CRM Designer/Developer, Retention, Rent-A-Center

Who We Are

Upbound Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: UPBD) is a technology and data-driven leader in accessible and inclusive financial solutions that address the evolving needs and aspirations of underserved customers. The Company’s customer-facing operating units include industry-leading brands such as Acima, Brigit, and Rent-A-Center that facilitate consumer transactions across a wide range of store-based and digital channels, including over 2,300 company branded retail units across the United States, Mexico, and Puerto Rico.

JOB PURPOSE:

The CRM designer will own the end‑to‑end crafting of CRM retention messaging—from coding responsive, on‑brand email templates to designing segmented, personalized journeys in our ESP/CDP. This role will lift opens, clicks, conversions, and retention by uniting beautiful design and copy, bulletproof HTML/CSS, and smart data activation.  

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Develop and deploy high‑quality, responsive email campaigns that render cleanly across 50+ clients and devices (desktop, mobile, webmail).

• Design & hand‑code table‑based, inline‑styled HTML/CSS emails; use mobile‑first, fluid‑hybrid techniques and media queries to ensure consistent rendering (Outlook, Gmail, Apple Mail).

• Test & QA at scale using Litmus. Validate links, tracking, image weights, and fallbacks before every launch. Partner with broader team on cross QC.

• Personalize at scale with dynamic content and scripting (Liquid script in Zeta Marketing Platform); set up automations, triggers, and versioned content by audience or lifecycle stage. 

• Visual Communication & UI/UX: Translate marketing briefs into intuitive, high-converting, on-brand visual hierarchies that guide the subscriber's eye toward the primary Call to Action (CTA).

• Design Tool Mastery (Required): Proficiency in Figma, Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop/Illustrator), or similar tools to create pixel-perfect mockups before moving to code.

• Collaborate across multiple departments. You’ll be working with product and personalization teams, legal, developers, CX, data science, etc.

• Maintain a modular design system (master templates, reusable components) to ensure brand consistency and speed production.

• Monitor performance & experiment design A/B tests (subject lines, CTA color/size/placement, layout structure); partner on reporting to inform next iterations and cross‑channel orchestration (email/SMS/push).

• Use AI/GPT to draft copy for SMS, push notifications and email, including subject lines/pre-headers.

JOB REQUIREMENTS:

• Required:

  • 3–5+ years coding responsive, table‑based HTML/CSS for email with rigorous cross‑client QA and brand stewardship. 

  • Deep familiarity with email‑specific constraints (inline CSS, limited/unsupported properties, Outlook quirks) and fluid‑hybrid/mobile‑first methods. 

  • ESP proficiency: hands‑on campaign setup in platforms such as Zeta, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Braze, Iterable, Klaviyo, Mailchimp, or HubSpot. 

  • Dynamic content scripting (AMPscript, Liquid; Velocity a plus) and strong QA discipline (Litmus/Email on Acid) for rendering verification. 

  • Collaboration & project management skills in a fast‑paced environment handling multiple projects at once. 

  • This position is in-office (Monday through Friday) in Plano, TX

• Preferred:

  • Experience building modular email systems (master templates, component libraries) and maintaining documentation.

  • Working knowledge of deliverability drivers (image‑to‑text ratios, file size) and practical spam‑trigger avoidance. 

  • A/B and multivariate testing experience; comfort reading performance dashboards and converting insights into design changes. 

  • Ability to create lightweight animated assets (optimized GIFs/APNGs) and kinetic email patterns (progressive enhancement with safe fallbacks).

  • Familiarity with omni‑channel orchestration (email, SMS, push) and CDP concepts.