Head of Growth Marketing & Customer Experience

Mariner Finance•Plano, TX

8d•Onsite

About The Position

This role will shape the strategic direction and priorities for Mariner’s Marketing function, with responsibility for growth marketing, marketing technology, customer data, lifecycle engagement, and related customer growth initiatives. The Head of Growth Marketing & Customer Experience will lead the execution of strategies that improve customer acquisition, engagement, retention, and long-term value while partnering across Credit Risk, Technology, Finance, Operations, Data, Product, Legal, and Compliance. This position will provide senior leadership for a highly quantitative, data-driven Marketing organization by optimizing investment across channels, advancing modern measurement and analytics capabilities, and driving the effective use of AI, automation, and emerging technology. A key aspect of this role is to build organizational capability, develop leaders, and translate customer, performance, and behavioral data into measurable business, financial, and customer outcomes.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Business, Economics, Finance, Statistics, Data Science, Engineering, or a related discipline; additional relevant experience may be substituted for a bachelor's degree.
Fifteen (15) or more years of progressive experience in marketing, including growth marketing, performance marketing, customer acquisition, lifecycle marketing, marketing analytics, or related disciplines.
Seven (7) or more years of progressive leadership experience, including responsibility for leading leaders and large, complex teams or significant functional areas.
Significant senior leadership experience within a highly quantitative, data-driven B2C environment; experience in consumer lending, financial services, fintech, banking, credit cards, insurance, telecommunications, marketplaces, or another analytically sophisticated consumer business preferred.
Demonstrated ownership of significant multi-channel marketing investment with accountability for measurable business, financial, and customer outcomes.
Deep expertise in data-driven growth marketing, including customer acquisition, lifecycle management, experimentation, attribution, segmentation, forecasting, customer economics, and optimization across digital and offline channels.
Exceptional quantitative and analytical capabilities, with demonstrated ability to evaluate complex datasets, challenge analytical assumptions, interpret customer economics, and use data to inform significant investment and strategic decisions.
Demonstrated experience using customer data, analytics, technology, AI, and automation to improve customer experiences and business outcomes.
Demonstrated success designing organizations, developing leaders, building high-performing teams, and leading significant organizational or functional transformation.
Extensive experience managing strategic agencies, vendors, technology providers, and other external partners, including contract negotiation and performance accountability.
Strong executive presence and demonstrated ability to shape and execute strategy, exercise sound business judgment, influence senior and executive leadership, and drive execution across complex cross-functional environments.
Demonstrated ability to operate effectively in a regulated environment and partner effectively across Finance, Data, Technology, Product, Credit Risk, Operations, Legal, and Compliance.
Proficient in using Microsoft Word, Outlook, Excel, and PowerPoint.
Ability to travel on occasion, as determined by business needs.

Nice To Haves

MBA, master’s degree, or other advanced degree in a quantitative, analytical, or business discipline.
Experience with the Salesforce ecosystem, including Salesforce Marketing Cloud Engagement.
Experience with advanced marketing analytics, customer data platforms, machine learning, predictive modeling, or AI-enabled decisioning capabilities.
Experience building or transforming a growth marketing organization in an environment undergoing significant technological or digital transformation.
Experience managing both digital and offline acquisition channels, including direct mail, consumer marketplaces, paid search, organic search, lifecycle marketing, and emerging media.
Experience partnering closely with credit risk or underwriting organizations to optimize growth within defined risk and profitability parameters.

Responsibilities

Shape the strategic direction and priorities for Mariner’s Marketing function, ensuring alignment with broader business, growth, risk, and financial objectives.
Own Mariner’s growth marketing strategy, marketing technology and vendor ecosystem, and allocation of annual marketing investment, with accountability for measurable business and financial outcomes.
Oversee teams responsible for growth marketing, customer acquisition and lifecycle engagement, marketing technology, analytics, customer data, and related Marketing capabilities, ensuring alignment of priorities, resources, and performance with business objectives.
Optimize spend across acquisition and lifecycle channels based on incremental return, CAC, cost per funded loan, conversion, lifetime value, contribution economics, and payback.
Identify and scale new sources of profitable customer growth through disciplined testing and investment analysis.
Establish a rigorous, data-driven approach to marketing decision-making and performance management.
Lead modern measurement across experimentation, incrementality, attribution, segmentation, forecasting, and marketing mix modeling.
Partner with Data Science and Finance to improve customer economics, predictive models, and executive performance reporting.
Advise executive leadership on customer growth, marketing investment, customer economics, market opportunities, emerging technologies, and other strategic matters within the Marketing function.
Define and execute the roadmap for building an increasingly AI-native marketing organization.
Apply AI and automation to areas such as audience strategy, personalization, journey orchestration, analytics, forecasting, creative development, and marketing operations.
Partner with Technology and Data teams to strengthen integration across CRM, loan origination, analytics, and marketing platforms.
Guide the evolution of lifecycle orchestration and automation capabilities, including the Salesforce ecosystem and Salesforce Marketing Cloud Engagement.
Champion a customer-centric growth strategy across acquisition, onboarding, engagement, repeat borrowing, retention, and re-engagement.
Partner across Product, Technology, Operations, and Credit Risk to identify and reduce friction in critical customer journeys, including loan origination.
Use customer data, behavioral insights, segmentation, and personalization to improve conversion and long-term customer value.
Ensure marketing strategies, programs, technologies, and customer engagement practices operate within established legal, regulatory, compliance, risk, and data privacy requirements in partnership with Legal, Compliance, Credit Risk, Technology, and other appropriate stakeholders.
Establish and monitor key performance indicators for the Marketing function and maintain accountability for achievement of established strategic, financial, operational, and customer outcomes.
Build and lead a high-performing Marketing organization by establishing clear accountability, developing leadership capability, supporting succession and workforce planning, and ensuring the function has the structure and skills necessary to execute current and future business strategy.
Responsible for managerial matters including performance management, goal setting, talent development, succession planning, staffing, promotions, and compensation recommendations in accordance with Company policies and budget requirements.
May perform additional responsibilities as needed to support business priorities and organizational objectives.