Director of Marketing Automation

About the Role

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and manage multi-channel campaigns to nurture prospects across the enrollment funnel—email, SMS, landing pages, digital retargeting, and chatbots.
• Design, test, and deploy segmented, personalized, and behavior-triggered communications that drive engagement and conversion.
• Oversee drip campaigns, inquiry and applicant journeys, yield outreach, and onboarding/retention flows.
• Serve as the lead administrator for the marketing automation platform (Element451, Pardot, or other).
• Ensure proper integration and data sync between the marketing automation system, CRM, student information systems, and analytics tools.
• Collaborate with CRM and IT teams to troubleshoot issues, ensure data accuracy, and support system improvements.
• Leverage AI tools to enhance personalization, predict user behavior, and deploy dynamic content based on student interests and actions.
• Use generative AI and natural language tools to create and test personalized messaging at scale.
• Continuously experiment with A/B testing and predictive modeling to increase campaign performance and ROI.
• Work closely with leadership to design and implement an AI-assisted marketing and admissions workforce.
• Contribute to the strategic vision for intelligent automation, personalized student experiences, and operational scalability using AI tools.
• Collaborate on deploying AI features that support real-time student engagement, counselor prompts, dynamic content generation, and performance analytics.
• Track, report, and analyze performance metrics across campaigns, including open rates, click-through rates, form completions, applications started/submitted, and enrollment impact.
• Present actionable insights to leadership and drive continual optimization of marketing workflows.
• Develop and maintain performance dashboards for weekly and monthly reporting.
• Partner with creative, digital media, enrollment, and academic program leads to align marketing efforts with recruitment goals and timelines.
• Lead creative briefing, campaign planning, and QA processes for timely communication execution.
• Support training of admissions counselors and campus stakeholders on campaign tools, workflows, and lead interaction best practices.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in marketing, communications, data analytics, or a related field.
• 5+ years of experience in marketing automation, digital marketing, or CRM-based campaign execution.
• Direct experience using platforms such as Element451, Pardot, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Slate, or HubSpot.
• Strong understanding of enrollment marketing strategies, user segmentation, and conversion tracking.
• Excellent project management and communication skills with a bias for action and results.

Nice to Have

• Experience in higher education marketing, especially enrollment-focused campaigns.
• Familiarity with student journey mapping, lifecycle marketing, and behavioral targeting.
• Experience working with AI tools for content generation, intent detection, or personalization.
• Certifications in marketing automation platforms (e.g., Pardot Specialist, HubSpot, etc.)

Qualifications

• Educational background includes a bachelor's degree in relevant fields.
• Professional experience includes at least 5 years in marketing automation or related areas.
• Experience with specific platforms such as Element451, Pardot, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Slate, or HubSpot.

Benefits & Perks

• Salary will be commensurate with experience and qualifications.
• Participation in the university's salary schedule (Salary Band: P625).
• Opportunity to work in a supportive environment at Athens State University, located in historic Athens, Alabama.