Overview

At YNAB, we build the world’s best budgeting software. We have an amazing product, and from day one, we’ve grown (and continue to grow) thanks to loyal YNABers who can’t shut up about budgeting. They are our people and we love them, every last one of the nerdy bunch.

So much so, that we’re looking for a full-time, marketing-minded Community Manager to help us feed, wrangle, engage, and grow the beast. You will manage and grow our existing communities (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, etc.), help us create and distribute content, identify and build relationships with influencers, and be a key player in growing our new referral program.

You are creative—you’ve never met a brainstorm you didn’t like—in fact, your team can always count on you to have something up both sleeves and in at least one back pocket. You are good with words—a strong writer who wields your sense of humor at every appropriate turn. You have experience  developing, executing, and measuring full-scale, cross-channel social media campaigns and you have the thick skin to prove it (although a portfolio would also be nice).

You understand how community works and tear up, just a little bit, thinking about igniting the YNAB base. In fact,… oh, wow, yeah, did we lose you for a second there? What’s that? You just got distracted thinking about all the possibilities? YNAB meet-ups across the country? An annual YNAB conference? Your mind is blown. Perfect—you might be the one.

That’s a taste of what you’ll be working on, but first, you need to know if you’ll even like working with us. (Although, we think you will.)

A Bit About Us

We build the best budgeting software around, YNAB or “You Need a Budget” if you have a lot of extra time on your hands. For more than a decade, people have been buying YNAB and then telling their friends what a difference it has made in their lives. (Google us, or read some of our reviews on the app store, and you’ll see what we mean.) We love building something that has a huge positive impact on people’s lives.

We’re profitable, bootstrapped, and growing. YNAB started in 2004 and we haven’t taken any outside funding—we’re in it for the long haul.

We have one overarching requirement when it comes to joining our team: our Cultural Manifesto has to really click with you. If you’re nodding emphatically while reading it, you’ll probably fit right in, in which case, we can’t wait to hear from you!

First, let’s talk about life at YNAB and then we’ll go into detail about what we’re looking for.

How You’ll Work at YNAB

We work really hard to make working at YNAB an amazing experience. We have a team full of truly exceptional people—the kind you’ll be excited to work with. Here’s how we operate:

Live Where You Want

We’re a distributed team, so you can live and work wherever you want. Proximity doesn’t influence productivity. As I write this, Taylor (our CTO) is in, London or Brazil, or maybe back in Austin? Not all of us travel so extensively, but the fact that he does is totally okay because we’re all adults. Just make sure you have a reliable internet connection.

No Crazy Hours

We rarely work more than 40 hours per week. There have been a few occasions where things got a little crazy and people had to log some extra hours. But then they took some extra time off, so it all balances out. We work hard and smart but we’re in this for the long haul, no need to go crazy on the hours.

Take Vacation (Seriously)

We want you to take vacation. In fact, we have a minimum vacation policy of three weeks per year (plus two extra weeks for Christmas break). It’s important to get out and do something. We’ll look forward to seeing pictures of your vacation in our internal chat room, creatively named #office_wall.

The YNAB Meetup

We get the teams together once a year to catch up on spreadsheets and powerpoints in a Best Western conference room. Just kidding. This year it was a gigantic cabin in the mountains. The time before that it was in Costa Rica.  We do really fun things, but the highlight is always just hanging out together and having a blast.

Up Your Game

We’re serious about helping you improve your craft. We budget for it (hey-o!).. Think conferences, Lynda subscriptions, dedicated time away from work to learn something new… it’s really up to you and your manager. But we love to see our people growing.

If You’re International…

You’ll be set up as a contractor. Employee or contractor, it’s all the same to us. You’re part of the team. (We are spread all over the world: Switzerland, Scotland, Brazil, Canada, and all over the United States.) For this particular position, we are only considering candidates located +/- two hours from North American Pacific Time.

If You’re Stateside…

You’ll be a W2 employee with fantastic health, dental, and vision insurance, where we cover 100% of the premium for you and your family. (No need to check your vision, you read that right, 100%. Although if you did need to check your vision, no big deal, we’ve got you covered!)

We also have Traditional and Roth 401k options. YNAB contributes three percent whether you choose to throw any money in there or not. It vests immediately. (Are you a personal finance junkie like Jesse? He set up YNAB’s 401k to have the lowest fee structure possible, where all plan costs are paid by YNAB, not your retirement nest egg. The investment funds available are fantastic, passively-managed, ultra low-cost index funds. You’re not a PF junkie? No worries, we have more than enough to go around.)

Other Tidbits

  • Once you start, we DEMAND (in a friendly, ALL CAPS IS YELLING way) that you fill out your “Bucket List” spreadsheet with 50 items. (That’s harder than it sounds!)
  • The bucket list helps in deciding what we should give you for your birthday and Christmas: No gift cards here. We tried that. Super boring.
  • We have a bonus plan based on profitability. You’ll be in on that from day one. YNAB wins, you win. That kind of thing.
  • We’re all adults. There’s no need to punch a clock, or ask for permission to take off early one afternoon to go see the doctor (health insurance premium 100% covered!). We look at what you’re accomplishing, not how long you sit (have you tried standing?) in front of a computer.
  • We want you firing on all cylinders so we’ll set you up with a shiny new computer and replace it every three years.
  • Did I mention we make a huge, positive difference in people’s lives? You may not think that matters much, but then a few months down the road you’ll realize it’s made your job really, really enjoyable. Don’t underestimate this one!

If this sounds like your ideal environment, read on because now I want to talk about you. You will play a big part in helping YNAB become a household name and helping hundreds of thousands of people get control of their money. You will change lives. I’ll only say that six more times.

Now, back to you, our new Social Media and Community Manager…

Before ‘content marketing’ and ‘social media’ were buzzwords, YNAB’s marketing efforts were anchored in content and community. And we’re doubling down.

Part cheerleader, part analyst, part coach, part den mom, and part early adopter, the Community Manager will own and manage our community across social media channels. (And in the future? Who knows! Our community is your oyster!) You’ll need to hit the ground running, and by running we mean, developing and executing campaign strategies, creating and distributing content of all kinds, and engaging daily with our existing communities (FB, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, etc.) to facilitate growth.

As a member of the small-but-mighty marketing team, you’ll be asked to stretch up and down, depending on the day, and help develop and document new processes and systems as we scale. If there is an opportunity to automate and simplify, you’re all over it. We love you for that. But at the same time, you’re opportunistic about the pursuit of strategic connections and relationships with potential influencers, partners, and the media in real-time. You give away free t-shirts like a boss.

With an ear to the ground, and a knack for storytelling, this position will play a big role in developing the Referral Program and fueling its growth as an unstoppable word-of-mouth machine, a community in its own right.

We don’t have a YNAB User Conference right now, but if we ever do, you better believe the Community Manager will play a key role in designing that baby and bringing it to life.

Your Day-to-Day will look something like:  

  • Management of Existing Communities: Apply your deep knowledge of best practices to take our existing channels (FB, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, etc.) to the next level in terms of influence and growth.
    • For example, we have a pretty decent organic presence on Reddit. How could we grow our reach there?
  • Growth into New Channels: Help evaluate the growth opportunities for YNAB among new channels and where relevant, launch a presence and cultivate community.
    • For example, Pinterest and YouTube have huge potential as search engines. How could we reach more potential customers in those channels?
  • Customer Engagement: Building relationships, answering support questions, delighting customers, being hilarious, pursuing awesome customer stories, and representing YNAB with aplomb across all social channels.
  • Content Wrangler: Planning, writing, publishing, re-purposing, and publishing again.
  • Building The Referral Program: Help to lead and grow our loyalty efforts (a soon-to-be-launched Referral Program).
  • Influencer Outreach: Helping to source, vet, and build relationships with potential influencers and partners.
    • This could be anything from reaching out to bloggers and YouTubers to helping vet potential affiliates.

Requirements (these are real, actual requirements):

  • You have at least 3 years of experience in community management for an established brand.
  • You possess a deep knowledge of best practices across channels (FB, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, etc.) and are passionate about keeping up with digital media trends.
  • You are a strong, versatile writer and natural storyteller. You can nail the YNAB voice out of the gate.
  • You are hilarious and kind.
  • You have strong observational skills. You are aware of trends, what’s happening around the web, and amongst the community; you are keen at picking up the nuances of what is going on around you and can identify and act appropriately, based on the time, the audience, the channel, the topic, etc.
  • You are an idea generator with follow-through—full of ideas, and always coming up with new, random, hair-brained strategies. Your boss is always saying, “That’s crazy! But it just might work!”
  • You aren’t intimidated to work remotely and manage your time exceptionally well.
  • You are incredibly organized, flexible, and collaborative.
  • You never met a deadline you didn’t love.
  • You are self-motivated and driven by nature, maybe even a little competitive.
  • You have the ability to stay laser-focused on the big picture, without losing sight of every. last. detail.
  • You are wildly productive and independent, but a team-player at heart.
  • You aren’t afraid to experiment, even if it means chalking mistakes up to learning from time to time.
  • You do well with vague directions but aren’t afraid to ask questions.
  • You genuinely like, understand, and connect with people.

Bonus Points:

  • You already use and love YNAB.
  • You have previous experience managing a referral or customer loyalty program.
  • You live on or around the West Coast. We’ll double down for California, Washington, or Utah.

How to Apply

Apply below. The deadline for applications is 11:59PM on Ocotber 15th, 2017. Firm. It’s a real deadline.

  • Write a cover letter (attach PDF) to sell us on why we can’t live without you, and your thoughts on why or why not #YNAB should be on #SnapChat. While you’re at it, throw in a #nailedit for good measure.
  • At the end of your cover letter, share the top three ideas you’d want to pursue if you were hired for the position.
  • Attach a resume (PDF) and examples (or links) of previous campaigns you’ve managed and your specific role/responsibility.

P.S.  If you’re not interested in or available for this position, but know someone who is, we would really appreciate it if you passed this along!