Senior Manager, edX Lifecycle Marketing

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:

The Sr. Manager, edX Lifecycle Marketing is a strategic, hands-on "player-coach" responsible for owning and executing the full learner lifecycle program for edX.org, from sign-up through retention and subscription conversion. You will be the architect of engagement and retention across all product tiers (free, verified, subscription), building a behavioral lifecycle engine using Segment CDP and Salesforce Marketing Cloud (SFMC). This role requires a blend of strategic vision and technical depth to design and build industry-leading lifecycle programs, maximizing learner lifetime value. You will be at the intersection of Marketing, Product, Engineering, and Analytics.

Responsibilities Include, But Are Not Limited To:

• Strategy & Ownership: Own the end-to-end lifecycle strategy across all edX tiers (welcome, activation, retention, win-back, subscription launch). Define the lifecycle stage framework, segmentation logic, and growth playbooks to convert free users to paying customers. Serve as project owner for SFMC/CDP enhancements.
• CDP Activation: Partner with Engineering to activate Segment CDP, defining traits and audience syncs to SFMC to power personalization and advanced behavioral segmentation. Implement dynamic content and progressive profiling to increase Learner Lifetime Value.
• Email Leadership & Execution: Lead end-to-end email strategy, designing, building, and deploying sophisticated, automated journeys in SFMC (Journey Builder, AMPscript, data extensions). Own deliverability, A/B testing, and proactive re-engagement strategies to reduce churn.
• Operational Excellence: Implement robust QA, controls, and risk mitigation for the lifecycle function. Proactively optimize processes and provide transparent incident reporting.
• Cross-Functional Partnership: Partner with Engineering on data architecture (CDP event instrumentation, SFMC integration), Product on the logged-in learner experience, and Analytics on measurement frameworks and attribution.
• Team Leadership: Lead and develop a small, high-performing team, serving as a practitioner-manager who builds journeys and ships work alongside the team.

 

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Revenue Impact: LTV growth, Freemium-to-Paid Conversion, Subscription Trial Conversion & Renewal, Incremental Revenue.
• Lifecycle Health: Lifecycle Stage Progression, Engagement Score Trends, Journey Effectiveness, Email Health, Repeat Learners.

Things That Should Be In Your Background:

• 7-10 years of experience in Lifecycle Marketing/CRM, with proven experience building multi-stage automated journeys at scale.
• Direct, hands-on proficiency with Salesforce Marketing Cloud (Journey Builder, data extensions, Automation Studio).
• Demonstrated proficiency with AMPscript and SQL for personalization and segmentation.
• Experience activating Customer Data Platforms (Segment, mParticle, etc.) for marketing personalization.
• 3+ years of people management experience.
• Proven ability to translate marketing strategy into technical requirements for engineering teams.
• Strong analytical skills for interpreting cohort data and deriving strategic insights.
• Experience designing event-driven, behavioral trigger-based programs.
• Structured A/B and multivariate testing experience.
• Exceptional cross-functional communication and ability to thrive in a fast-paced, lean environment.

Other Attributes That Will Help You In This Role:&l