Position Overview
The Guitar Center Company is seeking a bold, technically fluent, and strategic Sr. Manager CRM Marketing to lead the next chapter of lifecycle marketing across Guitar Center and Musician’s Friend. This is a strategic leadership role at the center of a rapidly evolving CRM organization—where innovation, personalization, and intelligent automation drive the future of customer engagement.
Reporting to the Sr. Director of CRM, this leader will oversee a large team responsible for designing and delivering customer-centric email and SMS marketing programs. You’ll champion the shift from traditional batch messaging to scalable, real-time, data-driven journeys powered by Salesforce Marketing Cloud (SFMC), while partnering closely with our CRM Solutions Architect and Customer Data team to bring disruptive, AI-enabled experiences to life.
This is a rare opportunity for a marketing leader who thrives at the intersection of campaign execution, automation architecture, and creative solutioning—and who’s passionate about building CRM that truly speaks to the musician.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead email & SMS marketing strategy & daily operations of the CRM marketing team—ensuring timely execution of promotional, lifecycle, and triggered communications across channels.
- Architect and implement next-generation CRM strategies that go beyond calendars—using behavior, data, and personalization to deliver timely, relevant messages at scale.
- Serve as the team’s SFMC expert, driving advanced use of Journey Builder, Automation Studio, AMPscript, dynamic content, and SQL-powered segmentation.
- Identify high-volume or repetitive campaigns with automation potential, and lead their evolution into efficient, scalable, always-on journeys.
- Champion the use of agentic AI and intelligent automation to generate, iterate, or optimize customer journeys—pushing the boundaries of what CRM can achieve in a creative retail environment.
- Partner closely with the CRM Solutions Architect to align technical execution with marketing vision and campaign logic, ensuring platform performance and scalability.
- Collaborate deeply with the Customer Data team to activate segmentation, triggers, and real-time data signals that power smarter customer communications.
- Build and refine testing and experimentation frameworks to continually improve performance, personalization, and channel effectiveness.
- Monitor campaign and journey performance using SFMC dashboards, Adobe Analytics, and other measurement tools—translating data into action.
- Foster a culture of continuous learning and innovation across the CRM team, coaching team members on marketing best practices and emerging capabilities.
Required Qualifications
- 5+ years of experience in CRM, lifecycle marketing, or marketing automation, with 2+ years leading cross-functional teams or departments.
- Expert-level proficiency in Salesforce Marketing Cloud, including:
- Journey Builder, Automation Studio, Email Studio
- AMPscript, dynamic content, SQL, and data extensions
- Demonstrated success designing and deploying automated, behavior-triggered journeys at scale.
- Familiarity with agentic or generative AI tools, with a passion for applying them to real-world marketing use cases.
- Strong understanding of campaign architecture, personalization logic, and QA/testing workflows.
- Analytical thinker with experience using Adobe Analytics, Omni Analytics, or equivalent reporting tools to drive CRM insights.
- Excellent cross-functional collaboration skills; capable of aligning with technical, analytical, and creative stakeholders to deliver cohesive solutions.
- Bonus: A background or passion for music, gear, or creative culture, whether as a musician, hobbyist, or fan.
Why Guitar Center? Here's just some of the rewards:
For our employees who are musicians we offer the unique opportunity of gig leave--take time off to share your music with the world and return to your job after your tour! Guitar Center offers robust benefits and perks, including Medical, Dental, Vision, 401K plus company match, mental health support, paid sick/holiday/vacation time, employee discount program, and tuition reimbursement options.
Pay Rate: $130,000 - $150,000/yr depending on background and experience.
This position is eligible to participate in the Guitar Center Company bonus program based on Company performance.
The job posting is not necessarily reflective of actual compensation that may be earned, nor a promise of any specific pay for any specific employee, which is always dependent on actual experience, education, and other factors. The pay range(s) listed are provided in compliance with state specific laws. Pay ranges may be different in other locations
Love this gig and want to apply?
Send your resume and cover letter today along with salary expectations!
Guitar Center is an Equal Opportunity Employer and provides fair and equal employment opportunity to all employees and applicants regardless of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status or any other protected status prohibited under Federal, State, or local laws. All employment decisions are based on valid job‐related requirements.
If you are a qualified individual with a disability or a disabled veteran and are unable or limited in your ability to use or access our website, you may request a reasonable accommodation to express interest in a specific opening. You can request a reasonable accommodation by sending an email to [email protected].
Guitar Center is an Equal Opportunity Employer and provides fair and equal employment opportunity to all employees and applicants regardless of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status or any other protected status prohibited under Federal, State, or local laws. All employment decisions are based on valid job‐related requirements.
If you are a qualified individual with a disability or a disabled veteran and are unable or limited in your ability to use or access our website, you may request a reasonable accommodation to express interest in a specific opening. You can request reasonable accommodation by calling 1‐818-735-8800 ext. 2862 or by sending an email to [email protected].
Skills Required
- 5+ years of experience in CRM, lifecycle marketing, or marketing automation
- 2+ years leading cross-functional teams or departments
- Expert-level proficiency in Salesforce Marketing Cloud
- Demonstrated success designing and deploying automated, behavior-triggered journeys at scale
- Familiarity with agentic or generative AI tools
What We Do
Guitar Center is an American musical instrument retailer chain that sells guitars, amplifiers, drums, keyboards, recording equipment, and accessories. It operates numerous locations across the United States and online.
