Most consultancies tell you what they think. I’d rather show you what the market says. Next & Best maintains a running database of lifecycle marketing job descriptions — every posting a signal of what companies need and can’t find. Here’s what the data says right now.
Hands-on builders, not pure strategists. Nearly every senior lifecycle posting now demands platform-level execution alongside strategy — the same person who owns the roadmap builds the segments, journeys, and tests.
AI as force multiplier. AI fluency is becoming a hiring criterion: teams want lifecycle leaders who use AI to test more, personalize deeper, and move faster — not to replace the team.
Full-journey ownership. Scope now runs prospect through win-back: activation, adoption, expansion, retention, reactivation — across self-serve and sales-assisted motions.
Deliverability as first-class work. Sender reputation, consent management, and domain health appear as core responsibilities in current postings, not fine print.
First-party data and orchestration. CDP selection, unified customer views, and journey orchestration platforms are moving to the center of the role.
Measurement tied to revenue. LTV, cohort analysis, incrementality, and learning agendas — engagement metrics alone no longer justify the function.
Companies are posting director-scope lifecycle roles — churn prediction, ground-up program builds, incrementality testing — at manager-level salaries. Those roles sit open for months. If that’s your req, you have two options: raise the band, or get the work done while you search. I can help with the second one.
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