Senior Manager - Lifecycle Program Enablement

Meet Upside:

We created Upside to transform brick-and-mortar commerce. Our technology uses the sophistication of online retail—profit measurement, attribution, and incrementality—to provide users with more value on their everyday purchases and brick-and-mortar businesses with new, profitable customers. We’ve helped millions of users earn 2 to 3 times more cashback than any other product, and hundreds of thousands of brick-and-mortar businesses earn measurable profit. Billions of dollars in commerce run through the Upside platform every year, and that value goes directly back to our retailer partners, the consumers they serve, and important sustainability initiatives.

The Impact You'll Make

As the Senior Manager, Lifecycle Program Enablement, you'll own two things that make Upside's lifecycle function great: the quality of what we say to our users, and the discipline of how we get it out the door. You'll be the team's strategic and creative conscience, the person who looks at our programs' messaging and creative with a critical eye and knows exactly what needs to change so the main idea lands clearly without boring our users. And you'll run the programs, workflows, and team that turn briefs into sends: who's working on what, when it ships, and how well. You'll lead Programs & Tactical Build Support and our contractor and agent bench, coach the broader team on marketing craft, and champion the AI-assisted workflows that let a small team do more. You'll report to the Director of Lifecycle Marketing as their reliable #2 on marketing programs. This is a leadership role with minimal hands on keys: a true lifecycle SME who knows Braze well enough to read a build and judge execution, while technical platform ownership stays with the Director, Platform & Operations, and MarTech.

What You'll Do

Raise the Bar on Strategy & Messaging

• Own the quality bar for lifecycle marketing strategy, messaging, and creative across every Growth workstream.

• Review and critique briefs, copy, and creative before they ship, and know what to change so the value to the user is clear and the message cuts through.

• Coach the team on marketing craft: audience insight, message hierarchy, hooks and CTAs, channel-appropriate copy, and design that supports the story.

• Partner with Creative, Product Marketing, and GTC to sharpen messaging frameworks, lifecycle brand voice, and reusable content standards.

• Build message and creative testing into the program, so what we say improves based on evidence, not opinion.

Run Lifecycle Programs & Project Management

• Own program and project management across the lifecycle marketing roadmap: intake, prioritization, timelines, and delivery across all three Growth workstreams.

• Run the team's operating rhythm (roadmap reviews, capacity reviews, weekly delivery cadence) so priority conflicts surface early, not at the deadline.

• Own capacity planning and assignments for Shared Services build support, including directing the day-to-day BAU support work of Platform & Operations in a project-management sense (that role continues to report to the Director).

• Keep the team on track: hold a dozen-plus moving campaigns and dependencies in view, and keep marketing-side partners (Creative, Product Marketing, GTC, Retail Partner Marketing) aligned on timelines.

• Track and report delivery health: on-time rate, cycle time from brief to send, and rework.

Lead & Grow the Team

• Hire, develop, coach, and manage performance for Programs & Tactical Build Support and the contractor bench.

• Mentor the broader lifecycle team, including senior ICs, on marketing strategy and messaging.

• Manage contractor and agency relationships, including scope, quality, and spend.

Drive AI & Agent Adoption in Marketing Workflows

• Champion adoption of AI-assisted and agentic workflows across briefing, copy, build, and QA, shifting repeatable work from people to agents.

• Point agents at the work that frees the team for strategy and creative judgment, and flag workflow issues to the Director and Platform & Operations.

Be the Director's #2 on Marketing Programs

• Act as the Director's operating partner: represent lifecycle marketing programs in cross-functional forums, make day-to-day trade-off calls, and step in for the Director when needed.

• Partner with each Growth Principal as a peer, so shared build capacity serves all three workstreams consistently rather than whoever escalates loudest.

• Bring the Director decisions, not problems.

Competencies You'll Need

• 10+ years of progressive experience in Lifecycle Marketing, CRM, or consumer marketing, including 4+ years managing teams (hiring, developing, and managing performance for teams of 4+, including contractors or agencies).

• Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Business Administration, or a related field.

• Exceptional marketing strategist and editor with a portfolio of consumer lifecycle messaging and creative; can diagnose why a message isn't landing and fix it.

• Proven track record of coaching teams to raise the quality of copy, creative, and campaign strategy.

• Exceptionally organized program and project manager across many concurrent campaigns and stakeholders.

• Working fluency in modern marketing engagement platforms such as Braze, Iterable, or Salesforce Marketing Cloud: enough to read a build, know what's possible, and judge execution, though technical platform ownership isn't part of this role.

• AI-forward leader with hands-on experience adopting AI tools and agents in marketing workflows.

• Data-informed, test-and-learn mindset applied to messaging and creative.

• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to influence without authority and give direct, constructive creative feedback at all levels.

The fine print:

Location:

This hybrid role is based in our DC or NYC office. In-office attendance is required on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday and may increase based on project-based needs and changes to Upside’s in-office policy over time.

Compensation:

The U.S. base salary range for this full-time position varies by work location:

• Tier 1: NYC $165,000 - $178,000

• Tier 2: Washington, DC $150,000 - $162,000

In addition to base salary, this position is also eligible for equity and benefits.

The final starting pay will be determined based on job-related skills, experience, qualifications, work location, and market conditions. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your location during the hiring process.

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Benefits:

• Medical, dental, and vision coverage starting on Day 1

• Equity (ISOs)

• 401(k) program

• Family planning programs + paid parental leave

• Physical fitness and wellness memberships

• Emotional and mental health support programs

• Unlimited PTO + 10 paid federal holidays + our annual, week-long Winter Break

• Flexible work environment

• Lunch reimbursement for in-office employees

• Employee Resource Groups

• Learning and Development stipend

• Transparent culture

• Amazing mission!

Diversity and Inclusion:

Diversity drives innovation, and our differences make us stronger. We‘re passionate about building a workplace that represents a variety of backgrounds, skills, and perspectives, and we do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. Everyone is welcome here!

If there's anything we can do to support a disability or special need during your application or interview process, please email [email protected].

This email is for accessibility accommodations only, it should not be used to submit job applications.

Notice To Recruiters And Placement Agencies:

This is an in-house search with a dedicated recruiter. Please do not submit resumes to any person or email address at Upside. Upside is not liable for, and will not pay, placement fees for candidates submitted by any party or agency other than its approved recruitment partners.