WorldStrides is the global leader in educational travel and experiential learning. The company was founded in 1967 to provide middle school travel programs to Washington, D.C. and has grown to provide a wide range of programs for more than half a million students annually to over 100 countries around the world. WorldStrides offers experiential learning programs in educational travel, performing arts, language immersion, career exploration, service-learning, study abroad, and sports. Each of these experiences helps students to see beyond the classroom and to see the world – and themselves – in new ways.
Job Description
WorldStrides' K12 Individual business is moving from direct mail to a digital-first growth engine. The most important work sits between teams: program launches, website tests and lead data reaching the CRM.
The Marketing Transformation Lead serves as a forward-deployed marketer, embedding in the highest-impact growth, customer experience and marketing effectiveness initiatives. Hands-on and leading across teams, this leader ensures solutions are built, launched and measured, often using AI tools and code, and turns what works into reusable playbooks.
Reporting to the Director, Transformation & Performance, this role owns the stack and funnel and drives always-on experimentation.
Responsibilities
Marketing Funnel & Technology
- Serve as end-to-end owner of the marketing process across channels, reducing time to insight and time to market.
- Own the marketing stack and funnel data pipeline, from ad platforms and tag management through forms, CRM and registration (GA4, GTM, conversion APIs, UTMs, HubSpot).
- Ensure every lead traces from source, campaign and creative to registration.
Feed offline/CRM conversions to ad platforms to optimize for registrations. - Define the future-state marketing experience, maintain the funnel map and align stakeholders on how it evolves.
- Monitor the pipeline and fix broken tags, dropped fields and routing errors before they reach reporting.
- Own form-to-CRM workflows (field mapping, lead routing, nurture triggers); set clear acceptance criteria for IT or build it directly.
Website Experimentation & Optimization
- Run website experimentation as an always-on program.
- Develop and prioritize hypotheses from analytics, research and performance data.
- Launch, measure and scale winning tests, tied to lead quality and registrations, not just clicks.
- Instrument every test before launch and keep a shared test log.
Agency & Partner Management
- Hold paid media, SEO and marketing agencies to cost-per-registration and lead-quality goals; audit their work.
- Own SEO recommendations through to live changes, measured on organic and AI search visibility.
AI & Automation
- Use AI agents and coding tools (e.g., Claude Code) to ship automations, API data pulls, audits, mockups and internal tools.
- Build agents and workflows for research, briefs, content operations, internal linking, technical checks, refreshes, reporting and opportunity discovery.
- Replace manual, repetitive work with documented workflows the team can use, audit and improve.
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Business, IS or related field (or equivalent).
- 5+ years in digital, growth or performance marketing, or marketing ops.
- Hands-on ownership of an ad-to-CRM data pipeline (tagging, conversion tracking, UTMs, offline conversions).
- Track record running an always-on website testing program.
- Paid media agency management with budget and performance accountability.
- Cross-functional delivery with Product and IT, including requirements and QA.
- Everyday use of AI tools to build (e.g., Claude Code, Cursor, n8n).
- Working knowledge of GA4, GTM, UTM governance and HubSpot or similar CRM.
- Comfortable with ambiguity; you frame problems and ship.
- Clear writer who can explain technical issues to vendors, developers and VPs.
Preferred
- HTML/CSS/JS, SQL or Python, or platform API experience (Meta, Google, HubSpot).
- CMS experience (WordPress, Sitecore, HubSpot).
- Testing and behavior tools (VWO, Optimizely, Clarity, Hotjar).
- Background in high-consideration purchases (e.g., education).
- An AI workflow or automation you personally shipped and maintained, plus one quantified result.
Work Perks:
- Comprehensive health benefits: medical, dental, vision, life, AD&D, accident, critical illness, disability insurance, FSA/HSA options with employer HSA contributions, and a generous 401(k) match.
- Generous paid time off including 11 paid company holidays, 25 PTO days the first year (prorated), 1 paid volunteer day, 4 mental health days, and bereavement
- Professional development support, including up to $5,250 annually for tuition reimbursement and up to $1,000 for certifications annually
- Opportunities for paid and discounted travel
- Flexible work schedule providing on-site, remote, and hybrid office opportunities
- Encouraged participation in a wide variety of Employee Resource Groups
- Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and wellness resources, including fitness centers at select locations
- Paid parental, caregiver, and disability leave
- Team Member Discount Program
- Engaging, collaborative, and fun work environment
The salary range listed for this position represents WorldStrides’ good-faith estimate of the base compensation for the role at the time of posting. Actual compensation will be determined based on factors such as relevant experience, skills and qualifications, geographic location, internal equity, and market conditions. The range does not include other forms of compensation or benefits that may be offered as part of the total rewards package.
WorldStrides, a global organization, is committed to educate and serve communities worldwide. Our commitment is fueled by the passion of our team members and partners to make experiential learning accessible, while also being socially, environmentally, and ethically responsible. Together, we accomplish this by investing in initiatives to promote inclusion, diversity, and sustainability.
As an Equal Opportunity Employer, WorldStrides is committed to building a diverse workforce, supported by an environment that promotes inclusion and belonging. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.
WorldStrides will only employ those who are legally authorized to work in the United States. This is not a position for which sponsorship will be provided. Individuals with temporary visas such as E, F-1, J-1, H-1, H-2, L, B, J or TN, or who need sponsorship for work authorization now or in the future, are not eligible for hire. Select seasonal roles may consider students on J-1 or F-1 visas.
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Business, Information Systems, or a related field, or equivalent experience
- 5+ years of experience in digital, growth, performance marketing, or marketing operations
- Hands-on ownership of an advertising-to-CRM data pipeline, including tagging, conversion tracking, UTMs, and offline conversions
- Track record running an always-on website testing program
- Paid media agency management with budget and performance accountability
- Cross-functional delivery with Product and IT, including requirements definition and quality assurance
- Everyday use of AI tools to build workflows and automations, such as Claude Code, Cursor, or n8n
- Working knowledge of GA4, Google Tag Manager, UTM governance, and HubSpot or a similar CRM
- Comfort working with ambiguity, framing problems, and delivering solutions
- Clear writing skills and ability to explain technical issues to vendors, developers, and executives
- HTML, CSS, JavaScript, SQL, Python, or platform API experience
- CMS experience with WordPress, Sitecore, or HubSpot
- Experience with testing and behavior tools such as VWO, Optimizely, Microsoft Clarity, or Hotjar
- Background in high-consideration purchases, such as education
- An AI workflow or automation personally shipped and maintained, with a quantified result
What We Do
WorldStrides provides educational travel and experiences to more than 530,000 students a year. Founded in 1967 by a middle school social studies teacher from Chicago, the company has since grown to become a leader in experiential learning for students of all ages throughout their lifetime learning journey. In addition to domestic and international travel and study abroad programs, WorldStrides offerings include performing arts, sports, language immersion, career exploration, and service-learning. Each of these experiences helps students to see beyond the classroom and to see the world – and themselves – in new ways. Our global team is 1,500+ strong, united by a passion for what we do. We work with students, parents, and teachers, and behind the scenes too, to deliver experiences that transform lives. Let's get out there - together! Community Guidelines We are happy to address questions you may have, but in order to foster a vibrant and useful online community, we’ve outlined a few guidelines to be followed when posting on the WorldStrides and affiliated brands' social channels . Any comments that are in violation of the guidelines will be removed, and repeat offenders may be blocked. Comments will be removed if they contain: • Profane, inappropriate, threatening or offensive language; • Violations of copyright or intellectual property rights; • Purposefully untrue or misleading statements; • Comments that are meant to derail or hijack constructive conversations; • Personal information of community members or WorldStrides employees; • Posts that link to potentially harmful sites.
