Field & Partnerships Marketing Manager

About AWAKE: AWAKE is an innovative food company that is growing. We pioneered functional chocolate, and our brand has become a hit in offices, hospitals and college campuses across North America – now sold in over 30,000 locations. At AWAKE, we delight consumers by making functional foods with unmatched taste. We’re focused on results, we work hard to achieve great things, and we celebrate success.

Job Title: Partnerships & Field Marketing Manager

Reports to: Director of Marketing

About the role: AWAKE is seeking a highly organized, execution-focused Marketing Manager – Partnerships & Field to lead our event marketing, grassroots sampling, retailer demos, experiential activations, sponsorships, and brand partnerships. This role is all about bringing AWAKE to life in the real world—through meaningful experiences, high-impact partnerships, and best-in-class execution across every channel.

The ideal candidate is a powerhouse project manager with exceptional attention to detail, strong time management skills, an analytical mindset, and the ability to build and manage relationships at every level. You’ll support and lead marketing execution across all sales channels—including retail, gas/convenience, food service, and vending. Working closely with the Director of Marketing and our agency partners, you will help drive major experiential activations, quarterly consumer promotions, and the full event budget.

If you thrive in a fast-paced environment, love building programs from the ground up, and can turn complex cross-functional initiatives into perfectly orchestrated plans—you’ll fit right in. 

Responsibilities:Event Marketing

• Evaluate and vet potential events, sponsorships, and experiential opportunities—staying closely connected to industry trends, partner recommendations, and input from the PR agency and internal marketing team.
• Partner with the Director of Marketing, PR agency, and broader marketing team to bring events and activations to life, including vendor coordination, staffing plans, sample flow, creative needs, asset/toolkit management, and any required permits or approvals.
• Develop scalable playbooks and best practices to ensure consistent, high-quality event execution across all markets and events.
• Deliver detailed post-event reporting—including KPIs, learnings, and recommendations for future programming—to continuously improve event strategy and ROI.

Field Marketing & Sampling

• Oversee all key account demo programs (e.g., Sprouts, The Fresh Market, Wegmans), working closely with demo agencies to ensure demos are properly staffed, stocked (samples, swag, coupons), trained, and executed according to brand standards and retailer requirements.
• Field, vet, and manage all ad hoc sample requests—evaluating each opportunity based on budget, timing, audience fit, and brand alignment. Own the approval process, fulfillment coordination, and follow-up reporting for requests ranging from grassroots events to major cultural moments 
• Collaborate with the US Director of Gas & Convenience and applicable agencies to support our national sampling tour—ensuring the route, messaging, creative assets, and on-site execution align with broader marketing priorities, campaigns, events and brand initiatives.
• Establish systems to track, measure, and budget for all sampling and demo activity—including volume planning, cost per sample, trial efficiency, ROI, and monthly/quarterly forecast accuracy.

Sponsorships & Partnerships

• Working closely with the Director of Marketing and other members of the marketing team, support AWAKE’s existing partnerships (large and small)—ensuring delivery of all contracted assets such as onsite sampling, digital signage, email placements, in-venue activations, and promotional giveaways.
• Evaluate and vet new partnership opportunities (proactively and reactively)—assessing audience alignment, brand fit, timing, and budget.
• Deliver detailed post-activation partnership reporting—including KPIs, performance insights, and recommendations—to continuously strengthen partnership strategy and ROI.

Sales Channel Support

• Partner closely with Sales to execute marketing initiatives across all commercial channels: retail, gas/convenience, food service, and vending.
• Support the planning and execution of quarterly retailer consumer promotions, managing prizing, communication, POS giveaway materials, and data collection to ensure flawless delivery across key accounts.
• Build customer-specific marketing plans and budgets—tailored to the size, needs, and strategic priority of each account—in partnership with the Sales team lead and Director of Marketing.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for all inbound marketing requests from retailers and brokers, ensuring fast turnaround and thorough execution.
• Collaborate with Sales and Operations to ensure marketing programs are aligned with inventory, distribution, and account priorities.

About you:

• You have a bachelor's degree in marketing, business, communications, or a related field.
• You bring 1-2+ years of experience in experiential marketing, partnerships, field marketing, sponsorships, or brand activation—ideally in food & beverage, CPG, sports marketing, or consumer brands.
• You’re an exceptional project manager—organized, detail-obsessed, and able to juggle multiple complex timelines without dropping the ball.
• You have a strong analytical skill set, comfortable building ROI models, analyzing KPIs, and making data-based recommendations.
• You excel at relationship building—adept at navigating conversations with agencies, partners, retailers, collaborators, and cross-functional teams.
• You’re a confident negotiator who can evaluate opportunities objectively and advocate for the right investment.
• You stay on top of cultural, social, and category trends—helping AWAKE move quickly, stay relevant, and activate against moments that matter.
• You have experience managing field teams or agencies, with a strong instinct for quality control.
• You have a sharp instinct for brand fit—able to identify which events, partnerships, and opportunities align with AWAKE’s consumer, tone, and strategic priorities.
• You’re fluent with tools like Microsoft Office, Google Suite, project management platforms (Asana, Monday, Trello, Smartsheet), and reporting dashboards.
• Bonus: Experience with Shopify, Klaviyo, Meta Business Suite, or social platforms is a plus (but not required).

Location: Remote with the expectation to travel 1-3 times/quarter for events or to the home office in Toronto, Canada 

Compensation: TBD based on experience

How to Apply: If this role sounds like a fit and you're excited to help build the future of functional food with AWAKE, we’d love to hear from you! Please send your resume and a brief note about why you’re excited about this role to Christine.higley@awakechocolate.com. Make sure to include any relevant portfolio links or social media handles that showcase your work.