Manager, Loyalty - CRM - Chicago

Do you hunger for more? Potbelly Sandwich Shop is looking for friendly and outgoing people who enjoy working in a fast-paced, friendly environment. We are where good vibes and great careers are a way of life! What started as a small antique store in 1977 has become a nationally recognized neighborhood sandwich shop with over 400 locations across the United States. But toasty sandwiches are only as good as the people behind them. And  yeah ,  we've  got the best. Ready to join our growing Potbelly Nation?

What’s In It  For  You

• Competitive pay with performance-based annual raises!
• Medical, Dental & Vision Insurance
• Domestic Partnership Benefits
• Paid Parental Leave
• FSA and HSA with Employer Contribution
• Commuter Benefit Program
• Retirement Savings 401(k)  WITH  company match
• Employee Assistance Program
• Paid Time Off
• Discount Program
• Flexible Work Schedule
• Career growth opportunities
• If hired, you must meet and  maintain  all eligibility requirements to qualify

Job Summary

The Loyalty / CRM Manager is responsible for leading the strategy and execution of lifecycle journeys, offers, experiments and communication campaigns (email, sms, push, in-app messaging) that drive member activation, engagement, and retention. You will be responsible to build integrated journeys and plan / manage offers that maximize lifetime value, encourage habitual usage, and create brand advocates—from initial onboarding through long-term loyalty. This highly cross-functional role will partner closely with IT, Brand Marketing, Operations, and Finance to develop data-driven, multi-channel lifecycle campaigns across loyalty (Paytronix) and engagement platforms (Braze).

This role involves demonstrating a strong passion for problem solving, and a deep understanding of how the brand and customers interact, with an advanced understanding of the rapidly evolving role that data, personalization, machine learning and martech play in this relationship.

Key Workstreams

• Loyalty Program Management
• Advanced Engagement & Personalization Use cases Planning & Configuration
• Lifecycle Journey Experimentation / Optimization
• National Campaigns Supporting Brand Initiatives & Calendar

Key Responsibilities

• Planning
• Execution / Configuration
• Experimentation
• Reporting
• Project Management

Duties & Responsibilities

Planning

• Spearhead development and implementation of automated loyalty strategies, offer planning / management within Paytronix and multi-step campaigns in Braze to drive member lifecycle frequency and increase incremental sales revenue.
• Utilize data-driven insights to optimize loyalty program performance, offer management and integrate systems with existing CRM platforms.

Execution / Configuration

• Build out campaign audiences, canvas journey design and orchestration (Braze), offer management / execution (Paytronix) and validating counts.
• Use marketing automation and channel optimization to engage and convert potbelly users across the buyer journey.
• E xecute innovative loyalty initiatives tailored to diverse customer segments, enhancing brand loyalty and customer engagement.
• Responsible for creating campaign briefs and ensuring they are shared across the organization, updated and redistributed as needed until campaign launch. This includes outlining the campaign creative details, offer details, audience selection, and all channel needs.
• Serve as first line business support for customer engagement and loyalty experience troubleshooting.

Experimentation

• Apply an experimentation mindset to loyalty campaigns and offers to drive testing, learning and optimization.
• Continuously conduct A / B testing across all channels and user journeys.
• Manage learning plan roadmap and recommend optimizations across Paytronix and Braze platforms / campaigns.

Reporting

• Responsible for campaign and initiative reporting / measurement ensuring each campaign has proper controls in place for accurate measurement and analysis.
• Present results and recommendations for the next iteration to leadership for approval.
• Serve as subject matter expert and provide documentation (particularly on journeys) and aggregate loyalty program performance.

Project Management

• Work across agency partners and internal cross-functional teams (Brand, Innovation, Operations, Finance, IT) to ensure proper messaging, timing, and execution of multi-channel campaigns, including but not limited to email, sms / mms, push, and in-app messaging.
• Collaborate with IT and Martech partners and vendors to identify and execute channel optimizations and data management.
• Work with IT, Product, POS and Digital teams to improve customer data, customer UX / UI, and reduce customer friction, data integrity risk, and fraud risk.

Requirements

Education : Bachelor’s degree in business related field preferred. MBA preferred

Fields of Experience : Retail, Ecommerce, Agency / Martech, QSR, Food & Beverage, Hospitality, or Consumer Goods.

Behavioral Competencies :  Self-starter, strong passion for problem solving, inquisitive, go-getter, results-driven, adaptable, highly organized, excellent communicator, collaborative, good balance between analytical and strategic thinking.

Required Experience

• Braze certified, with 2-3+ years' experience in journey design and orchestration across omni-channel marketing (loyalty, email, sms / mms, push, in-app messaging).
• 3+ years of experience in CRM platforms (Punchh, Paytronix, Cheetah, OlO, Toast) spearheading customer segmentation / audience strategy, offer management and development, particularly for use in multi-step customer journey automations.
• Extensive experience testing and developing use cases and learning plan for on-going iterative testing / optimization.
• 3 years of experience in project management
• Experience with implementing AI / ML engine recommendations is a

plus

• Firm grasp of current and emerging digital CRM & loyalty marketing trends, insights and engagement tools.
• Roadmap development and management; information architecture (specifically customer data) management.
• Vendor relationship management.

Application Deadline :  We accept applications for this position  until 12 / 31 / 2025 .  W e encourage all individuals to  submit  their applications.

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.