Associate Cirector, CRM

Associate Director, CRM & Customer Retention

Why Kizik?

Hi, we're Kizik We're disrupting the footwear industry, creating and revolutionizing hands-free shoes to make life easier for everyone. At Kizik, our amazing people and vibrant culture set us apart. If you like to work hard and play hard, make a difference that matters, and bring some good vibes, join our team. We're looking for people who are as passionate about bringing joy to the everyday just as we are.

Job Summary:

The Associate Director/Senior Manager of CRM & Customer Retention will drive our end-to-end customer lifecycle strategy—including CRM strategy, email marketing, SMS marketing, direct mail marketing, customer loyalty, and customer insights programs. This person will blend, strategic thought leadership with data-driven decision making and creative problem-solving to build meaningful, personalized customer experiences that increase engagement, conversion, and repeat purchase rates.

This is a high-visibility, high-impact role ideal for someone who thinks strategically, executes flawlessly, and loves conceiving and driving programs that move the business.

Duties and Responsibilities

CRM & Lifecycle Strategy

• Develop and lead the brand's comprehensive CRM and retention strategy across all owned communication channels (e.g., email, SMS, direct mail) as well as through the brand's loyalty program.
• Drive the strategy to maximize the effectiveness and impact of all segmented and automated lifecycle journeys (onboarding, post-purchase, winback, replenishment, loyalty/VIP, etc.).
• Lead the content strategy for all owned media campaigns with an eye towards product and gender affinity, cross-category shopping, time between purchase and total customer value.
• Own customer segmentation and targeting strategies to maximize ongoing engagement, retention, repurchase, and LTV.

Email & SMS Marketing

• Direct the planning, execution, and optimization of all email and SMS campaigns across promotional, transactional, and lifecycle communications.
• Manage a small team, and own the full campaign process: calendar, creative briefs, testing roadmap, campaign development, quality assurance and deployment.
• Partner with creative, digital, and merchandising teams to ensure messaging supports key brand and business priorities.
• Establish and lead a strong experimentation culture using A/B and multivariate testing to continually improve performance.

Loyalty & Customer Engagement Programs

• Lead the strategy, management, and ongoing optimization of the brand's loyalty or rewards program—including membership recruitment, benefit design, reward tiering, and personalization.
• Establish program KPI dashboard, track program health and provide updates to key stakeholders, and lead initiatives to strengthen membership registrations, program engagement and ongoing retention among top customer cohorts.
• Collaborate with product, merchandising, and retail teams to enhance loyalty offerings and customer experience.

Analytics, Reporting & Technology

• Own CRM reporting and dashboards covering retention KPIs, campaign performance, customer cohorts, lifetime value metrics and loyalty program participation.
• Create and manage annual and monthly forecasts of expected owned media and loyalty program performance, including session, conversion and revenue contribution to total eCommerce revenue.
• Drive customer insight programs to identify opportunities for churn reduction, improved personalization, and revenue growth, as well as mine for insights into new product opportunities.
• Partner closely with data/analytics teams to refine segmentation, attribution, and predictive modeling.
• Manage CRM/MarTech platforms and vendor relationships (ESP, SMS provider, loyalty platform, etc.), ensuring data integrity and system performance.

Cross-Functional Leadership

• Act as the CRM lead for cross-functional initiatives with brand marketing, ecommerce, product development, creative, and customer service teams.
• Influence senior leaders through strong analytical and strategic storytelling.
• Communicate CRM strategy, results, and customer insights to leadership and cross-functional partners.
• Collaborate with paid media team to build full-funnel customer strategies and retargeting initiatives.
• Manage and mentor direct reports as the team grows.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of CRM, retention, or lifecycle marketing experience within a consumer brand, ecommerce, DTC, or retail environment.
• Demonstrated success leading CRM and customer loyalty programs that drive revenue growth, repurchase, and LTV.
• Direct experience with email/SMS platforms, CDPs, ESPs, and loyalty technologies.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret customer data and translate insights into actionable strategies and initiatives.
• Proficiency with A/B testing and experimentation frameworks.
• Exceptional project management skills with a track record of working cross-functionally.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to influence stakeholders and present to leadership.
• Passion for customer experience and delivering personalized, compelling brand interactions.
• Footwear, apparel, fashion, or consumer product experience is a plus but not required.
• People management experience strongly preferred.

Working Conditions:

• Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer.
• Must be able to lift up to 15 pounds at times.
• Travel 10% or less