CRM Marketing Manager, Rakuten Kobo
Subscriptions
CA$77.8-122.5k
OTE
+ stock options
Digital bookseller
Be an early applicant
Digital bookseller
501-1000 employees
Be an early applicant
CA$77.8-122.5k
OTE
+ stock options
501-1000 employees
Company mission
To bring the power of reading to the world.
Role
Who you are
- 3-5+ years of experience in CRM, lifecycle, retention or digital marketing, ideally within a subscription, e-commerce, streaming, media or consumer technology business
- Demonstrated experience building lifecycle programs that improve conversion, engagement, retention and/or customer lifetime value
- Strong understanding of subscription customer journeys, including acquisition, onboarding, trial conversion, engagement, churn prevention and win-back
- Hands-on experience developing and optimizing email and push programs; experience with SMS or other direct channels is an asset
- Strong knowledge of segmentation, personalization, marketing automation and A/B testing
- A highly analytical mindset with the ability to turn performance data and customer insights into clear actions
- Experience using marketing automation platforms such as Oracle Responsys, Salesforce Marketing Cloud or similar
- Experience with analytics and reporting platforms such as Google Analytics, Tableau or similar
- Strong project management skills with the ability to manage multiple programs and stakeholders simultaneously
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills
- Strong attention to detail without losing sight of the broader customer and business opportunity
- Curiosity about emerging CRM, personalization, AI and lifecycle marketing
- Capabilities
- Knowledge of privacy regulations, consent management and CRM best practices
What the job involves
- Rakuten Kobo is looking for a CRM Marketing Manager, Subscriptions to join our CRM & Lifecycle Marketing team
- Reporting to the Senior Manager, CRM, this role will own and optimize key customer journeys across Kobo Plus and Audiobooks, using lifecycle marketing to drive acquisition, trial conversion, engagement, retention and customer lifetime value
- This is a highly data-driven role at the intersection of customer strategy, personalization, experimentation and execution. You will develop targeted lifecycle programs across email, push and emerging channels such as SMS, using customer behaviour and insights to deliver more relevant experiences at every stage of the subscription journey
- You will partner closely with Kobo Plus, Analytics, Creative, Content, Marketing Technology, Product and other teams to identify growth opportunities, develop campaigns and always on journeys, test new approaches and continuously improve performance
- Success in this role means moving beyond individual campaigns to build smarter, more personalized lifecycle experiences that strengthen customer engagement and improve the long-term economics of our subscription businesses
- You are equal parts customer advocate, marketer and problem solver. You are curious about why customers behave the way they do and are excited by finding ways to make their experience better while improving business performance
- You are comfortable moving between strategy and execution: digging into performance data, developing a lifecycle hypothesis, briefing creative, working through targeting logic and evaluating whether a program worked
- Most importantly, you don't think of CRM as simply sending more emails. You see it as an opportunity to use data, technology, creativity and experimentation to build stronger relationships with customers over time
- Own the Subscription Customer Lifecycle
- Develop and execute CRM strategies across the Kobo Plus and Audiobooks customer lifecycle, from acquisition and onboarding through engagement, retention, win-back and reactivation
- Identify opportunities to improve trial-to-paid conversion, content discovery, addto-library behaviour, engagement, retention, and lifetime value
- Build and optimize always-on automated journeys alongside targeted campaigns and promotional programs
- Develop strategies for key customer moments including onboarding, trial expiry, declining engagement, churn risk, cancellation and win-back
- Drive Personalization & Experimentation
- Use customer behaviour, preferences, and lifecycle signals to create increasingly personalized and relevant communications
- Develop segmentation strategies that improve targeting and customer experience
- Build a strong experimentation roadmap across messaging, creative, offers, timing, frequency, audience and journey design
- Partner with Analytics to understand customer behaviour, evaluate incremental
- Impact and translate insights into actionable CRM strategies
- Continuously optimize programs based on performance, customer insights and test results
- Deliver Best-in-Class CRM Programs
- Own campaigns and lifecycle programs end-to-end, from strategy and briefing
- Through execution, QA, launch and post-campaign analysis
- Write clear, insight-led creative briefs and partner with Creative teams to develop effective customer communications
- Work closely with Marketing Delivery and Marketing Technology teams to ensure accurate targeting, data logic and execution
- Maintain high standards for QA, customer experience and operational excellence across all communications
- Help evolve Kobo's use of email, push, SMS and emerging lifecycle channels
- Partner Across the Business
- Work closely with Subscription, Content, Product, Analytics, Creative, Marketing
- Technology and other teams to deliver against shared growth objectives
- Support major subscription initiatives, product launches, promotions and strategic business priorities
- Bring a strong customer and lifecycle perspective into cross-functional planning
- Clearly communicate performance, insights, recommendations and opportunities to stakeholders
Our take
Long-form content is having a resurgence. That’s great news for the e-reader industry, of which Rakuten’s Kobo battles with Amazon’s Kindle for ownership.
The e-reader giant has changed tack in recent years to pursue growth via integrations and partnerships. A notable example is its native device integration with Pocket, a wishlist app loved by millions of readers.
The company is hoping that these partnerships and product improvements will allow it to finally break the US market where it most struggles for market share with Kindle.
Amazon has consistently shown its willingness to cut prices to protect its position in any market it enters. That means that Kobo will have to demonstrate true product superiority to make a dent while protecting its margins.
Steph
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
Company
Company benefits
- "Work from anywhere" policy
- Flexible hours
- Internet/phone/commuting allowance
- Daily meal allowance when in the office
- $500 CAD flexible spending account
- Parental leave top-up
- Unlimited sick and mental health days
- 4-day summer holiday weekends
- RRSP matching, bonus and stock options
- Free Kobo eReader
- Free weekly book of your choice
- Volunteer time off
Company HQ
Wellington Place, Toronto, ON
Leadership
Michael Tamblyn
(CEO)Part of the founding team of Kobo, Michael previously held the role of Chief Content Officer. Michael has also been the founding CEO of the supply chain agency, BookNet Canada and co-founded Canada’s first online bookstore, Bookshelf.ca, purchased by Indigo Books & Music in 1998.
Anna Giagkou
(CFO)Prior to joining Rakuten Kobo in 2021, Anna was the CFO of Cox Automotive Canada.
Nimod Narayanan
(CTO)Nimod joined Rakuten Kobo in 2022 as VP of Technology, he then became the SVP of Technology in 2023, and CTO in 2025. Prior to this, he spent nearly 4 years at Rogers Communications joining as a Senior Development Manager before becoming a Director of eCommerce & Personalization and then Senior Director of Digital Platforms & Services.
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