Head of Marketing

TenOneTen; Santa Monica (CA); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 220,000; Full time

Job summary

Athlete To Athlete is seeking a Head of Marketing to lead our marketing function, owning acquisition, retention, branding and product go-to-market. The role reports to the CEO and blends strategy with hands-on execution in a high-volume, multi-channel environment.

The position prioritizes paid acquisition and lifecycle marketing, with a senior leader who can optimize CAC, lead quality and lifetime value while guiding internal teams and external partners. Hybrid work in Santa Monica.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of progressive marketing experience.
• Leadership across multiple marketing disciplines.
• Deep expertise in performance marketing and paid acquisition.
• Lifecycle/CRM experience.
• Strong analytical and data-driven decision making.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Develop the annual marketing strategy, priorities, roadmap and budget.
• Establish clear KPIs across acquisition, retention, revenue and brand, and hold teams and partners to them.
• Translate company objectives into actionable, integrated marketing plans.
• Build the right marketing organization, capabilities, processes and operating rhythms to support growth.
• Partner closely with Product, Sales, Partnerships and company leadership.
• Use customer insights, market intelligence and performance data to influence broader company strategy.
• Serve as a senior voice for the customer and the Athlete To Athlete brand across the organization.
• Own the strategy for profitably acquiring new customers, with a view of CAC, lead quality and lifetime value.
• Lead paid media, digital acquisition, conversion optimization and campaign performance with agencies and freelancers.
• Establish acquisition KPIs and measurement frameworks, including CAC and ROI.
• Use testing and attribution to improve channel and campaign effectiveness.
• Link acquisition strategy to downstream customer quality and retention.
• Work with Partnerships to turn partnerships into efficient acquisition channels.
• Own the customer journey beyond acquisition, from onboarding to retention and advocacy.
• Develop strategies to improve engagement, conversion and upsell.
• Build segmented journeys across email and other channels.
• Collaborate with Product and Customer teams to reduce friction and increase value.

Skills

Leadership

Performance marketing

Paid acquisition

Lifecycle marketing

Brand strategy

Analytics

Communication

Job description

About Athlete To Athlete

At Athlete To Athlete, we are building a more connected future for athlete development. We believe athletes grow best when they are supported by meaningful relationships, experienced mentorship, and communities that genuinely care about their success.

Athlete To Athlete is a human-first, tech-forward platform that connects young athletes with accomplished college athletes who are actively living the journey themselves. Since launching four years ago, we have worked with more than 35,000 athletes, grown more than 100% every year, and are on track to facilitate more than 100,000 mentorship sessions this year. We are a Series A company building the team that will take us through our next stage of growth.

The Role

The Head of Marketing will lead the marketing function for Athlete To Athlete, owning how we acquire and retain customers profitably, build the brand, bring our products to market and communicate our story. This role reports to our CEO.

This is a broad leadership role for a full-stack marketer, and the top priorities are paid acquisition and lifecycle marketing. The right leader understands what drives profitable acquisition, from channel mix and CAC to lead quality, conversion and lifetime value, and is comfortable setting the vision and priorities while also rolling up their sleeves to drive execution.

You will lead our internal marketing team, including our Creative Lead, and manage the media agency and freelance partners behind a high-volume, multi-channel paid media program. The position will be hybrid, 3 days per week in our Santa Monica office

Your North Star

Profitable growth. Success in this role means acquiring more of the right customers at a CAC that works, then keeping them longer. We measure it through CAC, lead quality, conversion, retention and customer lifetime value.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop the annual marketing strategy, priorities, roadmap and budget in support of company goals.
• Establish clear KPIs across acquisition, retention, revenue and brand, and hold the team and agency partners accountable to them.
• Translate company objectives into actionable, integrated marketing plans.
• Build the right marketing organization, capabilities, processes and operating rhythms to support growth.
• Partner closely with Product, Sales, Partnerships and company leadership.
• Use customer insights, market intelligence and performance data to influence broader company strategy.
• Serve as a senior voice for the customer and the Athlete To Athlete brand across the organization.

Paid Acquisition & Performance Marketing

• Own the strategy for profitably acquiring new customers, primarily the parents and families of young athletes, with a clear view of how channel mix, CAC, lead quality and conversion drive contribution margin.
• Lead paid media, digital acquisition, conversion optimization and campaign performance across channels in partnership with digital media agencies and external experts.
• Establish clear acquisition KPIs and measurement frameworks, including CAC, CAC payback, lead quality, conversion and return on marketing investment.
• Use testing, attribution and performance data to continuously improve channel and campaign effectiveness, and move budget to what works.
• Connect acquisition strategy to downstream customer quality, engagement, retention and lifetime value.
• Work with the Partnerships team to turn strategic partnerships into efficient acquisition channels.

Lifecycle Marketing

• Own the customer journey beyond acquisition, from onboarding and activation through retention and advocacy.
• Develop strategies to improve engagement, conversion, upsell, cross-sell, renewal and reactivation.
• Build segmented and behavior-based customer journeys across email, in-product and other owned channels.
• Partner across Product and Customer teams to identify friction points and improve long-term customer value.
• Raise retention and lifetime value so the business can afford to invest more in acquisition.

Brand Marketing

• Own and evolve A2A's brand strategy, positioning, messaging and overall market presence.
• Build awareness, trust and relevance with athletes, mentors, families, partners and the broader sports community.
• Identify opportunities to build the brand through content, events, athletes, creators and culturally relevant moments.
• Ensure the brand remains distinctive and consistent as the company, audience and product portfolio grow.
• Work with the Partnerships team to extend the A2A brand through athletes, teams, leagues, sports organizations, brands, media companies and creators.

Product Marketing

• Own positioning, messaging and value propositions across A2A products, audiences and offerings.
• Develop and lead go-to-market strategies for new products, features and programs.
• Translate product capabilities into clear, compelling customer benefits.
• Build audience, customer and competitive insights that inform marketing and product strategy, and bring the voice of the customer into roadmap decisions with Product.
• Create sales, partnership and customer-facing enablement that helps teams tell a consistent story.

Creative Leadership & Agency Oversight

• Own the quality and consistency of how the brand shows up across every marketing touchpoint.
• Develop strong creative briefs that translate business strategies into compelling work.
• Manage our media agency and other external partners, and hold them accountable for performance and cost.
• Partner with our internal Creative Lead to prioritize the work of creative resources, freelancers and external agencies, and determine the right mix of internal talent, agency support and freelance resources as the team grows.

External Communications

• Own the company's external communications strategy, including corporate messaging, announcements, PR and thought leadership.
• Develop narratives that strengthen A2A's reputation and clearly communicate the company's vision and momentum.
• Support senior leaders with communications for customers, partners, employees and the broader market.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of progressive marketing experience, including leadership across multiple marketing disciplines. B2C and B2B experience preferred.
• Deep expertise in performance marketing and paid acquisition, with a track record of scaling paid channels profitably.
• Strong understanding of what drives profitable acquisition: unit economics, CAC and payback, lead quality, conversion, retention and lifetime value.
• Lifecycle/CRM experience, plus working fluency across product marketing, brand, communications and creative.
• A track record of building marketing strategies that connect directly to business growth.
• Experience marketing a consumer product, digital platform, subscription business, marketplace or similarly customer-driven business. Experience in sports, youth sports or athlete-focused brands is a plus.
• Experience developing positioning, messaging and go-to-market strategies for new products or offerings.
• Strong brand and creative judgment, with experience overseeing agencies, freelancers and/or internal creative teams.
• Strong analytical instincts and comfort using data to prioritize investments and evaluate performance.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, and the ability to move comfortably between strategy and execution.

What will make you successful

• You're commercially minded. You know marketing has to create measurable business value, and you think in CAC, payback and lifetime value, not just volume.
• You're a strategist and a builder. You can define where we're going and help make it happen.
• You're customer obsessed. You want to understand what motivates athletes and families, where they encounter friction and what makes them stay.
• You're comfortable with ambiguity and change. You're energized by building the marketing organization, processes and playbook as the company grows, and you can pivot quickly to capitalize on a new opportunity.

$180,000 - $220,000 a year

Athlete to Athlete is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to providing a workplace free from discrimination and harassment. We do not discriminate on the basis of legally protected characteristics under applicable federal, state or local law.

Athlete to Athlete is also committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified candidates and employees with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation during the application or interview process, please let the recruiter know.