Head of CRM & Lifecycle Marketing (Remote)

Why MATES

We’re not a typical agency, and this isn’t a typical CRM role. We design, build and run email and lifecycle programmes for established international brands, and we need a hands-on leader who connects technical depth, commercial thinking and team development. You know the data and triggers behind an abandoned cart flow versus an abandoned checkout flow, you’re as happy building campaigns as shaping strategy, and you turn ambitious client goals into practical plans with measurable results.

Maybe you’re at a large agency and frustrated by the constraints. Maybe you’ve built your own business and want to work with international high-street brands. Either way, you’ll help grow our CRM team over the next three years, shape how we work, and have a path to partnership as we grow.

The role

This is a hybrid role. Today you run your own client accounts hands-on and lead a small team of CRM specialists. As the agency and the team grow, you move fully into leading CRM: your accounts pass to specialists, and you focus on the team, its standards and its quality.

What you’ll do

On your own accounts

• Plan the campaign calendar and set the email strategy with each client.
• Own the lifecycle programmes: audit flows, run tests, suggest improvements and new programmes, then build them.
• Lead by example with hands-on work in Klaviyo, Braze and other platforms: setup, segmentation, personalisation, dynamic feeds and conditional content.
• Own performance reporting, explain what the numbers mean and recommend next steps.
• Brief our studio of talented designers and builders, and make sure everything is tested before it sends.

Supporting your CRM specialists

• Show the specialists how to audit, improve and build lifecycle programmes and reports.
• Review their work and reports against our quality standards.
• Present recommendations and results to clients together with them.
• Coach them to run their accounts on their own, and step back as they grow.

Across the agency

• Own our CRM standards, playbooks, flow library and build standards.
• Help our Head of Operations estimate effort and deliver within it.
• Flag scope creep and upsell opportunities.
• Help hire new candidates for your team.
• Support the Creative Ops team with pitches for new clients.

You’ll lead on quality and development. Holidays, pay and formal reviews sit elsewhere.

What we’re looking for

Someone who enjoys doing the work as much as helping others get better at it.

Must have

• Five or more years of hands-on email, CRM and lifecycle marketing, owning strategy and execution.
• Deep Klaviyo experience: campaigns, flows, segmentation, forms, personalisation and reporting.
• Experience running several client accounts at once, ideally at an agency.
• Confidence with clients: you present clearly, push back and recommend improvements.
• Experience mentoring CRM specialists and reviewing their work.
• Strong analytical skills and a solid grounding in deliverability, QA and HTML email.

Nice to have

• Experience with outdoor, sportswear or international ecommerce brands.
• Braze, or other platforms such as Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Emarsys etc.
• Commercial awareness: working to budgets and spotting commercial opportunities.
• Using AI tools to work faster and improve processes.
• Writing playbooks or training, or running your own agency or freelance practice.

What we offer

• Work with established international brands and see the impact on their results.
• Lead client strategy and shape how we deliver CRM, while staying close to the work.
• A shared studio of designers and builders behind you.
• An operations team to keep you as free of admin as possible.
• A friendly, respectful and global company culture.
• Fully remote, with a structured working week.
• A path to partnership: for the right person, a route to becoming a partner, with bonuses and a share in profits based on performance.