Associate Director, Retention | Talent Pool

Darkroom; United States; Remote; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Unlimited PTO

Remote-First Culture

Parental Leave

Growth opportunities

Job summary

Darkroom is seeking an Associate Director, Retention to lead a growing team focused on email and SMS-driven retention and loyalty for fast-growing e-commerce brands. You will guide strategies, manage cross-functional collaboration, and drive client revenue with data-driven insights.

The role is fully remote with EST hours, supporting a team across multiple hubs, including Europe and the Americas. Strong leadership and communication are essential to succeed in this role.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of digital marketing experience.
• Ability to design customer journeys that build loyalty and LTV.
• Experience leading teams and cross-functional collaboration.
• Experience scaling D2C email and SMS programs.
• Hands-on knowledge of Klaviyo and Shopify stack.
• Experience with SMS platforms: Attentive, PostScript, SMSBump or Klaviyo.

Responsibilities

• Serve as senior client contact to develop retention strategies.
• Lead weekly 1:1s and coach direct reports.
• Develop campaign calendars to scale email and SMS programs.
• Support data analysis and produce client reports.
• Coordinate tasks across specialists and designers.
• Collaborate with Performance Marketing and Strategy teams.
• Set strategic KPIs and provide insights and recommendations.
• Execute automation setups, pop-ups, and app integrations.

Skills

Digital marketing

Team leadership

Retention marketing

Email marketing

SMS marketing

Data-driven decision making

Project management

Communication

Tools

Klaviyo

Shopify

Privy

JustUno

Yotpo

Octane AI

Attentive

PostScript

SMSBump

Job description

About Darkroom

Darkroom is the leading next-generation growth marketing firm engineering the brands of tomorrow. Founded in 2017, we set out to redefine what a modern agency could be, by replacing the inertia of legacy advertising behemoths with a model built for speed, intelligence, and measurable impact.

At our core, Darkroom is a human services company powered by Shadow, a universal AI commerce layer that integrates executive-level strategy with proprietary agentic technology. This fusion enables our teams to deliver outsized returns by enhancing creative output, operational efficiency, and revenue generation across every stage of the customer journey.

Our track record speaks for itself: billions in attributable revenue driven across e-commerce marketplaces, media networks, DTC ecosystems, and social commerce platforms. Every engagement feeds into our proprietary data infrastructure, enabling a continuous feedback loop that accelerates growth, improve margins, and compounds results across our client portfolio.

What began as a boutique design studio has evolved into one of the fastest-growing private companies in America (Inc. 5000) and among the most effective performance media agencies of the 2020s (Varos). Our founders were recognized by Forbes 30 Under 30 for advancing the intersection of technology, marketing, and advertising, cementing Darkroom's role as a defining player in the future of media innovation.

About the role

We are looking for a highly innovative, data-driven, and creative Associate Director, who’s motivated by the challenge of working with some of the fastest-growing e-commerce and digital brands. You will lead a team of email, SMS, and retention marketing industry experts to drive client revenue, and partner with internal cross-functional colleagues to go deeper on understanding our customer needs and insights with a specific focus on deepening retention and building loyalty. You will lead a cross-functional team to go deeper building creative strategies in email and SMS campaign development to help our clients grow.

This is a fully remote role supporting a team in the EST time zone and is open to candidates based in Portugal, Brazil and Spain.

You Should Apply if this sounds like you:

You're passionate about e-commerce and digital marketing. You're immersed in the world of direct-to-consumer growth marketing. We're looking for an expert Associate Director, Retention to join our team! In this role, you will lead a growing team within the Retention Marketing Department to strategically develop customized retention (and customer loyalty) marketing strategies that help our clients grow and scale.

• 7+ years of work experience in digital marketing.

• You're passionate about developing creative customer journeys that drive loyalty and lifetime value.

• You're passionate about building teams, training them on best practices, and helping them grow into experts.

• You immerse yourself in scaling personalized D2C/e-commerce email and SMS programs that build deep customer relationships for clients.

• You have experience working in Klaviyo (or a similar ESP's) including list segmentation, lifecycle drip automations, and triggered events. Additionally, you have knowledge of Shopify and their tech stack options such as Privy, JustUno, Yotpo, Octane AI etc.

• You have developed SMS and loyalty programming strategies and have experience working with SMS platforms such as Attentive, PostScript, SMSBump, or Klaviyo.

• You're used to working in a fast paced environment and can project manage multiple tasks at once for yourself, your team and your clients.

• You love making data driven decisions and excel at turning analytics into actionable SMS and email strategies that drive client revenue.

• You dedicate time to learning and being on the cutting edge of trends and best practices in the world of DTC marketing.

• You have experience developing and executing customer loyalty programs that enhance LTV.

• You've had at least one direct report before OR exceptional leadership skills working with cross-functional teams.

• Excellent verbal and written communication and presentation skills, plus ability to clearly articulate and express complex and sometimes technical ideas to a wide variety of people and groups at any level.

A Day in the Life:

• Serve as the senior point of contact for select clients, working to develop best-class retention strategies. On a weekly basis, you will meet with clients to discuss current and future initiatives.

• Conduct weekly 1:1s with your direct reports and manage their workload and capacity to ensure their success. Additionally, you will help train the team to help your direct reports succeed and grow.

• Develop strategic campaign calendars and prioritize projects and initiatives designed to scale your clients’ email and SMS programs.

• Provide support and guidance to help Retention Specialists analyze data, develop winning retention strategies and create reports for clients happiness.

• Project manage and delegate client tasks to your team, consisting of both specialists and designers. Review all client briefs and designs for approval before they are sent to the client.

• Coordinate cross-departmentally with the Performance Marketing and Strategy teams to develop cohesive and creative campaigns that drive client growth.

• Develop strategic KPI’s for clients and work with the retention team to create insights and actionable recommendations.

• Execute on automation/flow logic set-up, pop-up builds, and app integrations.

What it's like to work at Darkroom:

Darkroom is not a typical agency. We are looking for A players who want to build something great. We move fast, think deeply, and expect every team member to bring insight and rigor to everything they touch. We hold a high bar for performance, creativity, and ownership - but we also support each other relentlessly. No egos, no red tape - just world-class talent building something remarkable.

We believe in autonomy with accountability, truth over comfort, and outcomes over optics.

• Unlimited PTO + Local holidays (Relevant to your hub): Rebooting is part of the work. Take the time you need to stay sharp.

• Remote-First Culture: Many roles are fully remote. Employees based in or near our New York or Lisbon HQs are expected to work hybrid with weekly in-office time. Hub locations include the Brazil and Spain.

• Parental Leave: Flexible parental leave to support new parents during this important transition.

• Growth: Our interdisciplinary model gives every Darkroomer exposure far beyond their core role. Grow your skills, expand your influence, and stay at the forefront of the industry.

Equal Opportunity Statement:

Darkroom is an equal opportunity workplace—we are dedicated to equal employment opportunities regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national orientation, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity, or Veteran status. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements.