Associate Director, Lifecycle Marketing

About Stepful:

Stepful is reimagining allied healthcare training by offering affordable, online, instructor-led, and AI-supported programs that help learners—especially those from underserved communities—launch high-demand healthcare careers.

In addition to our direct-to-consumer training, Stepful partners with leading healthcare institutions to build talent pipelines and address the growing shortage of allied health workers. Our graduates, including Medical Assistants, Pharmacy Technicians and more, go on to work at major employers like CVS, NY-Presbyterian, and Walgreens.

Stepful is backed by Y Combinator, Reach Capital, and AlleyCorp, with a recent $31.5M Series B led by Oak HC/FT. We were named the #1 EdTech company in the U.S. by TIME for 2025.

We’re unlocking the full potential of the global workforce—improving access to quality healthcare for everyone, everywhere.

Our values:

We credit much of our success to our exceptional team. We’re looking for mission-driven individuals who thrive in fast-paced, sometimes ambiguous environments, and embody our four core values:

Care first: We do whatever it takes for our students to succeed.

Learn quickly: We test, learn with data, and iterate.

Build together: We win when we rely on each other.

Own it: We show up, take initiative, and show pride.

The opportunity:

As our Associate Director of Student Lifecycle Marketing, you will define and lead the strategy for how we engage and support Stepful students from enrollment through certification and job placement. You’ll oversee all communication touchpoints across email, SMS, and in-product messaging, and build systems that keep instructors, coaches, and support teams aligned around a consistent, high-quality student experience.

You will own the vision and roadmap for lifecycle communication, making sure every message—from onboarding to externship to job preparation—is timely, impactful, and personalized. Working closely with Growth, Product, Learning, and Career Services, you’ll translate insights into cross-functional strategies that improve student engagement, retention, and outcomes.

This role reports into the Head of Growth Marketing.

What you’ll do:

• Lead the strategy and execution of all student communications across email, SMS, and in-product channels using Customer.io. This includes setting standards for segmentation, personalization, and experimentation, with a strong focus on data-driven performance improvement.

• Build and maintain automated lifecycle messaging that drives engagement, retention, certification, and job placement outcomes.

• Ensure consistent and coordinated communications across instructors, career coaches, and support teams to create a seamless student experience.

• Collaborate with Product, Learning, Career Services, and Growth to align messaging with key milestones in the student journey.

• Manage and prioritize inbound requests from cross-functional teams, balancing short-term needs with long-term strategic goals.

What you’ll bring:

• 8+ years of experience in lifecycle, CRM, or retention marketing—ideally in education, healthcare, or a mission-driven consumer businesses

• Knowledge of how to design structured user journeys and coordinated messaging across email, SMS, and in-product channels

• Proficiency with tools like Customer.io, Zapier, and Segment, and comfort building automated communication flows

• A data-driven mindset with a track record of improving engagement, retention, and program completion metrics

• Experience managing cross-functional input and aligning teams like Product, Learning, Career Services, and Growth around shared messaging goals

• A deep commitment to the student experience, helping people succeed in healthcare careers through better communication and support

• Understanding of how to integrate AI into lifecycle communication workflows—whether by generating message variants for testing, scaling personalization logic, or identifying intervention points using predictive insights

Interview Process:

1. Introductory call with Talent Acquisition team member

2. Interview with Hiring Manager

3. Take-Home Assignment

4. Virtual Panel Interview

5. On-Site Panel Interview

Benefits and Compensation:

• Meaningful Equity Stake

• Subsidized Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance plan options

• 401(k)

• FSA, HSA and commuter benefits

• Open vacation policy, including:

  • Guidance of 15 days PTO annually

  • Stepful closed the last week of December

  • 15 work-from-anywhere days

  • 10 public holidays observed for 2025

The target base salary range for this opportunity is $160,000 - $190,000, and is part of a competitive total rewards package including equity and benefits. Individual pay may vary from the target range and is determined by a number of factors including experience, internal pay equity and other relevant business considerations.

Stepful is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate in hiring or any employment decision based on race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, marital status, ancestry, disability, genetic information, veteran status, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, pregnancy, or other applicable legally protected characteristic.