Director, Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)

2U

3h

About The Position

At 2U, we are all in on purpose. We are motivated by our mission – to make learning limitless– and connected by our shared passion to deliver world-class higher education at scale. As the parent company of edX, a leading online learning platform, 2U powers thousands of higher education offerings – from free courses to full degrees. Together with our college, university, and corporate partners, we are helping accelerate careers and transform lives.
What We’re Looking For:
2U is seeking a strategic and data-driven Director of Conversion Rate Optimization to lead our acquisition experimentation strategy. In this high-impact role, you will own the optimization of the critical bridge between marketing traffic and student enrollment, focusing specifically on our high-volume Paid Landing Page (PLP) portfolio and Organic Website properties.
As the "Head of Experimentation" for our marketing funnel, you will ensure that every dollar of media spend is maximized by delivering hyper-relevant, high-converting landing page experiences. You will orchestrate a cross-functional squad—spanning Strategy, Web Production, and Design—to build a rigorous testing roadmap that optimizes traffic performance across our Degree and Executive Education programs. Your mandate is clear: turn anonymous visitors into high-quality leads by continuously refining the first-touch digital experience.

Requirements

• Experience: 7+ years of experience in CRO, Digital Marketing, or Product Growth, with a specific focus on acquisition and landing page optimization.
• Leadership: 3+ years of experience managing teams and influencing cross-functional stakeholders in a matrixed environment.
• Experimentation Expertise: Deep mastery of A/B testing methodologies, multivariate testing, and personalization strategies. Proven track record of driving statistically significant revenue lift from paid and organic traffic.
• Technical Fluency: Strong ability to interpret data from platforms like GA4, Tableau, and Optimizely to drive strategy.
• Strategic Vision: Ability to balance immediate "quick wins" (e.g., copy testing) with long-term structural optimization strategies (e.g., page architecture).
• Analytical Rigor: Expert-level ability to interpret statistical data, identify trends, and make evidence-based decisions.

Nice To Haves

• Experience in EdTech or high-consideration B2C lead generation sectors or ecommerce
• Experience managing hybrid teams across different time zones (e.g., US and Cape Town).
• Experience managing vendor relationships or transitioning agency work in-house.

Responsibilities

• Develop and own the holistic CRO roadmap for both Paid Landing Pages (PLPs) and Organic website pathways. Your primary goal is to increase the yield (Session-to-Lead) from our acquisition traffic.
• Establish and govern the testing prioritization framework (e.g., PIE/RICE) to ensure resources are focused on high-impact, high-confidence experiments that drive measurable revenue growth.
• Partner with Martech to assess and optimize the experimentation stack (e.g., Optimizely, GA4), ensuring we have the technical capability to deploy complex personalization and multivariate tests at scale.
• Strategic Alignment with Analytics: Partner closely with the Director of Marketing Strategy & Analysis to validate that testing priorities address the highest-value business risks. You will act as the solution architect (owning the how and what to test) while relying on the Analytics team for diagnostic insights (identifying where the funnel is leaking) and final financial impact verification.
• Paid Media Partnership: Collaborate deeply with Paid Media leadership to ensure landing page strategies align with media buying objectives. You will ensure "Ad Scent" and message match are optimized to improve Quality Scores and conversion rates.
• Product Governance: Act as the strategic bridge between Marketing and Product. While focused on top-of-funnel acquisition, you will serve as a dotted-line advisor to PMs to ensure that downstream product changes do not negatively impact acquisition momentum.
• Directly manage the CRO Strategy Leads (Sr. Managers) and Web Production/Ops team, ensuring seamless hand-offs between hypothesis generation, design briefing, and technical execution.
• Oversee the velocity and quality of the testing pipeline, ensuring the team meets aggressive targets for test frequency and win rates.
• Foster a culture of continuous learning, ensuring "failed" tests yield valuable customer insights that inform future acquisition strategies.
• Accountable for key top-of-funnel conversion metrics (Session-to-Lead, Lead-to-Enroll).
• Translate complex testing data into executive-level narratives that demonstrate ROI and strategic progress to leadership.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision coverage
• Life insurance, disability, and 401(k) employer match
• Free snacks and drinks in-office
• Generous paid holidays and leave policies, including unlimited PTO
• Additional time off benefits include: volunteer days, parental leave, and a company-wide winter break

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Education Level: No Education Listed