone knows them," and you can show the receipts.
• A track record of activations, stunts, or campaigns that earned attention far beyond their budget.
• Experience leading creative teams and managing agencies, freelancers, and talent.
• Comfortable owning strategy and staying close to the craft. You lead the team, and you still have strong opinions on the work itself.
• Fluent with AI creative tools. You use them every day.
• Data-driven creative instincts. You can read a dashboard as well as a storyboard and defend every swing with a thesis.
• Experience running large budgets across paid, partnerships, and talent.
• Impeccable taste and a real love of craft.
• Deep cultural fluency. You understand Deaf culture and the lived experience of the community; a genuine or lived connection is a meaningful plus.
• Genuine connection to the mission.
• Due to team collaboration needs, this role requires working hours aligned with the Eastern Time Zone.
• Compensation: $220,000 - $350,000 per year, depending on experience and qualifications.

Benefits:
Work on a fulfilling, life-changing product (literally)
Join as a key player at an early stage and receive generous options
Unlimited time off and sick days
Annual company get-together
Medical, Dental, and Vision plans with FSA, HSA, and Telehealth benefits
401(k) plan with company match
About us:
Rylo is the communication engine for people who are Deaf or hard of hearing. Communication belongs to everyone, and we strongly believe that no moment should go missing.
We work alongside the community. We know the barriers, and we're here to tear them down. Our tools are built for individuals and the businesses that serve them.
Rylo is backed by investors who believe in the work we do: General Catalyst, Canaan, Comcast, Vertex, Precursor, Contour, Cardumen, Techstars, and more.