Head of Retention (Email / SMS)

About Right Hook Digital

Right Hook Digital is a dynamic growth marketing agency supporting 7-8 figure DTC eCommerce brands primarily in the US and Australia. As a Premium Partner of Google and Meta, we employ over 60 professionals globally. Our expertise spans paid social, Google advertising, and customer retention, consistently delivering results to notable clients such as Alpha Lion, July Luggage, Geedup, Mister Zimi, and Silly George.

We foster a culture grounded in continuous improvement (Kaizen), honesty, and mutual support, seeking team members who genuinely embrace these principles.

Role Overview

We are seeking a Head of Retention to lead our Retention department end-to-end, including P&L ownership, product development, team leadership, and client relationship management. This leadership position focuses on managing and growing the retention services rather than individual contribution tasks such as building automation flows.

Key Responsibilities

• Oversee the Retention department's profitability and consistently achieve gross profit targets.
• Track and analyze performance metrics such as client lifetime value, churn, and retention to proactively address issues.
• Make strategic decisions on resource allocation and pricing to maintain healthy margins without sacrificing quality.
• Maintain and advance our core retention framework, "The Retention Way," ensuring documentation, training, SOP compliance, and evolutionary improvements.
• Drive innovation in lifecycle marketing strategies, testing methodologies, and measurement approaches to differentiate our offerings.
• Cultivate and maintain strong relationships with key retention clients, acting as the primary escalation contact.
• Guide strategists in executing campaigns that effectively increase revenue and client retention.
• Proactively seek client feedback aiming to exceed expectations and conduct exit interviews to gather insights for service improvement.
• Recruit, develop, and if necessary, transition team members, focusing on those who contribute meaningfully to department growth.
• Lead Group Leaders, Retention Strategists, and Specialists using structured performance frameworks including regular one-on-ones, reviews, and feedback.
• Collaborate with marketing to create agency campaigns, materials, case studies, and lead generation for the retention service line.
• Support sales efforts by providing subject matter expertise in retention marketing.
• Build interdepartmental collaborations with Paid Social and Google teams to foster internal referrals.
• Work alongside Process Excellence and operations leadership to enhance utilization, billing, and operational efficiency.

Qualifications and Attributes

• Proven leadership experience managing retention, lifecycle, or CRM teams, preferably within an agency environment with P&L or revenue responsibility.
• Deep expertise in email and SMS marketing, with the ability to quickly discern and articulate high-quality work standards in platforms like Klaviyo.
• Experience leading teams rather than only individual contributors.
• Fluent understanding of commercial drivers such as gross profit, utilization, retention, and pricing strategies.
• Ability to handle difficult client escalations calmly and effectively.
• Comfortable delivering and receiving direct, honest feedback aligned with a culture of openness.
• Systematic problem solver who improves processes to prevent recurring issues.
• Willingness to work overlapping hours aligned with US time zones as part of a distributed global team.
• Additional advantages include direct experience with high-revenue DTC brands, hands-on background with Klaviyo, experience developing or productizing services, and sales or marketing subject matter expertise.

Why Join Us?

This role offers the chance to take ownership of an established business unit with existing clients and a capable team. Retention is a strategic service line within the agency, backed with investments and opportunities for growth supported by internal referral pipelines. You will report to the COO and participate in strategic decision-making at the highest level.