CAREERS & JOBS (LOYALTY & CX)

Rakuten Rewards is hiring: VP, Loyalty & Retention Marketing (USA)

Job Description:

About Rakuten International

Rakuten International is a division of Rakuten Group, Inc., a Japanese global technology leader in services that empower individuals, communities, businesses and society. Headquartered in San Mateo, California with more than 4,000 employees worldwide, the Rakuten International business portfolio includes market leaders in e-commerce, digital marketing, advertising, communications and entertainment. We create products and services that provide exceptional value by aligning members and the businesses that want to engage them in a shared community.

About Rakuten Rewards

Rakuten is a leading shopping platform that offers Cash Back on purchases from all your favorite brands. By partnering with thousands of brands in apparel, beauty and wellness, dining, grocery, travel, on-demand services, subscription boxes and more, Rakuten helps members save and get more on everyday purchases. Since its founding in 1999, Rakuten has become the largest and most rewarding shopping experience, and its members have earned $4.6 billion in Cash Back just for shopping through Rakuten. For more information, visit Rakuten.com.

Job Summary:

We are seeking a visionary, data-driven, and customer-obsessed Vice President of Loyalty & Retention to lead our lifecycle marketing, member engagement, and loyalty strategy. This leader will be responsible for deepening user engagement, driving repeat activity, and increasing lifetime value across our entire membership base—from new joiners to long-time superfans. The VP will lead a cross-functional team to craft strategies that make Rakuten Rewards an indispensable daily habit and a household name in value-driven shopping. This role reports to the CMO, Rakuten Rewards.

Key Responsibilities:

Loyalty Strategy & Retention:

• Own the end-to-end strategy for customer loyalty, membership tiers, and retention
• Define and scale the next generation of Rakuten’s loyalty program—driving emotional affinity and behavioral frequency
• Identify opportunities to evolve value propositions, tiers, reward structures, and gamification mechanics
• Drive the Rak+ paid membership growth strategy

Retention & Lifecycle Marketing:

• Lead a high-performing team to design and execute multi-channel lifecycle campaigns (email, push, etc.)
• Increase member activation, engagement, and reactivation through personalized journeys and behavioral triggers
• Partner with Product & Engineering teams to build the tools and systems needed to execute at scale

Customer Segmentation & Insights:

• Develop segmentation strategies that address the unique needs of high-LTV users, dormant shoppers, and new members
• Leverage data science, testing frameworks, and member feedback to continuously optimize strategies
• Champion a culture of experimentation, using insights to test, learn, and improve across cohorts

Cross-Functional Influence & Execution:

• Serve as a senior voice of the customer across Marketing, Product, and Operations
• Collaborate with Brand, Growth Marketing, Product Marketing, and Product teams to ensure loyalty strategies are integrated into broader initiatives
• Influence executive stakeholders on key strategic investments and prioritization of member-first initiatives

Qualifications:

• Strong background in performance marketing, fintech, retail, or consumer platforms
• Deep understanding of loyalty mechanics, gamification, behavioral triggers, and subscription/value-based models
• Exceptional ability to lead cross-functional teams, drive vision, and execute with operational rigor
• Data- and experimentation-driven mindset; highly skilled in using analytics and insights to drive retention outcomes
• Excellent communication and storytelling skills—capable of aligning diverse teams and influencing the C-suite
• Passion for delivering meaningful value to customers and building lifelong brand relationships

Minimum Requirements:

• 12+ years of experience in CRM, lifecycle marketing, or loyalty strategy, with at least 5 years in senior leadership roles
• Bachelor’s Degree Required
• Master’s Degree Preferred

Five Principles for Success

Our worldwide practices describe specific behaviors that make Rakuten unique and united across the world. We expect Rakuten employees to model these 5 Shugi Principles of Success.

Always improve, Always Advance – Only be satisfied with complete success – Kaizen

Passionately Professional – Take an uncompromising approach to your work and be determined to be the best

Hypothesize – Practice – Validate – Shikumika – Use the Rakuten Cycle to succeed in unknown territory

Maximize Customer Satisfaction – The greatest satisfaction for our teams is seeing their customers smile

Speed!! Speed!! Speed!! – Always be conscious of time – take charge, set clear goals, and engage your team

Rakuten provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type. Rakuten considers applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, provincial or local laws.

At the time of posting, Rakuten expects the base compensation for this role to be within the range shown below. Individual compensation will vary based on job-related factors, including the skills, qualifications, and experience of the successful candidate as well as business need and geographic location. The successful applicant for this role will be eligible for discretionary bonus, health, vision, dental insurance, 401k matching, PTO, Volunteer Time Off (VTO), and other employee benefits as the company implements.

USD $157,464.00 – $293,760.00 annually