CRM Lifecycle Marketing Manager (Freelance)

UNFOLD; Culver City (CA); Remote; USD 83,000 - 131,000; Part time

Job summary

UNFOLD is seeking a Freelance CRM Lifecycle Marketing Manager to support an upcoming client engagement focused on email and SMS lifecycle marketing. You will own the strategy, setup, execution, optimization, and reporting of CRM programs, joining an active project and collaborating with our internal team and client partners.

The ideal candidate has hands-on experience with Customer.io or similar platforms and can map journeys, configure segments, QA campaigns, analyze performance, and drive

Qualifications

• 5+ years hands-on CRM, lifecycle or retention marketing experience.
• Strong understanding of email & SMS marketing, segmentation and consent.
• Experience building automated journeys from strategy to execution.
• Familiarity with event data and behavioral triggers.
• Excellent collaboration across analytics, product, and creative teams.

Responsibilities

• Develop and map email/SMS lifecycle strategies aligned to client goals.
• Build journeys, segments, suppression rules, and timing in Customer.io.
• Configure triggers, branches, and personalization to optimize engagement.
• Execute campaigns, QA, test, and launch with reporting and learnings.
• Analyze performance and provide actionable optimization recommendations.

Skills

CRM Lifecycle Marketing

Email Marketing

SMS Marketing

A/B Testing

Analytics

Tools

Customer.io

Job description

Location: Remote / Los Angeles preferred
Engagement: Freelance
Reports To: VP, Media

About Us

UNFOLD is an award-winning digital creative agency based in Los Angeles, partnering with some of the world’s most dynamic entertainment and brand clients. We create culturally relevant, digitally driven work that connects audiences and brands across platforms.

The Role

Our Media team is seeking an experienced Freelance CRM Lifecycle Marketing Manager to support an upcoming client engagement focused on email and SMS lifecycle marketing.

This is a hands‑on freelance role supporting the strategy, setup, execution, optimization, and reporting of a CRM program. We’re looking for someone who can jump into an active project, work closely with our internal team and client partners, and help take the program from initial journey mapping and platform setup through campaign execution and ongoing optimization.

The ideal candidate has strong hands‑on experience with Customer.io or a comparable lifecycle marketing platform and understands how CRM can support onboarding, activation, conversion, retention, and customer lifetime value.

You should be comfortable both developing recommendations and getting into the platform to build segments, configure journeys, QA campaigns, analyze performance, and make ongoing optimizations.

CRM Strategy & Lifecycle Planning

• Support the development of email and SMS lifecycle strategies based on defined client goals.
• Map customer journeys across key lifecycle stages, including pre-launch, acquisition, onboarding, activation, conversion, retention, re‑engagement, and win‑back.
• Define journey objectives, audiences, entry triggers, timing, messaging, branches, exits, suppression rules, and measurement.
• Recommend segmentation strategies based on customer behavior, lifecycle stage, engagement, and available first‑party data.
• Identify opportunities to improve activation, conversion, retention, and customer lifetime value.
• Work with the UNFOLD team to prioritize CRM initiatives based on business goals, available data, and project scope.

CRM Platform Setup & Execution

• Build and manage email and SMS campaigns and automated lifecycle journeys within Customer.io.
• Configure audiences, segments, subscription preferences, suppression rules, personalization, and reporting settings.
• Set up automation triggers, branches, timing, exit criteria, and customer eligibility rules.
• Build, schedule, test, QA, and launch email and SMS campaigns.
• Configure links, tracking, personalization fields, and campaign measurement.
• Work with internal, client, and development teams to identify the customer events and data required to support CRM journeys.
• Validate customer events and data needed for campaign and automation activation.
• Troubleshoot campaign, audience, event, and automation issues as needed.

Testing, Optimization & Reporting

• Monitor active email and SMS campaigns and lifecycle journeys.
• Identify performance trends, issues, and optimization opportunities.
• Develop and execute A/B tests across messaging, timing, audience eligibility, journey logic, and other meaningful variables.
• Analyze delivery, engagement, clicks, conversion, activation, purchase, retention, and other available downstream outcomes.
• Provide clear findings and actionable recommendations based on performance.
• Support recurring reporting and communicate key learnings to the UNFOLD team.

Creative & Cross‑Functional Support

• Support CRM briefs and messaging recommendations for email and SMS.
• Collaborate with Creative and Strategy teams on messaging, design, templates, and content needs.
• Ensure campaigns follow approved brand guidelines and CRM best practices.
• Coordinate with product and development teams around technical dependencies, event requirements, identity matching, deep linking, and other implementation needs.
• Clearly flag blockers, dependencies, and technical requirements that may impact execution or timing.
• Maintain organized documentation of journeys, campaigns, testing, learnings, and outstanding requirements.

Here’s What It Takes

• 5+ years of hands‑on experience in CRM, lifecycle marketing, retention marketing, email marketing, or a comparable performance‑focused role.
• Hands‑on Customer.io experience strongly preferred.
• Experience building automated customer journeys from strategy and mapping through platform execution.
• Strong understanding of email and SMS marketing, segmentation, personalization, suppression, consent, and subscription management.
• Experience working with customer event data and behavioral triggers to power lifecycle campaigns.
• Understanding of lifecycle and performance metrics, including conversion, CAC, retention, churn, repeat purchase/use, and LTV.
• Experience developing and evaluating A/B tests and turning results into actionable optimizations.
• Comfortable collaborating with analytics, product, development, creative, and media teams.
• Experience with mobile apps, subscription products, e‑commerce, marketplaces, or other performance‑driven digital businesses is a plus.
• Strong analytical and problem‑solving skills.
• Excellent attention to detail, particularly when building, testing, and QAing automated communications.
• Ability to work independently, manage deadlines, and quickly integrate into an existing project team.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills.

About Our Culture

UNFOLD is a minority‑owned business led by two diverse founders who embrace diversity across all areas of the company. We are committed to building teams that reflect a wide range of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. Employment decisions are based on business needs, job requirements, qualifications, and performance. We strive to maintain a positive, safe, and respectful workplace and have a zero‑tolerance policy for discrimination or harassment of any kind.

NOTE: This is a freelance, project‑based engagement. Responsibilities, deliverables, and timing may evolve based on client needs, project priorities, and the agreed scope of work.