United Soccer League
Job Title: Email Marketing Specialist - Club Performance Group
Position Type: Full-Time
Location: Tampa, FL (USL Headquarters)
Overview of the United Soccer League (USL)
The United Soccer League (USL) is the heartbeat of American soccer. Impacting more than 200 communities across the United States, the USL is the first and only soccer organization in the United States to build a youth-to-professional pathway for both men and women within one ecosystem. That structure includes three professional leagues: USL Super League (women), USL Championship (men), and USL League One (men); two pre-professional leagues: USL League Two (men) and the USL W League (women); and two youth platforms: USL Academy and USL Youth.
Authentic, vital, and exciting, the USL is dedicated to providing an inclusive and memorable soccer experience for players, fans, and communities across our growing "soccer nation."
Position Purpose
The USL is seeking an Email Marketing Specialist, as part of the USL’s Club Performance Group, the group focused on providing strategic consultative support to optimize business performance. This role will function as a strategic advisor servicing all USL teams throughout the league. The role's focus will be to help USL teams leverage the email channel to drive revenue (tickets, sponsorships, merchandise, etc.) using data-driven analytics and compelling, personalized content, as well as to deepen and maintain fan engagement.
The Email Marketing Strategist will partner with key stakeholders on USL teams to understand their individual organizational goals, help identify opportunities for growth, and optimize their email programs to better achieve business objectives. The Email Marketing Specialist will be expected to constantly innovate, combining best practices and unique ideas for fan engagement with email content. This role will also be responsible for monitoring and tracking all email metrics.
Focus areas will include developing and sharing strategies aimed at growing the email subscriber base, increasing click traffic to drive ticket sales and site traffic, helping teams with email projects that may include understanding data flows and marketing tech vendor structure, and building an email “best practice” center of excellence. The level of engagement with USL teams will vary based on each individual team’s needs.
Duties and Responsibilities
Specific duties include, but are not limited to:
- Create an individualized, strategic roadmap for participating USL teams’ marketing/email stakeholders.
- Execute and continuously evolve strategic roadmaps for participating USL teams.
- Establish relationships with teams by meeting regularly and leading discussions regarding email marketing strategies.
- Build a library of email best practices and learnings.
- Provide training on email best practices, industry trends, proposed strategies, tools, and platforms.
- Help teams manage various email service providers and vendors.
- Advise on the data handling and business logic for key projects.
- Share learnings and initiatives from the USL to stakeholders.
- Bring creative feedback to the table and brainstorm with individual marketing teams on new ideas.
- Identify structural maintenance needs & enhancement opportunities.
- Compile email performance metrics and provide insights.
- Partner with data, creative, and marketing teams when necessary.
- Execute all aspects of campaign implementation, including but not limited to email marketing, advertising plans, keyword research, writing ad copy, creative ideation, plus tracking and reporting for sales-driven and partnership-driven revenue efforts.
- Build automations, customer journeys, and triggered workflows within email and SMS to help with fans’ and prospects' engagement, acquisition, and retention.
- Translate business goals into accurate campaign requirements and plans, including but not limited to specifying required data, segmentation/targeting logic, and dynamic content requirements.
- Work at the intersection of written content, marketing, and email best practices to deliver engaging emails to segmented audiences to drive greater revenue and engagement.
- Work with multiple departments to segment audiences and manage distribution lists to ensure the right content is delivered to the right audience at the right time through email and SMS.
- Facilitate the QA process by reviewing and approving all campaign test files, providing approval for deployment, and ensuring flawless execution of all campaigns.
- Monitor and track metrics campaigns and deliver reports and insights to stakeholders.
- Other duties/responsibilities as assigned.
Qualifications
- BA/BS degree in marketing, business, communications, or related field; and/or equivalent professional work experience.
- 2-3 years of experience in email marketing with SMS preferred.
- Experience working with Email Service Providers (ESPs), as well as related technology providers (eg: Movable Ink; Wunderkind; LiveIntent, Salesforce Marketing Cloud).
- Experience in a service or consultative role is a plus.
- Excellent understanding of email execution concepts and metrics; deliverability; best practices.
- Strong understanding of data management and data exchange concepts.
- Knowledge of email compliance and privacy legislation & practices (specifically: CAN-SPAM; GDPR; CASL; Apple MPP).
- Excellent writing and presentation skills.
- Intermediate working knowledge of HTML.
- Ability to prioritize and manage multiple tasks simultaneously in a fast-paced working environment.
- Strong project management and organizational skills, as well as attention to detail.
- Self-starter who can work independently and within a cross-functional team.
- Willingness to take on operations/execution as needed, in addition to strategy.
- Must be detailed orientated with strong vendor management/project management skills.
- A passion and track record for customer-centric marketing.
- Full understanding of the MS Office suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint).
- Strong interpersonal and communication skills to effectively interact with team members, executives, member clubs, and external partners, including the ability to influence and persuade others with diplomacy and tact; work with numerous partners of differing levels, adapting interaction style as required.
- Ability to work independently in a multi-faceted, fast, fluid, and deadline-driven environment.
- Positive attitude and strong work ethic a must.
- Ability to work as business needs require which may include long days, evenings, weekends, occasional holidays, and travel if / when necessary.
- Must have U.S. work authorization.
Work Environment
Based in Tampa, FL, USL Headquarters provides a vibrant and open working environment designed to promote collaboration, the exchange of ideas, and knowledge sharing. We believe in fostering a culture that encourages creativity, communication, and teamwork.
Currently, USL HQ operates on a hybrid work model. From Monday to Thursday, team members gather in person to harness the power of face-to-face collaboration. This not only strengthens the bonds within the team but also enhances communication and innovation. On Fridays, we transition to a remote work setup, providing our team with the flexibility to manage their tasks in an environment of their choosing.
Typical USL HQ hours are Monday – Friday 8:30am – 5:30pm ET. Evenings, weekends, occasional holidays, and travel may be necessary based on business demands.
We have great Perks - Comprehensive Benefits Package • Medical, Dental, Vision • Health HSA and FSA • 401k w/ up to 6% company match • Pet Insurance • Corporate Discounts • Paid Vacation, Holiday & Sick Days • Business Casual Dress • Optional Remote Work Fridays • And More!
We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, gender identity, marital or veteran status, or any other protected class.
