Director of Marketing Automation

About the position

The Director of Enrollment Marketing Automation plays a critical role in driving enrollment outcomes by leading the strategic execution of automated marketing campaigns that engage, convert, and retain prospective students. This role manages the marketing automation platform (e.g., Element451, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Pardot) and partners closely with admissions, CRM, creative, and analytics teams to deliver timely, relevant, and personalized communications at scale.

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 (e.g., Salesforce), student information systems (SIS), 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 the Vice President for Marketing, Vice President for Enrollment Management (VPEM), and Director of CRM Operations 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 within Element451, Salesforce, and related platforms
• Collaborate on the deployment of AI features that support real-time student engagement, counselor prompts, dynamic content generation, and performance analytics
• Track, report, and analyze performance metrics across all 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 to support weekly and monthly reporting cadence
• Partner closely 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 execution of communications
• 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-haves

• 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.)