Head of Retention (email / SMS) at eCommerce Growth Marketing Agency

Right Hook Digital is a growth marketing agency working with 7-8 figure DTC eCommerce brands across the US and Australia. We're a Premium Google and Meta Marketing Partner, a global team of 60+, and we're scaling our US retention business.

We've partnered with brands like Alpha Lion, July Luggage, Geedup, Mister Zimi, Silly George, and many more. Our work spans paid social, Google, and retention - and we take all three seriously.

At our core, we're a team of A-Players who genuinely care about outcomes. We've built a culture around Kaizen (continuous growth), openness and candor, and elevating one another - and we look for people who live those values, not just nod at them.

We're looking for a Head of Retention to own our Retention service line end to end - the P&L, the product, the people, and the client relationships that hold it all together.

This is a business leadership role, not a senior IC role. You won't be building flows in Klaviyo. You'll be building the team that builds them, the product that makes them world-class, and the commercial engine that turns both into profitable growth.

You'll lead Group Leaders, Retention Strategists, and Specialists. You'll be the escalation point our biggest retention clients trust. And you'll own the number: gross profit growth in the Retention service line.

If you've run a service line or department before, know lifecycle marketing deeply enough to raise the standard of the work, and get real satisfaction from developing people - this is a rare seat.

• Own the Retention department's P&L and hit gross profit targets, quarter after quarter
• Monitor department performance metrics - average client lifetime, churn, retention rates - and act early when they move the wrong way
• Make the resourcing and pricing calls that protect margin without compromising the work

• Keep the Retention product world-class, generating genuine mutual upside for clients
• Own "The Retention Way" - our core system - including documentation, training, SOP adherence, and the tie-breaking decisions on how it evolves
• Push innovation in lifecycle strategy, testing, and measurement so we stay ahead of what every other agency is selling

• Build and hold strong relationships with our key retention clients, and serve as the primary escalation point when things get hard
• Drive retention by supporting and guiding Strategists on campaigns and flows that actually move revenue
• Proactively hunt for client feedback, aiming to WOW rather than satisfy
• Run exit interviews with churned clients and feed what you learn back into the product

• Hire, develop, and - when needed - exit talent, with a clear eye on who can make a meaningful impact on P&L growth
• Act as an S-leader to Group Leaders, Strategists, and Specialists
• Use our Performance and Growth Framework (PGF) to run consistent 1:1s, PGP reviews, KPI reviews, and feedback loops that people genuinely value

• Work with our marketing team on agency campaigns, marketing materials, case studies, testimonials, and lead generation for Retention
• Support sales conversations where your expertise closes the gap
• Build strong relationships with our Paid Social and Google units to drive internal referrals
• Partner with the Process Excellence Manager and COO to lift utilization, billable income, and process efficiency

• You've led a retention, lifecycle, or CRM team - ideally in an agency, and ideally with P&L or revenue accountability
• You know email and SMS deeply. You don't need to be the fastest person in Klaviyo, but you need to know world-class work from adequate work in about ten seconds, and be able to explain the difference
• You've managed teams, not just individual contributors
• You're commercially fluent - gross profit, utilization, retention rates and pricing are tools you use, not concepts you've heard of
• You're comfortable being the escalation point. Hard client conversations don't rattle you
• You give and receive candid feedback well. Our culture runs on openness, and a leader who softens everything won't work here
• You default to systems. When something breaks twice, you fix the process, not just the instance
• You're happy working overlapping US hours in a globally distributed team
  

Bonus points for: experience with 7-8 figure DTC brands, hands-on Klaviyo history, a track record building or productising a service offering, or experience supporting sales and marketing as a subject matter expert.

You're inheriting a real business with real clients and a team already doing good work - not a blank page and not a mess. Retention is one of three service lines we take equally seriously, which means you'll have the investment and the internal referral pipeline to grow it, plus the autonomy to shape how.

You'll report directly to our COO and sit at the table where the decisions get made.