Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Head of Growth

🎯 Role Definition

The Head of Growth is a strategic leader responsible for driving user acquisition, engagement, retention, and revenue growth across the entire customer lifecycle. This role sits at the intersection of marketing, product, data, and sales, requiring a deep understanding of the full funnel. The Head of Growth architects and executes a comprehensive growth strategy, leading a cross-functional team to run high-velocity experiments and scale successful initiatives. This individual is the primary owner of the company's growth model and is accountable for achieving ambitious growth targets through data-driven decision-making and a relentless focus on optimization.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Director of Growth or Senior Growth Manager
Head of Performance Marketing or Director of Demand Generation
Senior Product Manager with a focus on growth loops
Founder or Head of Marketing at a successful early-stage startup

Advancement To:

VP of Growth or VP of Marketing
Chief Marketing Officer (CMO)
Chief Revenue Officer (CRO)
General Manager or Chief Operating Officer (COO)

Lateral Moves:

VP of Product
Head of Revenue Operations
Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR)

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Architect, own, and execute the company's overarching growth strategy, aligning marketing, product, and sales efforts to achieve ambitious user acquisition, activation, retention, and monetization goals.
Lead, mentor, and grow a high-performing, cross-functional growth team, fostering a culture of rapid experimentation, data-centricity, and accountability.
Own the entire growth marketing budget, including strategic allocation, rigorous forecasting, and performance analysis to ensure maximum return on investment (ROI) across all channels.
Develop and manage a comprehensive multi-channel acquisition strategy, including paid media (SEM, social, display), SEO, content marketing, affiliate marketing, and partnerships.
Spearhead the development and optimization of the customer lifecycle marketing program, utilizing email, push notifications, and in-app messaging to improve user onboarding, engagement, and retention.
Champion a robust, company-wide experimentation framework (A/B testing, multivariate testing) across the user journey, from ad creative and landing pages to product features and pricing.
Define, monitor, and report on key performance indicators (KPIs) and growth metrics to the executive team and board, providing actionable insights and strategic recommendations.
Collaborate closely with the product and engineering teams to identify and prioritize growth-focused product opportunities, such as viral loops, referral programs, and onboarding improvements.
Conduct deep-dive data analysis to uncover new growth levers, understand user behavior, and identify opportunities for optimization throughout the AARRR funnel.
Oversee the marketing technology stack, ensuring the team has the right tools for attribution, analytics, automation, and experimentation to operate effectively.
Drive the strategy for conversion rate optimization (CRO) across all key user funnels, including sign-up, checkout, and upgrade paths.
Establish and scale a powerful brand presence and narrative that resonates with the target audience and differentiates the company in the market.
Work with the sales and customer success teams to ensure a seamless customer journey and to align on lead quality, handoff processes, and expansion revenue opportunities.
Stay at the forefront of growth marketing trends, new channels, and emerging technologies to ensure the company remains competitive and innovative.
Build and optimize sustainable, scalable growth loops within the product and marketing ecosystem.
Manage external agencies and vendor relationships to supplement in-house capabilities and drive specific channel growth.
Refine and iterate on user personas and ideal customer profiles (ICPs) based on quantitative and qualitative data.
Develop and execute a comprehensive content strategy that drives organic traffic, generates leads, and establishes thought leadership.
Lead market research and competitive analysis to identify new opportunities and potential threats.
Foster strong cross-functional alignment, ensuring all departments are working cohesively towards shared growth objectives.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis to answer critical business questions from leadership.
Represent the company and its growth strategy at industry conferences, webinars, and other public-facing events.
Contribute to the organization's broader data strategy and roadmap, advocating for better data governance and infrastructure.
Collaborate with finance and operations to build and refine the company's growth and revenue forecast models.
Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies with product and engineering teams to ensure growth initiatives are properly prioritized and resourced.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Data Analysis & SQL: Deep proficiency in analyzing large datasets to extract actionable insights; ability to write complex SQL queries for data extraction and manipulation.
A/B Testing & Experimentation: Expertise in designing, executing, and analyzing A/B and multivariate tests using platforms like Optimizely, VWO, or Google Optimize.
Performance Marketing: Hands-on experience managing large budgets across paid channels like Google Ads, Facebook Ads, LinkedIn Ads, and others.
Marketing Automation & CRM: Advanced knowledge of marketing automation platforms (e.g., Hubspot, Marketo, Braze) and CRM systems (e.g., Salesforce).
SEO & Content Strategy: Strong understanding of all facets of SEO (technical, on-page, off-page) and how to leverage content to drive organic growth.
Web & Product Analytics: Mastery of analytics tools such as Google Analytics, Amplitude, Mixpanel, or Heap to track user behavior and funnel performance.
Financial Modeling & Budgeting: Ability to build sophisticated models to forecast growth, manage budgets, and calculate metrics like LTV and CAC.
Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO): Proven skills in using qualitative and quantitative data to optimize landing pages, user flows, and conversion funnels.

Soft Skills

Strategic Thinking: Ability to see the big picture, define a long-term vision, and translate it into a concrete, actionable plan.
Leadership & Team Management: Proven ability to hire, mentor, and lead a high-performing, multi-disciplinary team.
Cross-Functional Collaboration: Exceptional skill in working with and influencing stakeholders across product, engineering, sales, and executive leadership.
Data-Driven Storytelling: The ability to translate complex data into a clear, compelling narrative that drives decision-making.
Exceptional Communication: Articulate, persuasive, and clear communication skills, both written and verbal.
Results-Oriented: A relentless focus on achieving and exceeding measurable goals and objectives.
Curiosity & Adaptability: A deep-seated curiosity and a growth mindset, with the ability to adapt quickly to new information and changing market dynamics.
Problem-Solving: A creative and analytical approach to identifying problems, generating hypotheses, and finding solutions.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor’s Degree in a relevant field.

Preferred Education:

Master of Business Administration (MBA) or a Master’s degree in Marketing, Statistics, or a related quantitative field.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Marketing or Business Administration
Economics, Statistics, or Computer Science
Communications or a related discipline

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 8-12+ years

Preferred:

A minimum of 8 years of experience in growth marketing, performance marketing, or product growth, with at least 4 years in a leadership role managing a team.
Proven track record of scaling user acquisition, engagement, and revenue in a fast-paced environment (ideally within SaaS, B2C tech, or a similar industry).
Demonstrable experience owning and managing a significant marketing budget and being held accountable for ROI and key growth metrics.
Extensive hands-on experience with the modern growth stack (analytics, attribution, automation, and experimentation tools).