CRM & Lifecycle Senior Manager

Job description

Better Collective is looking for an experienced CRM & Lifecycle Senior Manager to establish and lead a group-wide approach to customer relationship management across our portfolio of global sports media brands. This is a senior role combining CRM strategy, customer lifecycle management, technology, data, commercial thinking and operational leadership . The successful candidate will move CRM beyond campaign execution and develop it as a strategic capability that helps Better Collective build deeper, more valuable relationships with its audiences. Working across Product, Audience, Data, Commercial, Editorial, Technology and local brand teams, the CRM & Lifecycle Senior Manager will create the frameworks, programmes and operating model required to turn first- and zero-party audience data into personalised customer experiences and measurable business value. The Opportunity Better Collective reaches millions of sports fans across a diverse portfolio of digital brands. The next stage of our audience strategy is to develop stronger direct relationships with those users — moving from anonymous audiences → known users → understood customers → engaged and valuable relationships . CRM will be central to that transformation. The CRM & Lifecycle Senior Manager will establish the strategy, capabilities and standards that allow Better Collective brands to acquire, activate, engage, retain and monetise audiences across the customer lifecycle. Key Responsibilities CRM Strategy & Leadership Develop Better Collective's group-wide CRM and lifecycle strategy. Establish CRM principles, standards and best practices across brands. Create a scalable operating model balancing central CRM expertise with local brand execution. Identify where CRM can deliver the greatest audience and commercial impact. Build CRM roadmaps for priority Better Collective brands. Act as the senior CRM subject-matter expert across the organisation. Customer Lifecycle Management Design lifecycle strategies covering: Acquisition → Registration → Onboarding → Engagement → Conversion → Retention → Reactivation Develop automated programmes including: Welcome and onboarding journeys Profile completion Content discovery Personalised sports and player updates Newsletter engagement Subscription conversion Premium product promotion Renewal Retention Churn prevention Lapsed-user reactivation Win-back programmes The objective is to create relevant, personalised experiences rather than simply increase communication volume. First & Zero-Party Data Activation Work closely with Audience, Product and Data teams to translate Better Collective's growing first- and zero-party data capabilities into meaningful customer experiences. Use behavioural, declared and transactional data to improve: Audience segmentation Personalisation Content recommendations Lifecycle triggers Subscription propensity Retention Cross-sell opportunities Audience insight Help establish the connection between data capture, customer understanding and CRM activation . Multi-Channel CRM Develop a coordinated CRM approach across: Email Newsletters App push Web push In-app messaging On-site messaging Emerging direct audience channels Establish channel roles, contact strategies, frequency management and customer communication principles. Ensure customers receive coordinated experiences rather than disconnected messages from individual channels. CRM Technology & Automation Partner with Product and Technology teams to maximise Better Collective's CRM technology stack. Responsibilities include: Marketing automation Journey orchestration Audience segmentation Triggered communications Dynamic content Personalisation CRM/CDP integration Data flows Preference management Testing frameworks Reporting requirements Help translate business and customer requirements into practical technology capabilities. Measurement & Optimisation Create a consistent CRM measurement framework across Better Collective. Core metrics should include: Known-user growth Registration conversion Newsletter acquisition Email engagement Push engagement Active-user frequency Subscription conversion Renewal Retention Reactivation Revenue per known user Customer lifetime value Move CRM measurement beyond opens and clicks toward customer behaviour and commercial outcomes . Experimentation Establish a structured CRM experimentation programme covering: A/B testing Send frequency Timing Content Segmentation Personalisation Offers Lifecycle triggers Channel combinations Create mechanisms for successful experiments to be documented and scaled across Better Collective brands. Stakeholder Leadership CRM at Better Collective sits across multiple disciplines. The CRM & Lifecycle Senior Manager will therefore work closely with: Audience — audience strategy, segmentation and zero/first-party data Product — registration, logged-in experiences and product journeys Data & BI — customer data, segmentation and measurement Technology — CRM platforms, integrations and automation Editorial — content propositions and newsletters Commercial — monetisation and customer value Subscription Teams — acquisition, renewal and retention Compliance — consent, GDPR, PECR and data governance Strong stakeholder leadership will be critical to the success of the role. We are looking for an experienced CRM leader who combines strategic thinking with the ability to turn strategy into operational programmes. The successful candidate will ideally have: Significant experience leading CRM, lifecycle or customer engagement programmes. Strong knowledge of email marketing and marketing automation. Experience developing sophisticated customer lifecycle strategies. Strong understanding of customer segmentation and personalisation. Experience working with large customer databases. Experience using behavioural and transactional data to improve communications. Strong understanding of CRM technology and platform capabilities. Experience working across Product, Data, Technology, Marketing and Commercial teams. Excellent stakeholder management skills. Experience managing CRM teams, agencies or specialist partners. Strong analytical and commercial mindset. Demonstrable experience connecting CRM activity to measurable business outcomes. Experience within digital media, subscriptions, publishing, sports, gaming or high-frequency digital consumer products would be particularly valuable. Leadership Profile The role requires someone who can operate at both strategic and practical levels. You should be comfortable moving between: Strategy ↔ Execution Customer ↔ Commercial Data ↔ Communications Technology ↔ Marketing Central Strategy ↔ Local Brand Requirements You will need to influence senior stakeholders while also being comfortable working directly with teams responsible for delivering CRM programmes. What Success Looks Like First 3 Months Audit CRM capabilities across priority Better Collective brands. Establish baseline CRM KPIs. Map existing lifecycle communications. Identify immediate optimisation opportunities. Define the group CRM strategy and operating principles. Prioritise brands and lifecycle use cases. 3–6 Months Launch priority automated lifecycle programmes. Establish group segmentation principles. Introduce a structured CRM experimentation framework. Establish CRM dashboards and commercial measurement. Develop CRM playbooks that can be reused across brands. 6–12 Months Better Collective has a scalable CRM capability connecting: Audience Data → Customer Insight → Segmentation → Personalisation → Activation → Measurement → Commercial Value CRM becomes a measurable growth engine supporting: Audience Engagement | Registration | Subscription | Retention | Revenue | Customer Lifetime Value Why This Role Matters Better Collective already has significant global audience scale. The opportunity is to build stronger direct relationships with those audiences. This role will help Better Collective transition from primarily understanding what audiences consume to understanding who our customers are, what they value and how we can build longer-lasting relationships with them . The CRM & Lifecycle Senior Manager will be central to making that transition happen.