Head of Growth Marketing & Customer Experience

Base Salary Range

Join Mariner Finance!

Since 1927, the Mariner Finance family of companies has provided customers with creative, flexible, and convenient lending options. Headquartered in Baltimore, Mariner Finance operates coast-to-coast with physical locations in over half the states. With a growing number of employees, superior customer service remains the cornerstone of our business, and we pride ourselves in delivering a variety of loans with an enhanced focus on exceptional service. We work with customers to find options that are beneficial to their specific needs, which is why we are recognized by our customers as one of the community’s consumer finance companies of choice.

Benefits:

For information regarding our benefits, please visit: https://www.marinerfinance.com/careers/benefits/ 

All full time employees are provided with a generous benefits package in addition to their monetary compensation. Learn more about it today.

Job Details

In this role, you will...

Shape the strategic direction and priorities for Mariner’s Growth Marketing and Customer Experience functions, with responsibility for customer acquisition, lifecycle engagement, marketing technology, customer data, and key customer journeys across Application & Origination, Lifecycle Cross-Sell, and Retention. Lead the execution of strategies that improve customer acquisition, engagement, retention, and long-term customer value while partnering across Product, Credit Risk, Technology, Finance, Operations, Data, Legal, and Compliance.

Provide senior leadership for a highly quantitative, data-driven Growth Marketing organization by optimizing investment across channels, advancing modern measurement and analytics capabilities, and driving the effective use of AI, automation, and emerging technology. Build organizational capability, develop leaders, marketing and product excellence, and translate customer, performance, and behavioral data into measurable business, financial, and customer outcomes.

Responsibilities and Duties:

• 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.
• Own Digital & Omnichannel Loan Applications and the Customer Lifecycle as enterprise products, with end-to-end accountability for product strategy, roadmap, customer experience, capabilities, adoption, and business outcomes across the full customer journey.
• Oversee teams responsible for growth marketing, customer acquisition and lifecycle engagement, customer experience, marketing technology, analytics, customer data, and related 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.
• Own the strategy and business outcomes for key customer journeys, including the Application & Origination, Lifecycle Cross-Sell, & Retention journeys, with a focus on improving conversion, engagement, retention, repeat borrowing, and long-term customer value.
• Partner with Product Owners and leaders across Technology, Operations, Credit Risk, and Data to translate customer journey strategy into platform capabilities, process improvements, and digital experiences that reduce friction and improve customer outcomes.
• 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.

Required Qualifications:

• 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 experience leading end-to-end customer journey strategy and optimization across complex digital and operational environments, with accountability for measurable customer, financial, and operational results.
• 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.

Preferred Qualifications:

• 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.

Hours of Work:

This role requires flexibility in scheduling to meet the dynamic needs of the business and may occasionally work extended hours, evenings, or weekends to address critical projects, organizational priorities, or urgent matters. As part of the leadership team, this position is expected to adapt to varied hours and schedules to ensure seamless operations and support for the organization's goals.

Physical Demands:

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to sit for extended periods; reach with hands and arms; and talk or hear. The employee is occasionally required to move about. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to twenty (20) pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision and the ability to adjust focus.

EEO:

Mariner Finance is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, marital status, age, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, familial or caregiver status, citizenship status, status as a victim of domestic violence, medical condition, genetic information, pregnancy, physical or mental disability, or status as a disabled or Vietnam era veteran. Employee must be able to perform the essential duties/functions of the position satisfactorily and, if requested, reasonable accommodations will be made to enable employees with disabilities to perform the essential duties/functions of their job, absent undue hardship. Drug/Alcohol/Smoke-free workplace. 

This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities that are required of the employee. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change or new ones may be assigned at any time or without notice.

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