Sr/Director, CRM & Retention

Colonial Group; United States; Hybrid; USD 190,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Colonial Group seeks a Director of CRM & Retention to own the full customer lifecycle, from onboarding to referral and long-term loyalty. You will define messaging across Email, SMS, and Push and shape journeys, activation flows, and cross-functional programs to maximize retention and lifetime value.

You will build and lead a high-performing CRM team, design lifecycle journeys, optimize our CRM platform, and run experiments with data-driven decisions to grow activation and revenue across

Qualifications

• 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.
• Hands-on knowledge of CRM platforms (Zeta, Braze, Iterable) and comfort with behavioral data.
• Track record of building high-performing teams and scaling CRM functions globally.
• Sharp testing and experimentation mindset with data-led decision making.

Responsibilities

• Own CRM and lifecycle marketing strategy end-to-end, from onboarding to referral 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 and regional priorities.
• Design and grow our referral program in collaboration with product and growth teams.
• Drive activation across regions with messaging and sequencing for sign-ups to engaged users.
• Test and iterate at scale through segmentation, timing, creative, and channel mix.
• Optimize our new CRM platform for behavior-based journeys and real-time triggers.
• Collaborate across Growth, Paid Media, Regional Marketing, Product, and Performance Creative.

Skills

CRM strategy

Team leadership

Data-driven

Experimentation

Cross-functional collaboration

Global experience

Tools

Zeta

Braze

Iterable

CDPs

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