- Job Title: Director of Retention
- Reports To: Chief Marketing Officer
- Position Type: FT/Remote
- Travel Requirements: Less than 10%
- Compensation: $150-$175k, Bonus Eligible
ABOUT CORNBREAD HEMP
At Cornbread Hemp, our mission is to improve quality of life with the highest quality hemp products. Based in Louisville, Kentucky, we've grown quickly by staying true to three things: product quality, exceptional customer service, and transparency. We're proud advocates for greater hemp freedom, and everything we do is built on trust, both with our customers and with each other. We were founded on organic integrity, third-party transparency, and our proud Kentucky heritage. This is why we have grown to be a national leader in organic hemp products and serve over a million customers nationwide.
THE ROLE
Cornbread Hemp is seeking a strategic, analytical, and highly organized Director of Retention to lead one of the most important functions in our business: maximizing customer lifetime value.
This role owns the entire retention ecosystem: from email and SMS marketing to subscriptions, promotional planning, ecommerce optimization, and customer experience. You'll lead a talented team while continuously improving how customers discover, purchase, receive, and engage with our products long after their first order.
You'll oversee our in-house Email Marketing Manager, Customer Experience Manager, and Customer Experience team while partnering closely with Growth, Software Development, Creative, Operations, and Product to deliver a seamless customer journey.
This isn't a role for someone waiting for directions. We're looking for a leader who identifies opportunities before anyone else, builds solutions independently, and uses data to drive better customer experience and business results.
WHO YOU ARE
- A self-starter who thrives with autonomy and takes ownership without needing constant direction.
- An exceptional problem solver who uses deductive reasoning to identify root causes rather than treating symptoms.
- Extremely detail-oriented and able to manage multiple projects without letting anything fall through the cracks.
- An experienced people manager who develops high-performing teams through coaching, accountability, and clear communication.
- Analytical and data-driven, balancing customer insights with business objectives.
- Comfortable making decisions quickly while continuously testing and improving.
- Naturally curious and always looking for ways to optimize systems, processes, and customer experiences.
- Highly organized with exceptional project management skills.
- Collaborative and cross-functional, able to work effectively with Marketing, Creative, Software Development, Operations, Product, and Leadership
WHAT YOU WILL DO
Retention Marketing
- Own the company's retention strategy across email, SMS, customer lifecycle, and loyalty initiatives.
- Manage and mentor the Email Marketing Manager while helping evolve our lifecycle marketing programs.
- Develop segmentation, automation, personalization, and testing strategies that improve engagement and revenue.
- Analyze campaign performance and customer behavior to continually optimize retention efforts.
Subscription Program
- Own and grow Cornbread Hemp's subscription business.
- Improve subscriber acquisition, onboarding, retention, and churn reduction initiatives.
- Develop testing strategies around offers, messaging, pricing, cadence, and customer incentives.
- Monitor subscription KPIs and identify opportunities for long-term customer growth.
Promotional Strategy
- Own the annual promotional calendar across all ecommerce channels.
- Plan product launches, seasonal campaigns, holiday promotions, and evergreen offers.
- Balance revenue growth with brand equity and customer experience.
- Coordinate promotional execution across Growth, Creative, Operations, Inventory, and Customer Experience.
Ecommerce & Website
- Own the customer experience across the website.
- Prioritize website improvements that increase conversion, customer satisfaction, and lifetime value.
- Manage the ecommerce development roadmap and oversee external and internal development resources.
- Translate business needs into clear development priorities while ensuring projects are delivered accurately and on schedule.
- Continuously identify opportunities to improve UX, merchandising, navigation, subscriptions, and checkout performance.
Customer Experience
- Lead the Customer Experience Manager and Customer Experience team.
- Establish customer service standards that create exceptional customer experiences.
- Monitor support metrics including CSAT, response times, resolution times, and customer feedback.
- Identify recurring customer issues and partner with internal teams to solve root causes.
- Ensure customer insights influence product, marketing, and operational decisions.
Leadership & Analytics
- Build dashboards and reporting that measure retention performance across all channels.
- Own key retention KPIs including repeat purchase rate, customer lifetime value, subscription growth, churn, AOV, and retention revenue.
- Develop quarterly and annual retention strategies aligned with company goals.
- Build scalable processes that improve efficiency across the department.
- Foster a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and customer obsession.
Website Popups & Conversion
- Own the strategy and optimization of website popups, banners, overlays, and other onsite conversion tools.
- Develop acquisition, promotional, subscription, and exit-intent experiences that increase conversion and customer value.
- Continuously tests messaging, offers, creative, timing, targeting, and placement to improve performance.
- Monitor popup performance and identify opportunities to improve conversion, email/SMS acquisition, and revenue.
Email Acquisition
- Own the strategy for growing Cornbread Hemp's email and SMS subscriber base.
- Develop and optimize acquisition programs across the website, paid media, promotions, partnerships, and other customer touchpoints.
- Build strategies to improve opt-in rates, list growth, subscriber quality, and downstream customer value.
- Test acquisition offers, messaging, creative forms, landing pages, and incentives to continually improve performance.
SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE
- Retention revenue continues to grow year over year beyond expected growth.
- Email and SMS programs consistently drive measurable business impact.
- Subscription acquisition, retention, and lifetime value improvements.
- Promotional campaigns are thoughtfully planned and flawlessly executed.
- Website improvements ship consistently and positively impact conversion.
- Customer satisfaction remains industry-leading while support operations become increasingly efficient.
- Your team is empowered, accountable, and consistently performing at a high level.
- Leadership trusts your department to identify opportunities, solve problems, and execute without constant oversight.
QUALIFICATIONS
- 7+ years of experience in ecommerce, retention marketing, lifecycle marketing, or customer experience.
- 3+ years managing high-performing teams.
- Deep experience with email marketing platforms (Klaviyo strongly preferred).
- Strong understanding of ecommerce platforms such as Shopify.
- Experience managing website development projects and working with developers.
- Experience owning promotional calendars and merchandising strategies.
- Strong analytical skills with experience using GA4, Looker, Triple Whale, or similar reporting tools.
- Experience with retention softwares like Skio, Recharge, Rebuy, Gorgias or similar technology.
- Proven experience improving customer lifetime value, repeat purchase rate, and subscription performance.
- Excellent communication, organizational, and project management skills.
DESIRABLES
- Experience with subscription-based ecommerce businesses.
- Experience in regulated or highly restricted advertising industries.
- Familiarity with Recharge, Rebuy, Skio, Attentive, Gorgias, Shopify Plus, or similar ecommerce technology.
- Experience leading customer service organizations.
- Experience in wellness, CPG, food & beverage, supplements, or cannabis/hemp industries.
Cornbread Hemp offers a full benefits package, including:
- Health insurance, with a Company contribution toward the base plan for employee
- 100% paid Dental and Vision Insurance for employee
- Paid time off in accordance with Company policy.
- $75 per month employee stipend for Cornbread Hemp products and 50% off Cornbread Hemp website
WHY JOIN CORNBREAD HEMP
We hire and grow our team around four core values: Integrity, Humility, Whatever It Takes, and Always Better. That means you'll be joining people who do what they say, check their ego at the door, roll up their sleeves when something needs doing, and never stop looking for ways to improve. This means you will have:
- The opportunity to expand our customer retention and lifetime value with a fast growing nationally recognized brand
- A direct line to senior leadership with significant strategic autonomy to own and grow retention
- A collaborative, supportive work environment rooted in Kentucky heritage and organic integrity.
- Professional development and career advancement as our organization grows.
- Flexible and remote working capabilities.
EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY
Cornbread Hemp is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. The Company will make reasonable accommodations for known physical or mental limitations of an otherwise qualified applicant or employee with a disability, consistent with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), unless doing so would impose an undue hardship on Company operations.