Marketing Associate

Marketing Associate

Location

HQ, North New Jersey (onsite) + regular travel to our locations Type: Full-time campaign results Reports to: Carlos Lopez, Owner Start: ASAP

The short version

I own marketing at Tropical Juice Bar. I build the ads, write the promos, and plan the launches myself — and I've hit the ceiling on what one person can execute. I'm hiring one person to work directly beside me and take over the doing.

This is not a "post on Instagram" job. You will run ads with real money behind them, launch products across our stores, and see the sales number move — or not — the same week. That feedback loop is the whole education.

I'm self-taught with AI. I learned it because it made me faster, and it now does work that used to take a team. I want someone who works the same way: uses AI to produce more, learn faster, and figure out what they don't know yet. If you need to be taught step-by-step, this isn't your role. If you teach yourself and just need direction and a budget, keep reading.

What you'll own

Paid advertising

• Build, launch, and manage Meta ad campaigns across all 10 locations
• Write the copy, brief the creative, set the targeting, watch the numbers daily
• Kill what doesn't work fast; scale what does
• Expand us into channels we're not running yet (Google, TikTok) once you've earned it

Promotions & offers

• Design the offer itself — the discount structure, the bundle, the LTO mechanic — not just the flyer
• Model what an offer costs us and what it should return before we launch it
• Run it, measure it, report on it

New product & seasonal launches

• Own the launch calendar for LTOs and seasonal items end to end
• Build the promo plan, the in-store signage, the digital push, and the loyalty-app tie-in

Grand openings

• Run the pre-opening and opening-week playbook for new locations (we have templates — you'll execute them and make them better)
• Local outreach, launch offers, community and influencer activity in the trade area

Loyalty & retention

• Push our Juicy Rewards app: installs, active users, repeat visits
• Build the offer calendar that brings people back a second and third time

Content direction

• Direct our two-person content team (one part-time in-person, one remote contractor)
• Make sure what they produce actually serves a campaign instead of just filling a feed

What we're actually looking for

Non-negotiable

• You already work with AI daily. ChatGPT, Claude, Midjourney, whatever — you use it to write, analyze, research, design, and automate. Tell us specifically what you use and what you've built with it.
• You're driven. You move without being chased. You'd rather ship something imperfect Tuesday than something perfect next month.
• You understand offers. You know why BOGO, a $5 combo, and 20% off behave completely differently — and which one you'd run to grow weekday lunch traffic.
• You want to be in the stores. Marketing a food business from behind a laptop doesn't work. You'll be in our locations, tasting the product, watching customers, talking to managers.

Strongly preferred

• Restaurant, QSR, café, or food-brand experience — internships, part-time work, and a family business all count
• Hands-on experience running paid social ads with a real budget
• Comfort with numbers: cost per acquisition, redemption rate, average check, ROI on a promo

What we do

*not* require:

• A marketing degree
• 5 years of experience
• A traditional agency background

A college student, recent grad, or career-changer who has genuinely built things with AI will beat a five-year résumé here. We hire for drive and output, not credentials.

How to apply — read this part carefully

Do not send a generic résumé and cover letter. It will not be read.

Send us the following

• Your résumé (one page is fine)
• A short answer (150 words max): What AI tools do you use, and what's one thing you built or figured out with them that you couldn't have done otherwise?
• The challenge — pick ONE and give us your plan in one page or one short video:
• A) Our Tuesday and Wednesday lunch sales are our weakest of the week. Design a promotion to fix it. Tell us the offer, who you'd target, what you'd spend, and how you'd know if it worked.
• B) We're opening a new location in South Orange, NJ. Give us your opening-week plan to fill the store on day one and get those customers back a second time.
• C) Pick any one item on our menu (tropicaljuicebar.com) and build the launch campaign you'd run for it this season — the hook, the creative concept, the channels, the offer.

Use AI to help you build it. We expect that. We want to see how you think *with* the tools, not whether you can work without them.

Send to

[email protected] Subject line: Marketing Associate — [Your Name]

Why take this job

• You'll work directly with the owner every day, on real budget and real P&L, across a 10-location chain that's still expanding
• Decisions happen in hours, not through three layers of approval
• Everything you launch is measurable — you'll build a portfolio of campaigns with actual numbers attached, not slide decks
• We're growing. So does the scope of this role, fast, for the person who earns it.

*Tropical Juice Bar is an equal opportunity employer. We consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic under federal, state, or local law.*

Pay: From $62,000.00 per year

Benefits

• Flexible schedule
• Paid time off

Education

* High school or equivalent (Required)

Language

* Spanish (Required)

License/Certification

* Driving License (Required)

Work Location: In person