Head of Retention - US Market Experience Required

About UMAEZ

We operate a 7–8 figure scaling DTC brand in the fragrance and skincare space, focused on the US as our main market. We run paid social at high volume, and our acquisition engine is strong. Still, we're at the stage where scaling sustainably means building a retention function that matches the quality of everything upstream.

We currently work with our existing partners to manage our post-purchase operations and to build a solid foundation. The next step is bringing that capability in-house, building our own systems, internal expertise, and retention infrastructure that we fully own and can scale on our own terms. This hire leads that transition.

The Role

As Head of Retention, you'll own our entire post-purchase strategy and execution for the US market. In the near term, you'll work closely alongside our existing partners, absorbing what's working and identifying what needs to be rebuilt internally. Over time, you'll progressively take ownership of the full function in-house.

On the strategy side, you'll work directly with the CEO, Head of CRO, and Head of Marketing to align retention with the broader performance agenda > post-purchase flows, LTV growth, reactivation strategy, and offer sequencing. On the execution side, you'll work with our marketing team leads, developers, and copywriters to actually build and ship those strategies.

What You'll Be Doing

Retention Strategy - Working with the Performance Team

• Collaborating with the CEO, Head of CRO, and Head of Marketing to build a US retention strategy aligned with acquisition performance, offer structure, and growth targets
• Developing post-purchase journey strategies including email and SMS flows, reactivation sequences, win-back campaigns, loyalty mechanics, and subscription retention that extend LTV and reduce churn in the US market
• Identifying the highest-leverage retention opportunities by product line, customer segment, and purchase behaviour based on US performance data
• Contributing to offer and bundle strategy with a retention lens > e.g., packaging, pricing, and sequencing that drives repeat purchase, not just first-time conversion
• Partnering with the Head of CRO to ensure post-purchase page experiences and upsell flows are built and tested with the same rigour applied to acquisition funnels
• Managing the ongoing relationship with our existing partners & extracting value from the existing setup while building a clear roadmap for bringing the function in-house

Execution & Project Management

• Briefing and working with our developers to implement retention flows, automations, and tooling, ensuring it’s clearly scoped, well-reviewed, and launched on time
• Collaborating with our copywriters on all retention copy > email sequences, SMS campaigns, post-purchase messaging, and reactivation content & maintaining brand voice (consistent and conversion logic is sharp)
• Working with the CS team to ensure the post-purchase experience holds up on the fulfilment side (including order communications, delay handling, and CS handoffs that sit within the retention flow)
• Owning the retention tech stack: the tools, integrations, and platforms that power post-purchase flows and keeping them set up, maintained, and optimised
• Building and maintaining SOPs for retention execution so the function operates consistently as it scales and transitions in-house

Reporting & Continuous Improvement

• Building and owning the KPI framework for the Retention Department > e.g., LTV, repeat purchase rate, churn, flow performance, CSAT, resolution rate, and chargeback win rate
• Reporting retention performance to the CEO and the performance team on a regular cadence, clear data, clear interpretation, clear recommendations
• Identifying patterns in customer behaviour, post-purchase drop-off, and complaint trends, and translating them into improvements across both strategy and execution
• Tracking the in-house transition progress - which capabilities have been fully owned internally, which are still agency-led (or needs to remain agency-led), and what the roadmap looks like to close that gap

Requirements

Must-Haves

• Proven experience owning retention in a US DTC or e-commerce brand [you've built or run post-purchase flows, email/SMS programmes, or LTV strategies with measurable impact on a US customer base]
• Strong cross-functional operator & equally comfortable in a strategy session with the CEO and other team leads, and sitting with a developer or copywriter to get execution right
• Genuine understanding of the full US retention ecosystem: flows, segmentation, copy, tooling, CS, and the data that connects all of it
• Data-driven decision maker > you can read US retention metrics, identify what's underperforming, and prioritise fixes in the right order

Strong Advantages

• Hands-on experience with retention and email/SMS platforms > Klaviyo, Loop, or similar at a configuration level, not just a strategy level
• Understanding of subscription-based DTC models and the retention levers specific to repeat-purchase consumer categories in the US
• Familiarity with CRO principles - you can collaborate with the Head of CRO on post-purchase page and upsell flow testing without needing concepts explained from scratch
• Experience managing a CS function alongside retention & you understand how support quality directly affects retention outcomes
• Background in beauty, wellness, or personal care DTC brands & you strongly understand the US buyer in these categories
• Instant No's
• You've only worked retention at an agency level and have never owned outcomes inside a brand - we need someone who takes accountability for results, not just deliverables
• You can't operate across both strategy and execution - this role requires both, and the ability to move between them fluidly depending on what the moment calls for
• You see CS and retention as separate functions that don't need to connect > here they are deeply intertwined and you'll be accountable for both

How We Measure Your Performance

• LTV and repeat purchase rate improvement for the US customer base
• Email and SMS flow performance [ open rates, click rates, and revenue attributed etc.,]
• Churn rate and subscription retention metrics
• CSAT and resolution SLA adherence across the CS team
• Chargeback win rate and dispute submission accuracy
• Cross-functional reliability [Are the performance team, ops, dev, and copy teams getting what they need from retention to do their jobs well?]

Benefits

• Competitive salary based on experience [ this is a senior leadership role]
• Fully remote
• Access to an existing agency foundation, strong cross-functional support, and the tools needed to build the function properly
• Full ownership of a high-impact function at a brand with real scale and real growth ahead of it

We're not starting from zero; our existing partners have built a strong foundation and you'll have genuine support from across the business. What we need is someone who can learn from what's already working, build what's missing, and own the retention function as it moves fully in-house. If that transition is the kind of challenge you're looking for, we'd like to talk.