Location: Portland, Oregon (hybrid, core hours 9–5) Stage: $11M Seed — you'd be building from zero Team size: <15
HILOS is building the first 3D design platform made specifically for footwear—no CAD required. Powered by machine learning, our core geometry engine breaks down barriers between 2D and 3D, design and manufacturing.
Our cross-functional team sits at the intersection of footwear and software, combining craft and intelligence to give designers a second brain and third hand. We're here to amplify human impact in real-world creation—and we believe the tools should be just as inspiring as the work they enable.
As a startup we prioritize individual growth, ownership, being proactive and transparent. We're a small and dynamic team assembled from around the world and across software, 3D design, and footwear industries. Highly curious and multifaceted personalities thrive here. There's a lot of freedom and responsibility, not a lot of support resources or process constraints.
You would be our first marketing hire. There is no team to inherit, no playbook to follow, no agency to manage. There's a product that designers love when they find it, and almost nobody has found it yet.
We're looking for someone to own the entire marketing function—strategy through execution—and build the engine that connects HILOS with the footwear designers, studios, and manufacturers who need it. You'll work directly with the CEO and product team daily.
This is a builder role. If you've read Emily's piece on fuel vs. engine, you'll be building both simultaneously. If you think in GACC briefs, you'll be writing your own. If you've been the first marketer before, you know what the first 90 days feel like—and you're energized by that, not intimidated by it.
Acquisition — Build and prioritize our channel mix from scratch: organic, social, community, events, partnerships, and eventually paid. Create the PR and influencer relationships that establish credibility in the footwear design community. Develop attribution that actually tells us what's working.
Community — Launch and scale our creator community as a growth lever, not a support channel. Design a Champion program that turns passionate users into product co-creators. Build viral mechanics into the product: sharing triggers, referral programs, "made with HILOS" showcases.
Activation & Retention — Own activation rate as your north star (baseline 30%, stretch 40%+). Partner with product to get users to value in under 24 hours. Run weekly experiments on flows, sequences, and prompts. Build retention infrastructure: dashboards, cohort tracking, early warning systems.
Expansion — Design mechanics that convert individual users to teams. Identify product-qualified accounts showing enterprise potential. Monitor monetization signals and validate willingness-to-pay.