Lifecycle Marketing Principal, Consumer Growth & Experience

Upside; New York, Washington (NY, District of Columbia); Hybrid; USD 170,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health coverage

Equity (ISOs)

401(k)

Parental leave

Wellness memberships

Mental health support

Unlimited PTO

Flexible work

Lunch reimbursement

ERGs

L&D stipend

Transparent culture

Mission-driven

Job summary

Upside seeks a Lifecycle Marketing Principal to own and scale its automated consumer lifecycle engine across onboarding, habituation, retention, and referrals. You will partner with product and martech to deliver Braze-driven, cross-platform experiences that drive MAU and engagement in a hybrid NYC or DC environment.

You'll be hands-on with modern marketing platforms (Braze, Iterable, Salesforce Marketing Cloud) to design scalable, always-on programs and an automated advocacy loop.

Qualifications

• 8+ years in Lifecycle Marketing/CRM with strong retention track record.
• Hands-on experience with modern marketing platforms (Braze/Iterable/SFMC).
• Experience building mobile-first lifecycle programs across push, in-app, and content cards.
• Experience with AI tools to automate agents, skills, and workflows.
• Data-driven decision making with test-and-learn mindset.
• Collaborative, strong stakeholder management and communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Own and scale the core lifecycle funnel across onboarding, habituation, reactivation, and referrals.
• Partner with Product and Product Marketing on Braze-orchestrated experiences and off-platform channels (email, push, SMS).
• Define data requirements with martech, analytics, and data science teams.
• Modernize referral and advocacy programs end-to-end.
• Influence leadership and drive autonomous delivery of strategic lifecycle initiatives.

Skills

Lifecycle Marketing

CRM

Mobile-first marketing

AI-driven automation

Data-driven decision making

Cross-functional collaboration

Excellent communication

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Marketing/Business

Tools

Braze

Iterable

Salesforce Marketing Cloud

Job description

Meet Upside:

We created Upside to transform brick-and-mortar commerce. Our technology uses the sophistication of online retail-profit measurement, attribution, and incrementality to provide users with more value on their everyday purchases and brick-and-mortar businesses with new, profitable customers. We've helped millions of users earn 2 to 3 times more cashback than any other product, and hundreds of thousands of brick-and-mortar businesses earn measurable profit. Billions of dollars in commerce run through the Upside platform every year, and that value goes directly back to our retailer partners, the consumers they serve, and important sustainability initiatives.

The Impact You'll Make

As the Lifecycle Marketing Principal, Consumer Growth & Experience, you'll be responsible for the growth of Upside's automated, full-funnel consumer lifecycle engine that isn't tied to a single merchant bet. You'll build and scale onboarding, habituation, and referral/advocacy programs that compound across every vertical (fuel, grocery, restaurant, and more), and you'll be lifecycle's hands-on partner to our product and product marketing teams as we turn our consumer facing surfaces, on-and-off platform, into a genuine growth channel. You'll report to the Director of Lifecycle Marketing and operate with practitioner-level autonomy: no direct reports, high accountability, hands-on in Braze.

What You'll Do

Own & Scale the Core Funnel

• Architect the Automated Funnel: Lead "Core Lifecycle" work streams, helping us continue to evolve the program into a robust, automated ecosystem. You will personally design, build, instrument, and optimize sophisticated lifecycle automations across onboarding, habituation (M1-M3 retention), reactivation, high-upside viral referral loops, and more.
• This is a highly hands-on role requiring deep expertise in CRM and marketing automation platforms to create scalable, "always-on" drivers of MAU and retention.
• Build with a test-and-learn mindset; every meaningful automation change ships with a control or holdout

Drive Cross-Platform Experience

• Be lifecycle's primary hands-on partner to Product product and product marketing on Braze-orchestrated experiences, on and off platform (content cards, in-app messages, connected content, etc) and owned off-platform surfaces (email, push, SMS), turning them into a scalable acquisition and engagement channel.
• In partnership with product marketing, support GTM strategy, feature & capability launches, and experimentation cadences with the goal of deeper product adoption.
• Define the technical data requirements (events, attributes, etc) these experiences need, in partnership with martech, analytics, and data science teams.

Modernize Referral & Advocacy

• Support the evolution and optimization of Upside's referral program end to end as a modern, automated advocacy loop, in tight partnership with product marketing and product teams.

Strategic Influence & Autonomy

• Executive Business Framing: Function as a trusted, high-visibility partner to leadership teams across consumer, product, analytics and executive stakeholders to shape and impact our commercial growth model by turning abstract lifecycle problems into clear strategic roadmaps.
• Autonomous Operation: Be comfortable operating independently while managing projects of extreme complexity and high risk while serving as an expert resource and mentor for the wider lifecycle team.

Competencies You'll Need

• 8+ years of progressive experience in Lifecycle Marketing and CRM, with a demonstrated track record of increasing consumer engagement and retention within a relevant mobile-first B2C experience, a marketplace brand, or other related industry.
• Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Business Administration, or a related field.
• Deep functional knowledge in modern marketing engagement platforms such as Braze, Iterable, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, specifically with hands-on experience building and architecting solutions in platforms. This role requires ongoing practitioner-level expertise and comfort personally building, troubleshooting, and optimizing sophisticated automation programs.
• Experience developing and optimizing mobile-first lifecycle marketing programs across push notifications, in-app messaging, content cards, and other app-native engagement channels.
• AI-forward practitioner with hands-on experience leveraging AI tools to build and refine agents, skills and automation frameworks that accelerate velocity and efficiency across end-to-end lifecycle execution.
• Data-first decision maker with a test-and-learn mindset. Outstanding analytical and critical thinking abilities, and the capacity to interpret and distribute performance data into practical, digestible insights for stakeholders across the business and inform future strategies.
• A collaborative mindset with a proven ability to build strong, impactful partnerships across diverse teams.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to influence and persuade collaborators at all levels.

The fine print:

Location:

This hybrid role is based in our DC or NYC office. In-office attendance is required on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday and may increase based on project-based needs and changes to Upside's in-office policy over time.

Compensation:

The U.S. base salary range for this full-time position varies by work location:

• Tier 1: NYC $185,000 - $200,000
• Tier 2: Washington, DC $170,000 - $185,000

In addition to base salary, this position is also eligible for equity and benefits.

The final starting pay will be determined based on job-related skills, experience, qualifications, work location, and market conditions. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your location during the hiring process.

Benefits:

• Medical, dental, and vision coverage starting on Day 1
• Equity (ISOs)
• 401(k) program
• Family planning programs + paid parental leave
• Physical fitness and wellness memberships
• Emotional and mental health support programs
• Unlimited PTO + 10 paid federal holidays + our annual, week-long Winter Break
• Flexible work environment
• Lunch reimbursement for in-office employees
• Employee Resource Groups
• Learning and Development stipend
• Transparent culture
• Amazing mission!

Diversity and Inclusion:

Diversity drives innovation, and our differences make us stronger. We're passionate about building a workplace that represents a variety of backgrounds, skills, and perspectives, and we do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. Everyone is welcome here!

If there's anything we can do to support a disability or special need during your application or interview process, please email [e-mail].

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