Sr. Manager, Loyalty- CRM

Job Summary

General Description

The Senior Manager, Loyalty & CRM is responsible for leading the strategy, evolution, and performance of Potbelly's loyalty and customer engagement ecosystem, driving measurable growth in customer lifetime value, frequency, and retention.

This role goes beyond execution to own the vision, roadmap, and optimization of lifecycle marketing, including personalization, segmentation strategy, and omnichannel engagement across email, SMS, push, and in-app messaging. The Senior Manager will lead complex, data-driven initiatives that connect customer behavior, brand strategy, and business outcomes.

As a strategic leader and subject matter expert, this role partners cross-functionally with IT, Product, Brand Marketing, Operations, Finance, and external vendors to shape the future of Potbelly's CRM and loyalty capabilities, leveraging data, experimentation, and emerging technologies (AI/ML) to deliver best-in-class customer experiences.

Duties & Responsibilities

Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership & Roadmap Ownership

• Own and evolve the loyalty and CRM strategy, including lifecycle marketing vision, personalization strategy, and long-term roadmap.
• Develop and manage a multi-year testing and learning agenda to continuously improve customer engagement and lifetime value.
• Identify and prioritize high-impact opportunities across acquisition, onboarding, engagement, retention, and reactivation.

Lifecycle Marketing & Campaign Excellence

• Oversee the design and execution of complex, automated lifecycle journeys across Paytronix, Braze, and other engagement platforms.
• Lead audience strategy, segmentation frameworks, and offer optimization to drive incremental revenue and behavior change.
• Ensure seamless orchestration of omnichannel campaigns across email, SMS/MMS, push, and in-app messaging.

Data, Analytics & Performance Optimization

• Establish and monitor KPIs and success metrics (LTV, frequency, retention, conversion, ROI).
• Lead advanced experimentation strategies (A/B, multivariate testing) and translate insights into scalable improvements.
• Partner with analytics and data teams to enhance customer data architecture, segmentation, and predictive modeling.

Cross-Functional Leadership & Influence

• Serve as the primary liaison between Marketing, IT, Product, POS, and Operations to align on priorities and execution.
• Influence stakeholders at all levels to drive adoption of CRM strategies and initiatives.
• Collaborate with agency and vendor partners to deliver innovative, best-in-class engagement solutions.

Martech & Platform Optimization

• Own relationships with CRM and loyalty vendors (e.g., Paytronix, Braze), ensuring platforms are fully optimized and scalable.
• Partner with IT and Product to improve data integrity, system integrations, and customer experience (UX/UI).
• Identify and implement emerging technologies, including AI/ML-driven personalization and automation.

Team Leadership & Capability Building

• Potentially lead and develop CRM/Loyalty team members, fostering a culture of innovation, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Establish best practices, documentation, and governance for campaign execution and lifecycle management.
• Act as a center of excellence for CRM and loyalty across the organization.

Operational Excellence

• Ensure campaigns are executed with precision, accuracy, and compliance, including QA, audience validation, and reporting.
• Oversee development and distribution of campaign briefs and documentation across stakeholders.
• Provide escalation support and troubleshooting for customer engagement and loyalty-related issues.

Requirements

Education

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, or related field required
• MBA or advanced degree preferred

Experience

• 6-8+ years of experience in CRM, loyalty, lifecycle marketing, or related roles
• Proven experience owning CRM/loyalty strategy and roadmap development
• Deep expertise in marketing automation platforms (Braze required; Paytronix or similar strongly preferred)
• Extensive experience in audience segmentation, journey orchestration, and offer strategy
• Demonstrated success leading testing and optimization programs at scale
• Experience working in QSR, retail, ecommerce, hospitality, or consumer brands

Technical & Functional Skills

• Strong understanding of customer data architecture, personalization, and martech ecosystems
• Experience with AI/ML-driven marketing, predictive modeling, or recommendation engines preferred
• Proficiency in analytics, reporting, and translating data into actionable insights
• Strong project management and roadmap planning capabilities

Leadership & Behavioral Competencies

• Strategic thinker with strong business acumen and growth mindset
• Exceptional communication and stakeholder influence skills
• Ability to lead through ambiguity and drive change across cross-functional teams
• Highly collaborative with a bias for action and results
• Passion for customer experience, brand building, and innovation

Potbelly Sandwich Works may use artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted tools as part of its hiring and recruitment process. These tools may collect and analyze data including questionnaire and assessment responses, resume content, and professional profile information. AI-assisted tools are used for all position types. All final employment decisions are made by people. Potbelly may also use additional AI-assisted tools from time to time in its hiring process.

If you have questions about how AI is used in connection with your application, or if you would like to request a reasonable accommodation related to the use of AI in the hiring process, please contact HumanResources1@potbelly.com.

Potbelly actively creates and promotes an environment that is inclusive of all people and their unique abilities, strengths, and differences. We respect and embrace diversity in each other, our customers, suppliers, and all others with whom we interact as an essential component in the way we do business. Diversity only strengthens our Potbelly vibe, who we are, and how we work.

We're an equal opportunity employer. Each applicant will be considered for employment without regard to race, color, religion, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran status, or any other basis protected by applicable federal, state or local law.

Application Deadline: Applications must be submitted by [7/31/2026] to be considered for this position. The posting may close earlier if a suitable candidate is selected before the deadline.

Company: Potbelly Corporate

Position: Sr. Manager, Loyalty- CRM

Status: Full Time

Shift: First (Day)

Req #: 10975934

Date Posted: April 10, 2026

Location: Chicago , Chicago,
US,
IL,
60611

Job Category: Corporate