CRM Manager - Greater London - The Independent

Description

The Independent is an online news publisher that was established in 1986 as a national newspaper independent of party-political affiliations or proprietorial influence. In 2016, The Independent became a fully digital publisher, moving away from print in pursuit of sustainability, and to safeguard its values and journalism for the future.

The Independent has always thrived through innovation and change. It was the first British newspaper to add a Saturday magazine; the first to give photography the same prestige as news copy; the first to challenge the Westminster lobby system of closed briefings; the first broadsheet to move to the more compact 'tabloid' format; the first to launch a concise quality compact paper; and the first – and only – major newspaper to pull off a successful transformation to fully digital publishing.

Through The Independent, Independent TV, eCommerce, indy100, subscriptions and other 'reader revenues', The Independent plans to continue the work of many decades, bringing much-needed independent journalism to over 100 million unique global visitors a month, make its voice ever louder and more insistent the world over. We have an international editorial team with our main offices in London and New York.

In 2024 The Independent's portfolio of brands increased through a new licensing partnership with BuzzFeed Inc. to operate the BuzzFeed brands in the UK - BuzzFeed UK, Tasty, Seasoned and HuffPost UK. The additional brands echo the existing business ethos and allow for increased audiences and a further strategic diversification of revenue streams.

The Data & Marketing Department

The Data & Marketing department is the intelligence powerhouse of the business, representing the customer. Our goal is to inspire, engage and grow a loyal readership by harnessing data-driven insights and innovative marketing to deliver personalised, impactful content experiences that build lasting trust, diverse revenue streams, and a thriving future for quality journalism. The department consists of four teams: Data Science & Engineering, Data Intelligence & Monetisation, Research & Insight and Customer Marketing.

Customer Marketing

The purpose of our team is to attract, engage and retain readers whilst driving customer revenue and nurturing brand loyalty. We do this through the effective communication of our products and services, converting casual readers into loyal customers that drive sustainable, long-term revenue for our business.

Our goal is to shape the future of customer engagement, leveraging data, creativity and innovation to build meaningful relationships with millions of readers worldwide.

Job purpose

We have an exciting opportunity for a CRM Manager to join our marketing team. This role reports directly into the Head of Customer Retention and will own the execution of our strategy for customer lifecycle communications across email, push, in-app messaging and onsite journeys. The role will be assessed on your ability to plan, implement and report on activity that drives ongoing customer engagement through innovative lifecycle programmes that nurture loyalty and brand advocacy among our customers.

You will be primarily responsible for overseeing our lifecycle programmes, newsletters and customer campaigns, managing the tactical implementation of our reader revenues strategy, from implementation to reporting. In this role, you'll manage our senior CRM executives and will function as a key contact for our Customer Engagement Platform, Braze. This is a highly cross-functional role working closely with Data, Product and Editorial - as well as the Customer Growth Marketing team to ensure the end-to-end reader experience is cohesive and effective.

You will be joining us at an exciting time of rapid growth for The Independent, so it is vital that you feel confident managing a varied workload, collaborating closely with multiple stakeholders and managing tight deadlines.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

• We champion diversity in our teams and in our reporting. As a growing and global brand, we must have a workforce that's more representative of our readers, viewers, clients and partners, and a workplace that creates a sense of belonging for everyone.
• We are committed to hiring and developing a diverse workforce regardless of background, and we support our people to thrive in their careers here.

If you require any reasonable adjustments to complete your application, please do not hesitate to let us know.

About you

• A hands‑on CRM/lifecycle marketing specialist with 4+ years' experience, ideally within a digital publishing, subscription or news media environment.
• Strong experience with CRM platforms (ideally Braze) and subscription management platforms (ideally Piano).
• A proven track record driving retention and subscription revenue growth.
• A pro‑active and engaging manager with excellent people skills.
• A strong analytical mindset with ability to interpret data and act decisively.
• The ability to create persuasive marketing messages that are tailored to the intended audience and influence the reader to act.
• Solid experience building automated journeys and behavioural triggers.
• A sound understanding of deliverability best practice and GDPR/consent frameworks.
• Strong commercial awareness and can identify opportunities in the market.

Key responsibilities

• Manage the tactical implementation of our retention and engagement strategies, working closely with the Head of Customer Retention.
• Regularly review performance against KPIs, report key insights to the wider business as relevant, and continuously optimise key journeys to improve performance.
• Take ownership of our core subscriber and donation journeys, ensuring that these are continuously tested and optimised.
• Act as the key CRM contact for our newsletter strategy and work closely with editorial to continue enhancing our portfolio's performance.
• Effectively manage the team's CRM executives, providing support and guidance to enable the team to deliver their best work.
• Oversee the CRM team's workflows and the prioritisation of key projects, ensuring deadlines are met and business stakeholders are well informed.
• Craft effective marketing messages, ensuring communications are clear, persuasive and tailored to the intended audience.
• Develop articulate creative briefs and work closely with our designers to refine promotional assets and deliver high‑quality visual campaigns.
• Collaborate with key stakeholders from marketing, product, editorial and data to deliver projects that impact retention objectives across the business.
• Work in collaboration with the Privacy Manager to ensure all campaigns are GDPR compliant.
• Monitor our email deliverability and ensure best practice is adhered to.

Skills and experience – mandatory requirements

• Proficient in conceptualising, implementing and reporting on email campaigns and customer lifecycles within an ESP or CEP system.
• Proven experience in growing a digital audience/user base across key stages of the customer lifecycle, including onboarding, in‑life and retention/winback.
• Experience in delivering multi‑channel retention campaigns to improve LTV of subscribers.
• Excellent copywriting skills and the ability to adapt tone and messaging for different audience segments and lifecycle stages while maintaining brand consistency.
• Highly competent managerial skills with experience of having successfully managed a happy, thriving team.
• Results‑driven mentality, able to continually critique and optimise performance with a positive mindset.
• Ability to demonstrate a campaign's performance through data, translating this into a coherent, easily‑communicated narrative.
• Confident working with complex audience segmentation and behaviourally‑triggered, responsive campaigns.
• Ability to work on multiple projects to tight deadlines.
• Ability to thrive in a fast‑paced environment and with a varied workload across multiple brands.
• Brilliant collaboration skills – able to work cross‑functionally to drive results.
• Excellent attention to detail.

Skills and experience – desirable requirements

• Experience using Piano (Customer data and subscription platform)
• Experience working in news media and publishing.
• Experience working with mobile app engagement and push notifications.
• Ability to understand and troubleshoot basic Liquid coding.

Our values – you will deliver across all our values

• Inclusive: We champion diversity in our teams and in our reporting. Working as a team, we put transparency and effective communication at the heart of everything we do.
• Innovative: From the very beginning, The Independent has been breaking the mould. We take risks and are always looking to try new ideas in pursuit of excellence.
• Independent: Nobody tells us what to think; we make up our own minds and aren't afraid to do things differently. Like our readers, we value honesty and integrity above outside influences.