Head of Relationship Marketing & Member Growth
Description
Head of Relationship Marketing & Member Growth
Location: Remote – USA only
Reports to: CEO
Stage: High-growth AI startup
Compensation: $140K - $145K
Our client is a fast-scaling startup transforming how organizations engage their members. their platform gives member-based organizations powerful tools to connect, collaborate, and grow. They operate on a freemium-to-premium model—and their next growth phase depends on building trusted relationships with organizations while helping their members unlock more value through their premium and pro services.
They’re seeking a senior leader to own Relationship Marketing & Member Growth. This is not a traditional marketing role—it’s about building deep partnerships with organizations that bring them members and then crafting the journeys that upgrade those members from free to paid subscriptions. This is a high-visibility role at the leadership table, directly impacting growth, revenue, and customer lifetime value. While this position initially focuses on Phase 1 of their GTM Strategy, recruiting member organizations and driving member growth, this position will also be a leading force creating marketing strategies that position them to enter all five phases of their GTM growth initiatives: NOTE: The vision for this role is to lead member organization messaging and recruitment during the pre-product and beta program stages. Once the product reaches general availability, the responsibility for member organization recruitment will shift to a newly hired Head of Sales and this position will be responsible for upgrading member to paid subscriptions. Upon achieving successful results, this role could grow into a Chief Commercial Officer position with full marketing responsibility.
What We’re Looking For
● Proven track record leading relationship marketing, growth, or partnerships in a SaaS or membership-based business.
● Experience scaling freemium-to-paid subscription models.
● Strong grasp of customer lifecycle marketing and funnel optimization.
● Comfortable working across B2B2C dynamics (acquiring organizations →engaging end users).
● Exceptional communicator and relationship builder with C-level leaders.
● Startup DNA: hands-on, resourceful, thrives in fast-paced environments.
● Bonus: Background in community building, associations, or membership organizations.
Key Responsibilities:
Strategic Leadership
● Own the relationship marketing strategy for acquiring new member organizations and strengthening existing partnerships.
● Build scalable messaging and positioning frameworks for recruiting, onboarding, nurturing, and retaining member organizations.
● Lead founder selling initiatives that leverage relationships and introductions to member organizations during the pre-product and beta program phases. This includes recruiting and managing outside parties or consultants that are able to make meaningful introductions to member organizations.
● Partner with Product, Sales, and Customer Success to ensure alignment across the sales funnel and messaging that focuses on each vertical market segment.
● Partner with Customer Success to identify use cases and their benefits that inform marketing messages and develop case studies used to recruit member organizations and ultimately upgrade members to paid subscriptions.
● Support the Sales organization with marketing campaigns (content marketing,
brand marketing, acquisition marketing) that open doors with member
organizations to sign LOIs and become beta partners / design partners.
● Lead by example to recruit member organizations in support of Sales to achieve the number of LOIs required to build the AI models and achieve revenue goals; 1) 15 Member Organization LOIs by December 31, 2025, and 2) 30 Member Organization LOIs by March 31, 2026.
Acquisition & Retention
● Develop marketing and sales collateral, programs, and software execution tools (CRM, Lead Generation, etc.) that attract and secure member organizations as beachhead customers during the pre-product and beta program stages.
● Craft compelling value propositions for both organizations and their members to encourage adoption of premium features.
● Lead campaigns that increase retention, upsell, and cross-sell opportunities.
● Develop Case Studies that highlight the use cases and benefits member organizations are achieving and promote the case studies broadly.
● Hire and manage an analyst firm (Gartner, etc.) to conduct a survey with member organizations that solicits current trends, organizations’ and members’ needs, with a focus on positioning their product capabilities at the same time.
● Leverage the survey as a means of recruiting member organizations by adding “meet the sponsor” messaging. Broadly promote the survey as a member organization recruiting tool along with brand awareness.
Freemium-to-Premium Growth - At General Availability
● Partner with member organizations to implement B2B2C marketing programs with a focus on upgrading members to paid subscriptions.
● Partner with Product to design and optimize the upgrade journey for individual members (from free → premium → pro).
● Create and test targeted campaigns (email, in-app, community, events) that maximize conversion.
● Leverage segmentation, data insights, and behavior analytics to personalize upgrade pathways.
Partnership & Advocacy
● Cultivate long-term relationships with decision-makers at member organizations, ensuring the platform becomes indispensable.
● Establish advocacy programs where organizations actively promote premium adoption to their members.
● Travel as needed to attend and participate with booth presence at conferences to network and promote the product.
● Create and nurture an advisory board of leading executives from member organizations and conduct regular advisor meetings to share company and product updates, and solicit feedback and guidance – ensuring the company stays current regarding competitive threats, organization trends, and federated roadmap directional accuracy.
Team & Culture
● Build and lead a high-performing growth team across marketing, partnerships, and member organization engagement.
● Deliver partnership and marketing updates at regular BOD meetings with a focus on KPI metrics, achievements, and programs that drive customer success.
● Champion a data-driven, customer-obsessed culture inside the company.
Why Join Our Client?
● Shape the future of member-driven growth at a venture-backed startup.
● Direct ownership of a critical revenue-driving function.
● High-impact leadership role with visibility to board and investors.
● Competitive salary, equity, and the chance to build a legacy