Associate Manager, Digital

KFC•Irvine, CA

About The Position

As a key leader within the Connected Customer & CRM organization, this role owns the end-to-end enablement, configuration, and strategic activation of Taco Bell’s loyalty programs and promotional capabilities across Marigold, Yum! Promo Service, and ConnectMe. The Associate Manager serves as the enterprise-wide SME for loyalty configurations, promotional mechanics, and cross-channel activation—ensuring all offers, rewards, and challenges are deployed flawlessly and aligned to brand strategy. This role requires a blend of technical expertise, operational excellence, cross-functional leadership, and strategic decision-making, regularly influencing platform enhancements, leading new campaign structures, and driving efficiencies that scale Taco Bell’s digital ecosystem.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Information Systems, or related field
4+ years of relevant experience in digital marketing, loyalty programs, CRM, or platform configuration
Experience configuring and deploying loyalty or promotional programs (e.g., Marigold, Punchh, or similar platforms)
Strong understanding of relational data, audience segmentation, and offer logic
Experience with e-commerce or digital ordering platforms
Familiarity with A/B or multivariate testing
Experience with project management and documentation tools (e.g., JIRA, Confluence)
Strong communication and stakeholder management skills
Ability to operate autonomously, prioritize effectively, and make decisions in fast-paced environments

Nice To Haves

Technical proficiency (HTML/CSS) a plus

Responsibilities

Own end-to-end loyalty offer and promotion activations across Marigold, Yum! Promo Service, and ConnectMe platforms—driving accurate deployments, scalable governance, and cross-functional execution for high-visibility brand moments.
Serve as enterprise-wide SME for loyalty configuration, promotional mechanics, and platform capabilities—providing expert guidance to cross-functional partners.
Act as the primary decision-maker for feasibility, timing, risk assessments, and prioritization of loyalty and promotional activations.
Configure and validate rewards, challenges, and complex offer structures, ensuring accuracy, scalability, and alignment with business objectives.
Partner with Product, Technology, and Yum teams to influence platform roadmaps, advocate for Taco Bell requirements, and drive enhancements to loyalty and discount service capabilities.
Act as the lead liaison for major brand moments, guiding configuration, QA planning, cross-team approvals, and timeline management.
Communicate risks, dependencies, blockers, and platform constraints proactively to ensure upstream clarity and avoid operational delays.
Support CRM channel execution by aligning offers with push, in-app inbox, SMS, and Tuesday Drops messaging plans.
Provide thought leadership by evaluating new campaign ideas, promotional mechanics, and operational workflows to improve scale, efficiency, and customer experience.
Establish, document, and maintain governance, standards, and SOPs for loyalty activation, ensuring consistency, audit readiness, and cross-team visibility.
Identify opportunities to streamline production workflows, strengthen quality control, and reduce manual effort through process improvements or tooling enhancements.
Mentor and guide analysts and cross-functional partners, elevating team capability and building shared understanding of loyalty configuration best practices.
Demonstrate calm, structured leadership during high-pressure or rapid-change moments, driving clarity and confidence across teams.