VP/Head of Marketing

Company Overview

Silver Brands is a respected multi-unit restaurant group headquartered in Rockville, Maryland. Its portfolio includes two distinct concepts: Silver Diner and Silver New American Brasserie. Since opening its first restaurant in 1989, the company has expanded into a strong regional platform recognized for chef-led food, warm hospitality, fresh ingredients, local sourcing, and a modern take on classic American dining.

This hiring effort supports a planned leadership handoff as the organization’s long-time marketing leader retires. The incoming leader will play a major role in shaping the next phase of growth as Silver Brands reinforces its current locations and broadens its presence across the Mid-Atlantic.

Role Summary

Silver Brands is looking for an accomplished senior marketing executive with substantial restaurant background to oversee marketing for both brands. This is a senior, on-site leadership position reporting to the President and CEO and partnering with the executive team along with Culinary, Operations, Finance, Development, People, Area Directors, store managers, and external partners.

The position is accountable for driving profitable revenue growth, elevating brand awareness and storytelling, representing the guest perspective in executive decisions, strengthening marketing capabilities, supporting new restaurant growth, and ensuring campaigns are carried through effectively at the store level.

The ideal leader will blend brand management, restaurant operations knowledge, consumer insight, analytics, loyalty, local activation, team building, and executive-level judgment. The strongest fit will be a classically trained marketer with relevant restaurant experience, strong analytical and creative instincts, and the ability to work hands-on in a lean, entrepreneurial environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Set and lead annual as well as multi-year marketing plans for Silver Brands and its two concepts, keeping them aligned with sales, guest traffic, profitability, unit expansion, guest experience, and brand equity goals.
• Own marketing’s contribution to profitable top-line growth across traffic, visit frequency, check size, menu mix, loyalty, daypart sales, and new-restaurant performance.
• Shape and protect the Silver Brands narrative, ensuring each brand’s differentiators are clear, memorable, and consistently shown across all guest-facing touchpoints.
• Turn consumer research, guest feedback, transaction data, loyalty data, in-store observation, reviews, and competitive intelligence into practical growth actions.
• Lead loyalty, CRM/CDP, email, SMS, digital engagement, guest lifecycle, reactivation of lapsed guests, and personalization efforts in a way that is both brand-appropriate and financially sound.
• Create structured marketing playbooks for new openings and new markets that build awareness, trial, repeat visitation, loyalty sign-ups, community connection, and strong launch momentum.
• Design local-store marketing systems that Area Directors, operators, and store managers can use effectively across mature restaurants, newer stores, and priority trade areas.
• Work closely with Culinary and menu teams to highlight menu items through photography, storytelling, menu messaging, seasonal promotions, product launches, and guest-facing content.
• Oversee digital, social, website, online reputation, local search, public relations, communications, and guest engagement activities.
• Use AI-enabled tools and current marketing technology responsibly to improve insights, productivity, reporting, personalization, campaign workflow, and store-level execution.
• Manage budgets, agencies, freelancers, vendors, media partners, technology partners, and other outside resources with disciplined return-on-investment thinking.
• Coach, guide, and develop the marketing team so members grow professionally and the function becomes stronger over time.
• Prepare board-level and executive-level updates that connect consumer insights, brand health, marketing spend, traffic, loyalty, guest sentiment, campaign performance, and new-store results.

Ideal Candidate Profile

The role calls for a marketing leader with 10+ years of progressive experience, with 15+ years preferred. Senior leadership experience at the VP, Head of Marketing, CMO, or equivalent level is expected.

Direct restaurant experience is required. Experience in multi-unit restaurants, hospitality, or a closely related location-based consumer business is strongly preferred. Background managing multiple brands within one company is also preferred.

The right candidate should be a classically trained marketer with a strong base in brand management, consumer insight, strategy, creative development, communications, analytics, and business planning.

Experience in both larger, highly structured organizations and smaller, entrepreneurial or founder-influenced businesses is important, as this role requires lean-resource execution and close connection to the field.

A successful track record should include profitable sales growth, brand building, guest acquisition, loyalty growth, local-market activation, new-market entry, and measurable campaign outcomes.

The candidate must be comfortable working directly with numbers, understanding what drives traffic, sales, frequency, menu mix, loyalty, and profitability, and making investment decisions without relying on additional headcount.

Strong creative and strategic judgment is needed, including the ability to shape a brand platform, direct creative work, and make it practical for restaurant execution.

Current fluency in loyalty, CRM/CDP, marketing analytics, digital media, social platforms, reviews, content, local search, email/SMS, personalization, and modern guest engagement is essential.

The leader should have strong executive presence and be able to operate as a peer to the C-suite while partnering effectively with IT, Finance, Operations, Development, People, Area Directors, store managers, and restaurant teams.

The role also requires the ability to honor what has been built while bringing a fresh, objective, growth-focused perspective on how marketing can sharpen priorities, improve results, and support the business.

The selected candidate must be prepared to work on-site, remain highly present in the local market, spend substantial time in restaurants, and relocate if not already based locally.

Education

A bachelor’s degree is required. An MBA is preferred, especially when paired with practical experience in restaurant, retail, hospitality, franchise, or multi-unit operating businesses.

Why This Opportunity Stands Out

This is a distinctive chance to join a profitable, founder-influenced restaurant company with strong brands, high-volume restaurants, an experienced leadership team, and meaningful room for growth. The successful leader will help define the next chapter of Silver Brands’ marketing, strengthen the brand story, build modern marketing capability, and support profitable expansion in current and future restaurants.