US GTM Lead
Speak📌 Core Information
🔹 Job Title: US GTM Lead
🔹 Company: Speak
🔹 Location: San Francisco, California, United States
🔹 Job Type: Full-time
🔹 Category: 📦 Product Marketing
📌 Essential Job Details
🚀 Job Overview
As the US GTM Lead at Speak, you will drive growth for their AI-powered language learning platform in the United States and other key English-speaking markets. You'll be responsible for implementing marketing strategies, leading user acquisition, and scaling Speak's consumer business in these regions. Having already found success in Asian markets with over 500k paying subscribers, Speak is now focused on replicating this success in Western markets, and you'll play a pivotal role in this expansion.
ASSUMPTION: Based on the job description mentioning "full-time" is assumed as the job type since it references building teams, leading strategic initiatives, and the comprehensive nature of the responsibilities.
📋 Key Responsibilities
- ✅ Own growth performance metrics across US and other tier 1 English-speaking markets
- ✅ Identify growth opportunities and lead strategic initiatives for the US market
- ✅ Develop and implement comprehensive marketing strategies to increase brand awareness and user acquisition
- ✅ Drive content creation, creative development, and localization efforts
- ✅ Collaborate with central marketing team and other market teams to ensure alignment and leverage best practices
- ✅ Communicate market-specific product needs to product/engineering teams
- ✅ Build strong relationships with cross-functional global teams
- ✅ Establish policies that promote company culture and vision locally
- ✅ Coach, mentor, and develop team members to achieve business objectives
🎯 Required Qualifications
Education: Not specified
Experience: 7-10 years in tech startups in growth or marketing roles, with a focus on US growth
Skills:
- Generalist marketing skills with strong quantitative abilities
- Proficiency in analytics and using data insights for decision-making
- Understanding of marketing attribution
- Familiarity with US market culture and needs
- Collaborative mindset for cross-team partnership
- Strong leadership qualities
💰 Compensation & Benefits
Salary Range: Not specified
Benefits: Not specified
Industry Comparison: Not specified
ASSUMPTION: For a senior GTM lead role at a Series C startup valued at $1B in San Francisco, the compensation package is likely competitive with other high-growth tech companies in the area. Typically, similar roles in the Bay Area would include equity components given the company's growth stage.
📌 Applicant Insights
🔍 Company Context
Industry Position: Speak is an AI-powered language learning platform focused on conversation practice, offering English, Spanish, and French learning. The company has established itself as the top-grossing education app in South Korea and is expanding globally.
Company Size: 90+ team members across San Francisco, Seoul, Tokyo, Taipei, and Ljubljana
Company Stage: Series C funded with a $1B valuation as of December 2024, backed by prominent investors including Accel, OpenAI, Founders Fund, Y Combinator, Khosla Ventures
📊 Role Analysis
Career Level: Senior leadership role
Reporting Structure: Not specified
Team Size/Composition: Will be leading a team focused on US market growth
Growth Opportunities: Potential to significantly impact a high-growth company at a "magical time" when contributions can change the course of the company
ASSUMPTION: Based on the scope of responsibilities and the senior nature of the position, this appears to be a leadership role likely reporting to a C-level executive or Head of Growth/Marketing. The role mentions team development, suggesting team management responsibility.
🌍 Location & Work Environment
Office Type: Not explicitly specified
Geographic Context: San Francisco is a major tech hub with a high concentration of startups and tech talent. The company has multiple global offices.
Work Schedule: Not specified
Regional Considerations: The role involves understanding the US market while working with global teams across multiple time zones.
ASSUMPTION: Given the company's global presence and the listing mentioning San Francisco, this role likely requires presence in the Bay Area office with potential travel to other market locations. The listing mentions the company is "global in nature" and offers "opportunity to talk to users in each of these regions," suggesting some flexibility but with an emphasis on collaboration.
💼 Interview & Application Insights
Typical Process: For senior marketing roles at venture-backed startups, interviews typically include initial screening, role-specific interviews focused on marketing strategy and growth, leadership assessment, and cultural fit evaluation.
Key Assessment Areas:
- Proven track record in growth and user acquisition
- Analytical abilities and data-driven decision making
- Leadership capabilities
- Market understanding
- Strategic thinking
- Cultural alignment with company mission
Application Tips: Emphasize measurable growth results from previous roles, demonstrate understanding of language learning markets, highlight experience scaling products in US markets, and showcase both strategic vision and hands-on execution capabilities.
ATS Keywords: GTM strategy, user acquisition, growth marketing, market expansion, performance marketing, consumer apps, subscription business, analytics, team leadership, localization
ASSUMPTION: These insights are based on standard interview practices for growth leadership roles at venture-backed tech companies and are not specifically mentioned in the job description.
🛠️ Tools & Technologies
Marketing analytics platforms, attribution tools, user acquisition channels, performance marketing platforms, CRM systems, A/B testing tools
ASSUMPTION: These tools are commonly used in growth marketing roles but are not explicitly mentioned in the job description. The exact tech stack would be company-specific.
👔 Cultural Fit Considerations
Company Values: The company emphasizes mission-driven work to "reinvent the way people learn" and helping "the next billion people" learn languages. There's a focus on thoughtful growth, craft, and making a significant impact on users' lives.
Work Style: Collaborative, global mindset with emphasis on cross-functional partnerships. The listing mentions a "tight-knit team" suggesting close collaboration.
Self-Assessment:
- Are you passionate about language learning and education technology?
- Do you thrive in fast-growing startup environments?
- Can you balance strategic thinking with hands-on execution?
- Are you comfortable working across global teams and time zones?
- Do you enjoy the challenge of market expansion and localization?
ASSUMPTION: These values are derived from the company mission and "Why work at Speak" section, which emphasizes impact, teamwork, and passion for the problem they're solving.
⚠️ Potential Challenges
The role requires balancing central playbook implementation while adapting to local market needs, potentially navigating complex cross-cultural communication across global offices, and scaling a product in new markets where the company has less established presence compared to its Asian success. Managing growth targets while building team capabilities may require significant time investment.
ASSUMPTION: These challenges are inferred from the nature of the role and company stage, not explicitly stated in the job description.
📈 Similar Roles Comparison
This role combines elements of Country Manager, Head of Growth Marketing, and Product Marketing Leader. Unlike purely marketing-focused roles, this position requires broader business growth ownership including market-specific product feedback. Compared to general marketing leadership roles, this position has a specific geographic focus requiring cultural understanding of US markets while leveraging global learnings.
ASSUMPTION: This comparison is based on standard industry patterns for growth and marketing leadership roles.
📝 Sample Projects
- Developing a comprehensive US market entry strategy with channel prioritization and budget allocation
- Building and executing campaigns targeting specific language-learning segments in the US market
- Establishing localized content strategies that resonate with US consumers
- Creating attribution models to optimize marketing spend across channels
- Developing market feedback loops to inform product development priorities
ASSUMPTION: These projects are illustrative examples based on the listed responsibilities and not explicitly mentioned in the job description.
❓ Key Questions to Ask During Interview
- How do you measure success for the US market growth, and what are the current KPIs you're tracking?
- What have been the biggest challenges in adapting the product for Western markets compared to your success in Asian markets?
- How autonomous is the US market team in decision-making versus following centralized strategies?
- What are the primary growth channels that have shown promise in early US market testing?
- How does the product development cycle incorporate feedback from different market teams?
- What is the current team structure supporting US market growth, and what are the hiring priorities?
ASSUMPTION: These questions are suggested based on the role type and may need adaptation for specific interviews.
📌 Disclaimer
⚠️ This enhanced job description was AI-generated based on the original job listing. Information has been organized and supplemented with industry-standard insights where details were not provided. All assumptions are explicitly labeled. Applicants should verify all details directly with the employer before making decisions based on this content.
📌 Next Steps for Applicants
- Research Speak's language learning app, especially its approach to conversational learning and AI implementation
- Review your experience for specific growth metrics and user acquisition successes in US markets that align with Speak's needs
- Prepare examples that demonstrate your ability to balance global strategy with local market implementation
- Highlight experience with consumer subscription products and language learning if applicable
- Tailor your resume to include keywords from the job description, particularly around growth marketing, market expansion, and team leadership
- Prepare to discuss your understanding of the language learning market and competitive landscape
- Connect with current employees on LinkedIn if possible to gain additional insights about the company culture