Job Abstract

JOB SUMMARY

The Director, Outbound Communications will be the product owner for email marketing, overseeing operations that deliver highly personalized, targeted and relevant communications to millions of global Marriott Bonvoy members and non-member guests. As Marriott’s outbound communications channels grow in scope, volume and complexity, the Director will be a subject matter expert on email marketing, guiding internal teams who wish to access the Marriott email tools and database to achieve their marketing objectives, maximize revenue and foster guest engagement. This individual will oversee the processes through which Marriott delivers billions of marketing emails each year, including their contact frequency, targeting, decisioning, testing, analysis and optimization, and will have deep knowledge of outbound messaging platforms, various data sources available to Marriott marketers, marketing best practices, internal Marriott marketing policy, and global consent and privacy regulations. The Director will help Marriott advance the art and science of outbound marketing, with a performance-management mindset. The ideal candidate will be highly organized, with the ability to juggle multiple projects and make decisions in a fast-paced environment.

CANDIDATE PROFILE

Education and Experience Required

• 4-year degree from an accredited university in from an accredited university in Business Administration, Marketing, or related major and 8+ years of relevant professional experience, demonstrating progressive career growth and a pattern of exceptional performance;
OR
• 10+ years of relevant professional experience in of relevant professional experience in marketing or related function, demonstrating progressive career growth and pattern of exceptional performance.
• Expertise in Internet based consumer behavior, email marketing, and direct marketing principles
• Exceptional project management skills and ability to lead multiple concurrent projects from start to finish
• Demonstrated ability to foster relationships with cross-functional counterparts and key stakeholders
• Demonstrated ability to solve complex problems and deliver innovative solutions

CORE WORK ACTIVITIES

Member & Guest Communications

• Oversees the product strategy for Marriott’s outbound consumer messaging channels, primarily email, including the long-term vision, strategy, and product roadmap.
• Responsible for performance monitoring and optimization of email channel health, including engagement and revenue, reducing unsubscribes, and protecting the long-term effectiveness of Marriott’s outbound communications channels.
• Drives growth of Marriott’s marketable universe by making it easier for guests to opt in, limiting those who opt out, and exploring innovative ways to add to the database in a compliant manner.
• Fosters alignment between continent teams and headquarters, ensuring regional associates can manage local email communications autonomously, while establishing and maintaining guardrails to protect the guest experience, manage communication frequency, ensure regulatory compliance, and promote channel health.
• Drives the expansion of available languages for outbound communications, and marketers’ ability to authentically localize guest communications.
• Partners with the Process COE to implement a process transformation to improve marketing efficiency, cost reduction, speed-to-delivery, and reusability of marketing assets.
• Oversees the operation of multiple distributed email marketing platforms accessible by internal teams, and works with internal stakeholders in loyalty, continents, customer service, and Digital to gather requirements, prioritize features, enhance the user experience, and ensure product features align with Marriott’s business goals.
• Oversees internal and external agency resources to create, operate and optimize messaging products, constantly seeking enhancements to improve marketing throughput and channel ROI.
• Works with internal and agency resources to develop and implement communication platform enhancements, and promote their widespread adoption, such as new tools, techniques, or data sources.
• Partners with internal stakeholders, particularly Loyalty Marketing, to ensure appropriate email contact frequency to Marriott Bonvoy members and prospects.
Outbound Marketing Expert
• Serves as a subject matter expert for internal teams who access Marriott’s guest database for email, push, SMS, and other forms of omni-channel direct marketing.
• Advises on audience segmentation and targeting strategies that increase customer engagement, open/click/engagement rates, revenue and other business KPIs.
• Guides internal stakeholders through available data sources, including first-, second- and third-party data, to achieve business results, and evangelizes for the use of those data assets throughout Global Marketing.
• Advises on Marriott’s customer contact strategy, including messaging prioritization and frequency, and ensures proper frequency is maintained to limit customer fatigue and reduce opt-outs.
• Analyzes the competitive marketplace to identify industry trends, best practices, new opportunities, emerging technologies and process improvements related to email marketing and customer communication in the hospitality industry.
• Monitors changes in popular mobile platforms and Internet Service Providers to ensure messaging can be received as intended.
• Partners with Privacy and Legal to ensure outbound marketing practices adhere to evolving state and/or country regulations, including GDPR, CAN-SPAM, CASL and similar relevant laws, helping to ensure customer data is handled securely and in compliance with company policy.
• Oversees vendor relationships for the creation, production, optimization and deployment of outbound messaging campaigns, including the enterprise email service provider.

Delivering on the Needs of Key Stakeholders

• Understands and meets the needs of key stakeholders.
• Develops specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish work.
• Determines priorities, schedules, plans and necessary resources to ensure completion of any projects on schedule.
• Collaborates with internal partners and stakeholders to support business/initiative strategies.
• Communicates concepts in a clear and persuasive manner that is easy to understand.
• Generates and provides accurate and timely results in the form of reports, presentations, etc.
• Demonstrates an understanding of business priorities.