VP of Marketing

Help an $8 trillion industry put AI to work.

U.S. wholesale distribution employs more than six million people and keeps hospitals supplied, buildings going up, and factories running. Too much of the work still involves entering orders and hunting through systems for answers. Software should handle that part.

Proton’s AI-powered multi-product platform brings together CRM, product information, e-commerce, order and quote entry, and agents to help distributors grow faster, cut operating expenses, and give their people time back.

We’re hiring a VP of Marketing to sharpen that story and take our marketing engine further. If you collect great campaigns and have unusually strong opinions about subject lines, we should talk.

The opportunity

• Make Proton the first name an $8 trillion industry turns to for AI. You’ll lead marketing for an expanding platform, with the freedom to take big creative swings and the authority to see them through.
• You’ll report directly to our CEO and sit on the leadership team. Your job is to generate the qualified pipeline Proton needs to hit its revenue goals.
• You’ll build on an established team and programs already in motion: four direct reports across demand generation, content, field marketing, and business development, plus three BDRs. A RevOps agency and creative contractors give you extra hands to bring ideas to life.
• This is a role for someone who enjoys setting the direction and still occasionally loses track of time making the work better.

What you’ll own

• Pipeline the team can count on: Grow inbound and outbound pipeline across ABM, paid, content, and events. Set targets and qualification standards with Sales, and own BDR performance. Know where buyers get stuck and what deserves more budget. Direct our RevOps agency’s work on systems, workflows, and reporting.
• A story distributors recognize: Own brand, positioning, messaging, launches, and go-to-market strategy as our platform expands. Listen for the customer comment that makes you think, “That’s the headline.” Turn those insights into reasons to choose Proton and use more of our products.
• Marketing people remember: Bring original ideas and push the team past the obvious. Make the email worth forwarding and the event worth leaving the office for. Lead demand generation, content, field marketing, customer marketing, and operations. Give the work clear owners, timelines, and budgets. Bring in our creative contractors where they can help.
• AI that pushes us further: Build better workflows for research, campaigns, and analysis, and teach the team what works. Follow how buyers discover and evaluate products, including AI-powered search.
• A world-class marketing team: Be a player-coach. Give feedback people can use, make room for their ideas, and get into the work alongside them. Protect regular 1:1s, follow through on your commitments, and help people grow.

What you’ll bring

• A record of delivering pipeline. You’ve owned B2B marketing targets and can explain what worked and what didn’t. You likely have 8 - 12 years of experience, including 3+ years leading teams, ideally in high-growth SaaS.
• Experience scaling a lean team. You’ve grown an existing marketing function, ideally at a Series A or Series B startup. You can prioritize and get good work out the door without a specialist for every task.
• A marketing nerd’s creativity. You’re allergic to boring marketing. A consumer ad, a creator’s video, or a customer’s offhand comment can send you down a useful rabbit hole. You come back with original ideas and help the team make something people notice.
• Product marketing range. You understand the full marketing mix and can make complex products compelling to buy. You’ve sharpened positioning, written messaging, and launched products. Previous PMM experience is a plus.
• Outbound experience. You’ve led a BDR/SDR team or partnered very closely with one. You know targeting, messaging, qualification, and the Sales handoff. You’ve used AI, enrichment, and buying signals to improve outreach, and can help our business development leader coach the team.
• AI work you can show us. You’re already building with Claude, ChatGPT, or other AI coding tools. Show us what you’ve made and how it changed the work. You could teach a room of marketers something useful tomorrow.
• Ideas and follow-through. You can get a room excited about an idea and leave it with a plan. Everyone knows what they’re doing, when it’s due, and what they can spend. You keep work moving, check results, and change course when needed.

Why Proton

• Take big creative swings. Our CEO gets marketing, Sales loves it and celebrates your wins, and you’ll have room to try any idea you can’t stop thinking about.
• Give distributors something worth their attention. This industry gets too little great creative marketing, and people appreciate the effort. You’ll have customer results and an expanding product portfolio to work with.
• See how far you can take AI. We’re an AI-pilled team with an uncapped AI budget. Bring the tool you’ve been itching to try or the workflow you think could change everything.
• You’ll also get equity, health benefits, a 401(k) employer contribution, unlimited PTO, paid parental leave, and company off-sites. Our office is in Harvard Square. More about working at Proton.

Interested? Show us what you’ve built.

• Show us a campaign you’re proud of, an AI workflow you’ve built, or a piece of marketing you wish you’d made - and why.
• If this sounds like your kind of work, apply - even if your résumé doesn’t match every bullet.