Director of Marketing Strategy and Operations at FirstKey Homes

Reporting to the Senior Vice President of Marketing and Customer Experience, we’re looking for a strategic marketing leader who can bring structure, insight, and innovation to the way we acquire, engage, and retain customers. The Director of Marketing Strategy & Insights is a responsible for translating business goals into scalable marketing strategies. This individual will lead four key areas: Performance Marketing, Lifecycle & Email, Product Management, and Marketing Operations with a focus on data-driven decision-making, MarTech innovation, and revenue growth. 

The right candidate will be equal parts strategist, operator, and analyst. They should bring deep experience in building integrated marketing systems and programs, managing high-performing teams, and using analytics to optimize customer journeys and improve marketing ROI. 

This role is perfect for someone who thrives at the intersection of marketing, product, and technology and believes that insights are the engine behind smarter strategy, stronger execution, and sustained growth. They're motivated by uncovering what the data reveals, asking better questions, and turning those answers into action. 

ESSENTIAL DUTIES 

Marketing Strategy & Performance 

• Own the development, execution and continuous optimization of customer acquisition strategy and lifecycle across multiple channels, driving new customer growth and market share expansion through integrated omnichannel approach 

• Develop and execute comprehensive acquisition strategies across paid search, SEO, paid social, internet listing services to meet customer acquisition and revenue targets 

• Own acquisition marketing budget and analyze channel performance metrics and customer acquisition costs, optimizing budget allocation for maximum ROI 

• Partner with leaders across marketing, product, analytics, and operations to align marketing strategies to business goals, revenue targets, and customer experience initiatives. 

• Identify performance opportunities, forecast impact, and communicate marketing’s contribution to growth using a strong command of KPIs like CAC, CLV, Campaign ROI, CPL, ROAS, etc.  

Insights & Analytics 

• Lead the development of dashboards, reporting infrastructure, and measurement frameworks to evaluate marketing effectiveness and surface actionable insights. 

• Build a culture of experimentation and learning across the team, using A/B testing and data-driven insights to guide channel strategy, creative decisions, and customer engagement efforts. 

• Translate complex data into clear, strategic narratives for stakeholders and executive leadership. 

Marketing Technology & Innovation 

• Own and oversee the performance, functionality, and optimization of all marketing-owned tools and products. Ensure they are aligned with strategic priorities, fully integrated, and deliver measurable value. This includes marketing automation platforms, CMS, analytics tools, content infrastructure, and APIs. 

• Lead the development and execution of a cohesive marketing technology roadmap. Collaborate closely with product, analytics, IT, and third-party vendors to ensure systems operate efficiently, data flows accurately, and cross-functional teams are supported. 

• Evaluate emerging platforms and tools that can drive competitive advantage and enhance marketing performance. 

 Team Leadership & Cross-Functional Collaboration 

• Manage and mentor a team of four leaders across Performance, Email/Lifecycle, Product Marketing, and Marketing Ops. 

• Set clear priorities, coach for growth, and foster a high-performance culture rooted in accountability, creativity, and strategic thinking. 

• Collaborate across departments to break silos and ensure marketing is positioned as a strategic growth partner. 

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. 

WORKING CONDITIONS 

• Hybrid work environment (4 days in office)  

• Role involves prolonged exposure to computer screens and repetitive hand use. 

REQUIRED EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE 

• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, Business, Data Analytics, or a related field (master's degree preferred). 

• 10+ years of experience in marketing, growth, or strategy roles with exposure to marketing operations, analytics, and/or MarTech. 

• Advanced experience with marketing analytics, reporting, and performance measurement. 

• 5+ years managing cross-functional teams, including performance marketing, lifecycle, and marketing technology 

• Proven track record of building scalable marketing programs that drive customer acquisition, engagement, and retention. 

• Strong working knowledge of modern marketing stacks and platforms (e.g., Google Analytics, BigQuery, SQL, HubSpot/Marketo/Customer Insights, Excel CDPs, CMS, and other relevant platforms). 

• Strategic problem-solver with the ability to zoom in and out; from big picture thinking to tactical execution. 

• Exceptional communication and stakeholder management skills. 

 

PREFERRED EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE 

• Master’s degree (MBA or equivalent) preferred, especially with a focus on Marketing, Strategy, or Analytics 

• Experience working in a fast pace, high-growth company 

TECHNICAL EXPERTISE 

• Strong proficiency in using marketing and analytics platforms to drive acquisition, engagement, and retention strategies. 

• Deep experience working with marketing automation tools, customer data platforms (CDPs), CMS, and performance marketing platforms to execute and optimize campaigns. 

• Comfortable analyzing large data sets, building dashboards, and extracting insights to inform strategy, improve ROI, and influence cross-functional decisions. 

• Demonstrated success managing the full lifecycle of marketing-owned products and tools; from requirements gathering and roadmap planning to optimization and cross-functional rollout. 

• Proven ability to partner with product, engineering, and analytics teams to align marketing systems and tools with business goals. 

• Adept at translating business needs into technical solutions that scale, and at troubleshooting systems to ensure data quality, campaign accuracy, and operational efficiency. 

 

REQUIRED SKILLS 

• Leadership. Proven ability to build, lead, and develop high-performing teams. 

• Data Analytics. Deep experience in using data to drive decision-making and improve performance. 

• Strategic Thinking. Strong problem-solving and critical thinking skills to drive innovative solutions. 

• Communication. Exceptional written and verbal communication skills to influence stakeholders and articulate complex ideas. 

• Project Management. Proven ability to manage multiple projects, priorities, and deadlines effectively. 

WORK STYLES & BEHAVIORS 

• Leadership. A job requires a willingness to lead, take charge, and offer opinions and direction. 

• Integrity. A job requires being honest and ethical. 

• Persistence. A job requires persistence in the face of obstacles. 

• Initiative. A job requires a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges. 

• Cooperation. A job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude. 

• Achievement/Effort. A job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks. 

• Innovation. A job requires creativity and alternative thinking to develop new ideas for and answers to work-related problems. 

• Adaptability/Flexibility. A job requires being open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace. 

FirstKey Homes is an equal opportunity employer and will not tolerate discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, disability, ethnicity, national origin, marital status, veteran status, genetic information or any other legally protected classification or status.