Marketing Automation Manager

** HYBRID position in Edison, NJ. Please only apply if you can work in Edison, NJ office 3 days/week**

Salary - $95,000-$120,000

There are 3 reasons why Ascender Studios is a great place to work, and why you should consider us as the next place to hang your professional hat.

1. We do great work (it’s true, clients love us for it and keep coming back)
2. We have great people and culture (collegial, collaborative, comedic – we have fun!)
3. We’re a small, flat, nimble agency where everyone does everything for our clients.

About Us

Ascender Studios is an award-winning boutique digital strategy, design, and implementation shop based in Edison, NJ. Working closely with clients ranging from small businesses to large Fortune 500 companies, Ascender Studios employees have the opportunity to build award-winning web and mobile solutions using the latest technology and cutting-edge UX design techniques. The drive to design and deliver elegant, user-friendly digital marketing campaigns that achieve target business results for our clients is at the core of Ascender Studios’ DNA.

About the Role

We’re looking for a detail-obsessed, hands-on marketer to join our team as a Marketing Automation Manager. If you have a passion for marketing automation platforms, journey design, campaign execution, and the kind of meticulous QA that keeps pharma emails compliant and flawless, this is the role for you. You’ll be responsible for designing, building, QAing, and deploying email campaigns and marketing journeys across platforms — including Marketo, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, and Veeva — for both HCP and patient audiences. You’ll work closely with our development, account, and creative teams to deliver high-performing, compliant campaigns for our healthcare and pharmaceutical clients. Marketing Operations is the last team to validate assets before they’re deployed or handed off to vendors, so strong ownership and an obsessive attention to detail are critical for success in this role.

Key Responsibilities

• Build, QA, and deploy ad hoc and journey email campaigns across Marketo, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, and Veeva
• Design and implement marketing journeys for HCP and patient audiences, including journey mapping and Business Requirements Documents (BRDs)
• Set up and QA Rep-Triggered Emails (RTEs) and Home Office emails in Veeva
• Own email and deployment quality control — validate rendering, links, UTM parameters, tokens, personalization logic, and compliance before every send
• Collaborate with developers on integration points, token libraries, and platform-specific code
• Manage subscriber databases, list segmentation, and audience uploads
• Build and maintain campaign reports on deliverability, engagement, and performance; translate data into clear, client-ready narratives
• Support email deliverability strategy and implementation (with developer support)
• Work with third-party vendors (e.g., Slipstream, Epsilon) on deployment handoffs and troubleshooting
• Document evolving processes and contribute to team playbooks

Required Experience and Skills

• 4 years of experience in marketing operations, with hands-on campaign execution across multiple platforms
• 2 years of experience in healthcare or pharmaceutical marketing, with strong understanding of regulatory requirements
• Advanced expertise in Marketo and Salesforce Marketing Cloud
• Experience with Veeva (PromoMats and/or CRM), including RTE and Home Office email setup
• Proven experience designing and implementing marketing automation journeys for HCP and/or DTC audiences
• Hands-on experience uploading and integrating assets in marketing automation platforms (with light HTML/coding)
• Strong understanding of UTM tagging, link tracking, tokenization, and end-to-end campaign QA
• Hands-on experience leveraging AI-powered tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini) to accelerate campaign setup, QA, documentation, and reporting workflows
• Excellent organizational and communication skills
• Detail-oriented and comfortable as the last line of defense before deployment
• Comfortable managing multiple concurrent campaigns under tight deadlines

Nice-to-Have Experience and Skills

• Experience with additional automation platforms (e.g., Klaviyo, HubSpot)
• Advanced Excel skills (pivot tables, advanced formulas, data consolidation, data validation, conditional formatting)
• Experience with A/B testing email subject lines, creative, and content
• Familiarity with pharma data platforms and integrations (Caspio, Veeva audiences, IQVIA)
• Agency experience with cross-functional collaboration (creative, dev, account)

More reasons to consider Ascender:

• 10 paid holidays
• 10 days paid vacation time
• 7 personal/sick days
• Health/dental/vision insurance
• Life insurance and Disability coverage
• Annual stipend for professional development
• 401(k) plan match
• Hybrid schedule (3 days per week in Edison, NJ)
• and more!