WANTED: A BRAND BUILDER & SPIRITED DISRUPTOR: Brand Manager

WANTED: A BRAND BUILDER & SPIRITED DISRUPTOR

(Or the more official title: Brand Manager, Green River)

Location: Louisville, KY / Hybrid*

Hybrid candidates will need to be in Kentucky a few times a month (fair warning: you may never want to leave). And some nights, weekends and travel come with the territory. Tailgates don't run themselves, after all.

WHO WE ARE:

Green River has been distilling in Owensboro, Kentucky since 1885. While our bourbon was named “World’s Best Bourbon” at the 2025 New York World Spirits Competition, we still take pride in selling it at a fair price, without charging extra for the hype, the scarcity or all that velvet-rope nonsense. We call it “Bourbon Without the Bullsh!t.”

It’s not just a tagline. It’s how we think about bourbon, how we build the brand, and how we run the business, including how we hire. So here’s the job, described honestly.

WHAT’S THE JOB:

You’ll lead Green River day-to-day with one pretty simple ambition: disrupt the whiskey category and build an American bourbon brand that people genuinely give a sh!t about.

This is a hands-on position. You’ll write the plan, then make it happen. New bottle launches. Big selling seasons. Bar and store displays that earn their space. Shooting real ads with real team members on a real lunch break (yes, we did that). And executing ideas that make people say, “Wait, a bourbon brand did what now?”

You’ll connect the dots across all our partners, while keeping an eye on what actually matters: who knows us, who’s buying us, what they care about, what’s working and what we should do next. You’ll own the budget and the scoreboard too, knowing where to put our money and when it’s time to take a big swing.

And you’ll make sure the idea survives all the way to market, from the campaign brief to the sales meeting to the shelf, bar or tailgate where a real bourbon drinker actually sees it. Just so you know, we’d much rather debate an idea that makes us uncomfortable than nod politely at a safe one.

WHO YOU ARE:

You’re a visionary brand builder with a maverick streak. You see where the category is going, where it’s stuck, and where Green River has permission to go somewhere else. You have a point of view, you see opportunities other people miss, and you have the ideas and the ability to turn them into work that actually gets into market.

You’re equally comfortable with the big idea and the work required to make it real. You can write the brief, build the plan, rally the room, challenge an agency, manage the details and connect Creative, Social, PR, Activation, Sales and our partners around a shared ambition.

You know when to challenge convention, when to take a calculated risk and when an idea is worth fighting for. You bring people with you, but you don’t need consensus before having a point of view. You’re constantly looking for a better way to work, whether that means AI, new technology or simply refusing to do something the slow way because that’s how it’s always been done.

Above all, you want ownership. You want the freedom and responsibility to lead Green River in disrupting the whiskey space, not just manage the next campaign.

If who you are likes who we are, let’s grab a pour and chat. But you must be over 21 to enjoy the pour.

(HR made us put this!)    

Full legal job description including physical requirements available upon request.