Customer Lifecycle Marketing Practice Lead

About the role

The Customer Lifecycle Marketing (CLM) Practice Lead at Merkle, reported to the President of Data-Driven Marketing, is the commercial owner and market-facing leader of the CLM practice. It is a commercial leadership role, not a delivery management role, measuring success through practice revenue, pipeline growth, win rate and cross-practice attach. The role covers four areas: lifecycle marketing and email/CRM execution, loyalty strategy and technology, promotions and gamified experiences, and first-party data and identity infrastructure. It is a remote/hybrid opportunity based in New York.

Key responsibilities

• Own the commercial performance of the practice: revenue, pipeline, forecast accuracy and margin, and build the annual growth plan
• Approve commercial scope, pricing and deal economics, and engage senior sales leadership on larger deals
• Own the CLM offer portfolio and articulate the integrated CLM story to the market, maintaining positioning through analyst relationships and thought leadership
• Lead CLM-specific pursuits such as loyalty RFPs, lifecycle marketing retainers and first-party data mandates, building pursuit teams and coordinating with demand generation and sales
• Maintain executive-level relationships with key account buyers, act as executive sponsor on flagship accounts and bring the practice into integrated pursuits
• Identify and develop commercial talent and pursue-capable solutions leads

Required profile

• 12+ years of experience in CRM, loyalty, lifecycle marketing or marketing technology, including at least five years in a commercial, practice leadership or client partnership role at a services firm
• Track record of owning or co-owning a practice revenue target, pipeline or growth responsibility
• Bachelor's degree required; MBA or equivalent preferred but not required if offset by a strong track record
• Hunter orientation, able to read a P&L, build a pricing model and defend deal economics
• Willingness to travel based on client and business needs

Required skills

• Loyalty strategy and program design (earn/burn, tiered, coalition, experiential) and loyalty platform selection or implementation (Salesforce Loyalty, Talon.One, Punchh, Kognitiv)
• Promotional strategy, offer architecture and gamified CRM experiences, including incrementality measurement
• Working knowledge of lifecycle marketing/ESP platforms (Braze, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Adobe Journey Optimizer, Iterable, Klaviyo)
• Familiarity with first-party data, identity resolution and clean rooms (LiveRamp, AWS Clean Rooms, Google ADH)
• Experience leading competitive RFP responses for loyalty, CRM or lifecycle marketing mandates

What we offer

• Annual base salary range of $235,500 - $330,500, with eligibility for discretionary incentive compensation
• Medical, vision and dental insurance, life insurance, and short- and long-term disability insurance
• 401k, flexible paid time off, at least 15 paid holidays per year, paid sick and safe leave and paid parental leave