VP, Head of Retention

The Economist is a leading source of analysis on international business and world affairs, published weekly in print and digital editions, and daily through our apps and websites. We deliver our information through a range of formats, from newspapers and magazines to conferences, films and audio. What ties us together is the objectivity of our opinion, the originality of our insight and our advocacy of economic and political freedom around the world.

Retention is a company-wide strategic priority. Reporting to the SVP, Customer and Operations, the purpose of this role is to manage our retention team in the development and delivery of our subscriber retention and engagement strategy, identifying opportunities to improve performance throughout the customer lifecycle to deliver subscriber growth for The Economist. 

This role will be accountable for increasing overall subscriber engagement and retention globally in line with targets. They will work with stakeholders across the business, from editorial and marketing to product and tech, to promote a customer-first mindset and growth perspective, being heavily influenced by data and research. 

How you will contribute:

• Management of our retention team including direct line management responsibility for nine staff. Direct and mentor a global, matrixed team of professionals to be empowered to deliver fantastic customer experiences and engagement.
• Development and delivery of our global subscriber retention and engagement strategy and roadmap. Develop and execute short, medium and long term customer engagement and retention strategies and tactics with the goal of significantly reducing churn across the subscriber base.
• Oversight of overall subscriber experience including communications, copy and execution and CRM. Influence and direct delivery of exceptional front line customer service working alongside our BPO and internal Ops team with particular emphasis on management of subscriber cancellation and save process, strategy and measurement.
• Day-to-day responsibility for retention and engagement performance metrics including internal analysis, reporting, forecasting and budgeting. Help define the KPIs for showing improvements through incremental improvements and regional alterations.
• Coordination of cross-functional working groups and initiatives. Representing and advocating for retention and the interests of subscribers internally, providing support and expert guidance for other parts of the business. Positively influence business decisions through well-understood and articulated data.

Performance measures:

• Subscriber retention and engagement
• Subscriber growth
• Drive significant improvements in process and efficacy, within the team and dovetailing with the rest of the business.

Ideal skills and experience for the role are:

• Significant (7+ years) experience in a retention subscription environment, with a strong preference for news/media experience.
• Highly commercial with a strong understanding of data and the ability to quickly interpret data, translate to marketing or product strategy delivering commercial results
• Ability to initiate and implement changes required on a global basis through rigorous testing and roll out plans.
• Evidence of improving customer experience, engagement and loyalty resulting in hard volume or value increase
• Strong communication skills, emotional understanding and dexterity to work effectively within a business that is undergoing huge transformation.
• Ability to describe and explain advanced retention and engagement statistics at levels across the business
• Evidence of having managed, or having senior involvement in, scaled retention marketing campaigns.  
• Professional curiosity.
• Integrity to drive the right decisions through data
• Highly flexible and comfortable with change
• Able to work effectively at pace, and take direct and matrix teams with you