Lifecycle Marketing Director / Senior Manager

U.S. News & World Report is a multifaceted digital media company dedicated to helping citizens, consumers, business leaders and policy officials make important decisions in their lives. We publish independent reporting, rankings, data journalism and advice that has earned the trust of our readers and users for 90 years. Our platforms on usnews.com include Education, Health, Money, Travel, Cars, News and 360 Reviews.

We reach more than millions of people monthly during moments when they are most in need of expert advice and motivated to act on that advice directly on our platforms. Our signature franchises include our “Best” series of consumer guides on colleges, graduate schools, hospitals, diets, cars, financial services and more. These guides provide an easy-to-digest list for consumers to better understand and compare when making their decisions. We continue to publish annual guides of the authoritative Best Colleges and Best Hospitals rankings on our website and in print. And our U.S. News Live flagship conferences highlight important national conversations including Healthcare of Tomorrow and Healthiest Communities.

We believe in having a broad range of talent and backgrounds at U.S. News. We strive to maintain a welcoming workplace where everyone is given an opportunity to succeed and contribute to their fullest.

Your role in helping us shape the future:

U.S. News empowers everyone to thrive. The Lifecycle Marketing Director / Senior Manager will:

• Be the subject matter expert in lifecycle management across a broad marketplace of General Manager led verticals.
• Individual will own to support lifecycle, transactional and promotional goals for B2C and B2B strategies
• Comfortable presenting and articulating lifecycle strategy and email best practices across org and to senior leadership.
• Establish and own lifecycle KPIs (monitor bounce rates, unsubscribes, open rates and CTR) with a clear framework for measurement and optimization.
• Spearhead lifecycle marketing strategies across various customer stages, utilizing email, and other direct marketing channels to enhance engagement and retention.

Are you up to the challenge?

• Campaign & Channel Execution: Manage the end-to-end lifecycle calendar across email, onsite messaging, and push notifications. Design and launch segmented, personalized, and behaviorally triggered campaigns. Drive cross-channel consistency that reflects brand voice and user expectations. Collaborate with cross-functional vertical teams for seamless execution of automated and triggered campaigns. (experience CDP automation tools a plus)
• Team Leadership: Oversee and guide resources supporting CDP and email execution, ensuring clarity, consistency, and quality. Act as the strategic owner of the CDP function, with the opportunity to scale team capacity over time. Establish foundational processes, workflows, and documentation to support long-term team and program growth
• Technical Platform Ownership: Serve as technical owner of Blueshift, USN’s enterprise CDP platform. Provide onboarding, training, and platform documentation for new stakeholders. Act as the internal point of contact for configuration, troubleshooting, and optimization. Stay up to date on martech advancements, data privacy, deliverability best practices, and personalization trends
• Optimization Expertise: Manage and segment customer databases for targeted campaigns, employ A/B testing for continuous improvement, and monitor campaign performance to drive optimizations and personalization strategies. Enhance customer journeys and map out engagement strategies to improve the overall customer experience.
• Comply with global data privacy laws and email/SMS marketing regulations, ensuring all campaigns are compliant and reflect industry best practices.

Position Requirements

You should definitely have:

• Five years to seven years of experience in lifecycle, CRM, retention or email marketing (media or publishing preferred) including:
  • Segmentation and segment building
  • Triggered/Drip campaign building experience - creating journeys based on a user’s experience
  • Campaign execution and optimization
  • Template building using tools like BeePro or built-in ESP tools
  • Campaign analysis, specifically for conversion and revenue optimization
• Deep expertise in campaign orchestration using ESPs, CDPs, and/or CRM platforms
• 3+ years experience leading team and developing talent with a player-coach mindset
• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Marketing, Business or a related field
• Expertise in transforming complex data into strategic insights that guide impactful decisions
• Strong collaborator with a track record of building influence across teams and the wider org
• Excellent communication skills, analytical fluency, and a strong POV on customer experience

It would be nice if you had:

• Blueshift expertise a plus
• Marketing automation platform / CDP (Iterable, Salesforce) experience required
• Familiarity with lead generation and/or audience monetization models
• SMS experience
• Digioh or other form capture experience

What it’s like to work with us:

Talent is our best asset!

We invest in people with passion and potential who understand U.S. News’ dedication to our consumers.

• Entrepreneurial, mission-driven culture with core values of quality and integrity
• Focus on fostering personal and professional growth
• Competitive benefits including paid vacation time, medical, tuition reimbursement, and training
• Collaborative Work Environment ~ Fun, diverse, inclusive and ambitious co-workers

Other Job Info:

• These statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by employees assigned to this job. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of employees assigned to this job.
• U.S. News & World Report strongly encourages all employees to be fully vaccinated (including boosters).
• Preference for New York or Washington, DC based applicants to work a hybrid schedule in those office locations. Remote applicants will be considered.
• The base salary for this position is $120,000 to $160,000. The actual base salary offered will depend on a variety of factors, including without limitation, the qualifications of the individual applicant for the position, years of relevant experience, level of education attained, certifications or other professional licenses held, interview performance, and if applicable, the location in which the applicant lives and/or from which they will be performing the job.