Sr/Director, CRM & Retention

Clear Destination Inc.; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 190,000 - 275,000; Full time

Job summary

Clear Destination Inc. is seeking a Director of CRM & Retention to own the full customer lifecycle—from onboarding to referrals and long-term loyalty. This leadership role sits at the crossroads of performance, tech, product, and customer experience.

You'll define messaging across Email, SMS, and Push, build scalable journeys, and partner with cross-functional teams to drive activation, retention, and lifetime value across regions and markets.

Qualifications

• 8-12+ years in CRM, lifecycle, or retention marketing in high-growth B2C or fintech environments.
• Proven experience owning CRM strategy across onboarding, referral, loyalty, and reactivation.
• Deep hands-on knowledge of CRM platforms (i.e. Zeta, Braze, Iterable) and CDPs with behavioral data.
• Track record building high-performing teams and scaling CRM globally.
• Sharp testing and experimentation mindset; move quickly, iterate often, and data-led.
• Strong strategic partner to product, creative, and channel leads.
• Fluent in engagement, LTV, and retention metrics; turn insight into growth.
• Experience across time zones and markets, including GDPR/CCPA compliance.
• Based in the US ( Eastern or Central preferred) or UK, with hybrid/remote flexibility.

Responsibilities

• Own CRM and lifecycle marketing strategy end-to-end.
• Lead and scale a high-performing CRM team across operations, analytics, and journey strategy.
• Develop and optimize lifecycle journeys tailored to segments and product behaviors.
• Design and grow our referral program in collaboration with product and growth.
• Drive activation across regions with messaging and sequencing.
• Test and iterate at scale across segmentation, timing, creative, and channel mix.
• Optimize our new CRM platform for behavior-based journeys and real-time triggers.
• Work cross-functionally with Growth, Paid Media, Regional Marketing, Product, and Performance Creative.
• Turn data into direction by reporting on CRM performance and insights.
• Champion retention and LTV as company-wide priorities.

Skills

CRM strategy

Lifecycle marketing

Team leadership

Data analytics

Experimentation

Cross-functional collaboration

Tools

Zeta

Braze

Iterable

Job description

About The Role:
We're looking for a Director of CRM & Retention to own the full customer lifecycle - from first activation to repeat usage, referrals, and long-term loyalty.

This is a critical leadership role at the intersection of performance, tech, product, and customer experience. You'll define how we use messaging to engage customers across Email, SMS, and Push, but also how we drive impact beyond comms - through smart journey design, seamless onboarding, activation flows, and high-leverage referral programs.

You'll partner closely with cross-functional stakeholders to ensure CRM is embedded across the business and built to drive outcomes. Whether it's increasing activation in a core corridor, leveraging pricing to drive higher ROAS, reactivating dormant users, or turning happy customers into referrers, you'll be at the center of it.

If you're a lifecycle leader who's equal parts strategic, martech and data-savvy, and ready to build - we'd love to talk.

What You Will Do:

• Own CRM and lifecycle marketing strategy end-to-end, from onboarding and education to referral, reactivation, and retention.
• Lead and scale a high-performing CRM team across campaign operations, analytics, and journey strategy.
• Develop and optimize lifecycle journeys tailored to customer segments, product behaviors, and regional priorities.
• Design and grow our referral program - working closely with product and growth to maximize impact, reward structure, and messaging.
• Drive activation across regions - building the messaging and sequencing that turns sign-ups into engaged users.
• Test and iterate at scale - developing experiments across segmentation, timing, creative, and channel mix.
• Optimize our new CRM platform to unlock behavior-based journeys, deep personalization, and real-time triggers.
• Work cross-functionally with Growth, Paid Media, Regional Marketing, Product, and Performance Creative to align on goals, share insights, and deliver a seamless customer experience. You will own the CRM programs across our different product and business verticals.
• Turn data into direction - reporting on CRM performance, uncovering drivers, and applying those learnings quickly.
• Champion retention and LTV as company-wide priorities, bringing insight and accountability to every part of the customer journey.

What We're Looking For:

• 8-12+ years in CRM, lifecycle, or retention marketing, ideally in high-growth B2C or fintech environments.
• Proven experience owning CRM strategy across multiple stages of the customer lifecycle - including onboarding, referral, loyalty, and reactivation.
• Deep hands-on knowledge of CRM platforms (i.e. Zeta, Braze, Iterable, etc) - and comfort working with CDPs and behavioral data.
• Track record of building high-performing teams and scaling CRM functions globally.
• Sharp testing and experimentation mindset - you move quickly, iterate often, and let data lead.
• Strong strategic partner to product, creative, and channel leads.
• Fluent in engagement, LTV, and retention metrics - with experience turning insight into growth.
• Experience working across time zones and markets, including multicultural messaging and global compliance (GDPR, CCPA, etc)
• Based in the US (Eastern or Central time zones preferred) or UK, with flexibility across hybrid or remote structures.

Salary:

• Director: $190,000 - $240,000 USD
• Sr. Director: $215,000 - $275,000 USD