Director Lifecycle/CRM (Email, Push, SMS)

Target•Minneapolis, MN

1d•$135,000 - $243,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Lifecycle/CRM team is responsible for activating Target's owned marketing channels—connecting personalized guest experiences with enterprise priorities to strengthen loyalty, deepen engagement, and drive measurable business outcomes. This team is evolving how Target communicates with millions of guests through increasingly personalized, automated, and data-driven experiences. As the Director, Lifecycle/CRM (Email, Push & SMS), you will define and lead the future of Target's owned marketing ecosystem. This role goes beyond leading today's channels—it is responsible for reimagining how Lifecycle Marketing operates over the next three to five years by modernizing capabilities, advancing automation and AI-enabled decisioning, and evolving the organization's operating model. You will establish the long-term vision for how Target delivers personalized communications across Email, Push, and SMS while partnering closely with Loyalty, Merchandising, Marketing, Product, Engineering, Martech, Data Analytics, Creative, and Data Sciences to build scalable technology and experiences that unlock future growth. You will also share this vision across the enterprise to bring the total organization along in the messaging evolution. Success in this role requires a builder's mindset—someone who is energized by challenging legacy processes and shifting performance trends, redefining organizational boundaries, and creating the next generation of Lifecycle Marketing rather than simply operating the current one. At the same time, you will serve as the executive steward of Target's owned marketing channels, representing channel strategy, business performance, and priorities with confidence while helping partners understand the role Lifecycle Marketing plays in delivering enterprise outcomes. As a strategic leader, you will simplify complex problems, help the organization determine not only what Lifecycle Marketing should do—but what it should stop doing—and continuously evolve the team's operating model as new technologies and capabilities emerge. You will influence senior leaders across the enterprise with a consultative approach, shaping priorities, organizational design, and investment decisions while translating both long-term vision and day-to-day work into clear business outcomes for partners across the organization.

Requirements

10+ years of experience consulting at tech companies or leading CRM, Lifecycle Marketing, Digital Marketing, Ecommerce, Performance Marketing, or related disciplines.
5+ years leading large-scale organizations with responsibility for strategy, performance, and organizational development.
Demonstrated success modernizing legacy marketing organizations through technology, automation, operating model redesign, and organizational change.
Proven ability to connect marketing strategies to drive real-time outcomes while also balancing the ability to think several years ahead, developing strategies that anticipate changes in customer behavior, technology, and marketing capabilities.
Strong understanding of marketing technology platforms, customer data, analytics, experimentation frameworks, and AI-enabled marketing capabilities.
Experience partnering closely with Product, Engineering, Data Science, and Martech organizations to deliver scalable marketing solutions.
Brings a consultative, enterprise mindset with exceptional judgment, executive presence, and the ability to influence organizational strategy beyond direct ownership.
Comfortable making decisions with ambiguity, creating clarity for teams, and leading through change.
Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Business, Communications, or related field preferred.

Responsibilities

Define the long-term vision for Lifecycle Marketing, establishing the strategy, operating model, and capabilities needed to evolve Target's owned marketing ecosystem over the next three to five years.
Serve as the executive owner of Email, Push, and SMS, representing channel strategy, business performance, and priorities while providing a clear point of view on the role owned channels play in driving guest and business outcomes.
Lead the transformation of Lifecycle Marketing from manual campaign planning and execution toward technology-enabled, automated, and AI-driven decisioning. Continuously evaluate team responsibilities, simplifying processes and redefining work as capabilities mature.
Serve as the primary voice of Lifecycle Marketing across Marketing, Merchandising, Product, Engineering, Martech, Data Science, Technology, Creative, and Operations. Build trusted partnerships through proactive communication, aligning stakeholders on priorities, articulating tradeoffs, and translating day-to-day work into clear business outcomes while accelerating enterprise initiatives.
Champion new capabilities across personalization, experimentation, measurement, orchestration, automation, and AI while establishing scalable ways of working that accelerate business impact.
Build a future-ready organization by coaching leaders, developing strategic talent, fostering a culture of innovation, and creating clarity through ambiguity. Empower teams to make decisions, challenge legacy ways of working, and continuously redefine how Lifecycle Marketing delivers value as technology and automation evolve.