Director, Social Media and Cultural Impact

WHO WE ARE

We’re not in the wing business. We’re in the flavor business. It’s been our mission to Serve the World Flavor since we first opened in 1994, and we’re just getting started. 1997 saw the opening of our first brand partner operated Wingstop location, and by 2002 we had served the world one billion wings. It’s flavor that defines us and has made Wingstop one of the fastest growing brands in the restaurant industry.

Above all else – our success is largely due to our people and our core values, or what we call The Wingstop Way of being entrepreneurial, service-minded, fun, and authentic. We believe having a strong people foundation centered on these collective values creates a crave-worthy culture and talented team, as well as ensures our brand is poised for accelerated growth. We all win together.

WHAT WE'LL NEED

We are excited about our next Director, Social Media and Cultural Impact, who will lead our brand-building efforts across Organic and Influencer Marketing at Wingstop. This role serves as the strategic owner of Wingstop’s organic social and influencer ecosystem, leading internal teams and external agencies to drive cultural relevance, brand growth, and measurable business impact.

The ideal candidate will have notable experience with: Social Strategy, Ideation, Content Calendar, Organic Creative, Influencer Strategy and Implementation, Community Management, and Measurement.

This role will work in highly collaborative environment, partnering with Brand, Media, PR, Consumer Insights, Legal and other internal stakeholders. In addition, this role will lead a social team of 3-4 team members.

Key Responsibilities:

Social Strategy & Organic Leadership

• Serve as the primary strategic lead for Wingstop’s external social and influencer agencies, setting clear direction, establishing KPIs, evaluating performance, and ensuring work delivers against business and brand objectives.

• Set the long-term vision and strategic roadmap for Wingstop’s organic social ecosystem, driving brand growth, cultural relevance, and business impact across key and emerging platforms (e.g., TikTok, Instagram, X, YouTube Shorts), aligning with brand and business objectives.

• Own agency relationships, scopes of work, and ways of working, ensuring speed, creative excellence, and accountability.

• Oversee the organic content ecosystem, including planned campaigns and real-time cultural moments, ensuring relevance, speed, and brand integrity.

• Develop and manage the organic content calendar, informed by cultural insights, consumer behavior, and performance learnings.

• Define platform-native content approaches, posting cadence, and optimization strategies based on analytics and test-and-learn insights.

• Lead the development and execution of organic creative content, including in-house production, UGC, creator content, and agency-developed assets.

Influencer & Creator Strategy

• Lead Wingstop’s influencer and creator strategy as a core marketing pillar, spanning always-on engagement, campaign-based activations, and long-term partnerships.

• Identify, cultivate, and manage a diverse ecosystem of creators who authentically represent Wingstop’s brand, values, and cultural relevance.

• Oversee influencer ideation, partner selection, negotiations, and performance measurement, ensuring brand safety and measurable impact.

• Collaborate cross-functionally to integrate influencer storytelling into broader marketing initiatives.

Community Management & Brand Stewardship

• Lead a team to own the community management strategy across organic social channels, bringing Wingstop’s brand voice to life through authentic, timely, and responsible engagement.

• Effectively manage up by anticipating leadership needs, providing clear insights, and driving alignment on priorities.

• Actively participate in social listening, real-time engagement, and conversation management, knowing when to engage, escalate, or stay silent.

• Establish enterprise-level social governance and operating standards, including brand voice, legal alignment, escalation protocols, and crisis response frameworks, ensuring brand safety at scale.

Performance, Insights & Optimization

• Use insights to influence senior leadership decision-making, campaign investment, and future marketing strategies.

• Lead a team to own real-time monitoring, reporting, and optimization of social performance.

• Conduct competitive and cultural analyses to identify opportunities and inform future strategy.

• Share insights and learnings across the marketing organization to influence creative, media, and brand decisions.

Cultural Leadership

• Stay at the forefront of culture, social trends, and platform innovation, with a deep understanding of Wingstop’s young, multicultural audience.

• Translate cultural insights across music, sports, entertainment, and lifestyle into scalable, brand-right social ideas.

• Distinguish between trend participation and true cultural relevance, ensuring Wingstop shows up in ways that feel authentic and additive.

   

Paid Partnerships

• Lead the strategy, execution, and optimization of paid partnerships across social, creator, and media platforms, ensuring alignment with brand and business objectives. 

• Identify, negotiate, and manage partnerships (creators, publishers, platforms, and brand collaborations), overseeing end-to-end campaign delivery from briefing through activation and measurement. 

• Establish KPIs and performance frameworks for paid partnerships, integrating results into broader media reporting and leveraging insights to optimize and scale investments. 

• Partner cross-functionally (creative, legal, procurement, agencies) to develop on-brand content, ensure compliant execution, and stay ahead of emerging trends in the creator and partnership landscape.

   

Thought Leadership & Collaboration

• Serve as a cultural and social media thought leader within Wingstop, educating stakeholders on social strategy, platform evolution, and emerging trends.

• Develop and present clear, data-informed recommendations to senior leadership, with a strong point of view on where Wingstop should play—and not play—across culture and social.

• Partner closely with Brand, Creative, Media, PR, and Insights teams to ensure Social is fully integrated across marketing efforts.

• Build, lead, and develop a high-performing internal social team, including coaching managers and individual contributors, setting clear goals, and creating career paths that scale with the business.

WHAT YOU'LL NEED

• You feel there is always opportunity to further you personal and professional growth. You have a bachelor’s degree and 12+ years in organic/influencer across advertising, marketing, and communications.

• You have ambition and drive to go above and beyond while driving best-in-class marketing at Wingstop. You deliver outstanding strategy, ideas and results time after time. You are proficient in analytics platforms (i.e.: Google Analytics) and MS Office.

• You have a high degree of emotional intelligence and cultural acumen and have an exceptional ability to convey strategy and ideas to the most senior levels. With your communication skills, you can gain alignment across various stakeholders.

• A selfless and dedicated focus on helping others succeed. Consistently prioritizes the needs of colleagues and the organization, willingly offering support and contributing to the overall well-being of the team.

• Takes initiative, a willingness to take calculated risks, and constantly searching for opportunities to improve processes or contribute to new ideas.

WHO YOU ARE

No job is too small. You recognize that the real work happens in the restaurants, and everything we do should support their success. You stay humble, roll up your sleeves, and always look for ways to help. You learn from others and contribute wherever you can.

You care deeply about doing great work and driving results. You’re curious, ask questions, and seek out opportunities to improve. You don’t just point out problems—you bring solutions, ideas, and perspectives that move the team forward.

You take full responsibility for your work and see things through to completion. You aren’t afraid to fail because you know that failure is a part of learning and growth. You take action, move fast, and keep pushing forward.

You lead with empathy, respect, and emotional intelligence. You collaborate effectively, fostering a culture of trust and constructive feedback. You understand the importance of teamwork and ensure that your actions build others up rather than break them down.

You push yourself and others to be better. You embrace healthy conflict, knowing that great ideas and strong teams emerge from honest, constructive conversations. You believe that leaders create leaders and are committed to fostering a culture of growth, challenge, and continuous improvement.

BENEFITS

Flavor Perks:

• Unlimited paid time off for exempt employees

• One paid volunteer day of your choice

• Competitive bonus structure for eligible roles

• Team member stock purchase plan

• Health savings or flexible spending account options

• 401k – (dollar for dollar on the first 3% and then 50 cents on the dollar for the next 2% for team member contributions up to 5% of eligible compensation)

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision benefits

• Basic life and AD&D insurance provided

• Pet insurance

• Education Assistance

• Wellness reimbursement program

   

• Paid maternity and paternity leave

Fun is the best Flavor:

• Lunch provided every Tuesday and Thursday in office

• Discount on Wingstop gift cards

• Onsite game room

Wingstop provides equal opportunities for everyone that works for us and everyone that applies to join our team, without regard to sex or gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, pregnancy, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, any service, past, present, or future, in the uniformed services of the United States (military or veteran status), or any other consideration protected by federal, state, or local law.