Director of Marketing, Digital Growth and Guest Experience

Backroads • Full-time • Berkeley, California, United States • $180,000 - $220,000 / year • 1m ago

About the Marketing Department:

The Marketing team drives brand awareness, customer engagement, and trip bookings through strategic campaigns, compelling content, and data-driven insights. They manage digital and traditional marketing channels, optimize customer outreach, and enhance the brand’s presence to inspire travelers and grow the business.

The department is comprised of several teams, which include the below:

Direct Mail & CRM: Engages past and prospective guests through targeted email campaigns and personalized direct mail, leveraging data to drive bookings and loyalty.

PR & Partnership: Builds brand awareness and credibility through media outreach, strategic partnerships, and influencer collaborations to expand Backroads’ reach.

Website Management: Oversees the website’s content, functionality, and user experience to ensure seamless navigation, accurate information, and optimized conversion.

Brand, Content, Community: Responsible for the creative design, content and social media presence for the Backroads brand.

About the Role:

The Director of Marketing, Digital Growth and Guest Experience plays a key leadership role in driving new and repeat bookings and optimizing the digital customer journey across Backroads. This position oversees performance marketing, web strategy, analytics, and site production to maximize guest acquisition, lead generation, and trip bookings. This is a hands-on leadership position that requires a strong focus on data-driven decision-making and continuous optimization, ensuring our digital presence delivers both impact and exceptional guest experience.

What You’ll Be Doing:

Strategy & Leadership

Bring a growth mindset, practitioner expertise and a genuine passion for Backroads to define and execute digital marketing plans aligned with business and seasonal priorities

Lead performance media strategy and oversight (Paid Search, Paid Social, Display), managing daily budgets, optimization and reporting

Direct analytics function to track performance, provide actionable insights, and build marketing dashboards

Prioritize the roadmap for digital execution—ensuring assets, campaigns, and landing pages are launched on time and optimized for conversion

Channel & Web Management

Manage paid media specialists responsible for campaign planning, execution, and optimization

Oversee digital marketing analytics, performance tracking, and reporting

Lead and support the web production team to ensure timely, accurate updates across 600+ trip pages and digital touchpoints

Prioritize and direct web updates (copy, images, CTAs) in collaboration with Content, CRM, and external developers

Guide best practices for SEO/AEO, tagging, and user experience improvements—working in tandem with product and engineering

Cross-Functional Collaboration

Partner with Content & Communications, CRM, and Brand/Creative on seasonal campaign planning and asset development

Ensure campaign execution is aligned across paid and owned digital channels

Collaborate with Product/IT on website roadmap, bug resolution, and platform improvements

What You’ll Need to Be Successful:

10+ years in digital marketing roles with experience managing both performance media, CRM and website execution

Proven experience leading teams and managing multiple projects simultaneously

Strong working knowledge of Google Ads, Meta Ads Manager, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, and CMS platforms; Drupal experience preferred

Familiarity with CRO tools, UX best practices, and site analytics (e.g., GA4, Unbounce)

Excellent communication and prioritization skills to manage internal and external stakeholders

Comfortable with technical web operations (e.g., tagging, SEO, link tracking) and translating strategy into implementation

Work Environment:

On-site, Berkeley, CA

4 days in-office

About Backroads:

At Backroads we’re passionate about connecting our guests with so many of the most beautiful places in the world. We use our four-plus decades of expertise to create exceptional biking, hiking, and multi-adventure trips in over 50 countries for people wanting a deeper and richer travel experience. We travel on land as well as by small luxury ships on active river and ocean cruises. Our trips are for all ages – including dedicated itineraries just for families. We are known for our unwavering attention to quality. We have a dynamic work environment and a strong company culture.

Why Backroads:

At Backroads, we value every single member of our staff, and we’re proud to offer a dynamic work environment that enables growth. Your colleagues will be some of the most dedicated, competent, active, and fun people you will ever meet. A job at Backroads is unlike any other job you will ever have – you will be challenged, you will be inspired, and you will be gratified. No matter what you do here, you will be part of something that makes us all proud – delivering authentic, enriching, and often profoundly life-changing experiences. On top of all that, we have some pretty great benefits and perks! For example our US office employees receive:

Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance
401(k) with company match, flex plan, and parental leave
Generous paid time off, 8 paid holidays, and additional time off to go on Backroads trips!
Complimentary trips and trip discounts for employees, and trip discounts for employees’ friends and family!
Outdoor industry discounts and deals
Alternative commuter incentives for biking, walking, carpooling, or using public transportation to get to work
Wellness programs and regular lunchtime bike rides and yoga

Backroads is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.

Salary Ranges:

$180,000.00 - $220,000.00

At Backroads, we uphold a commitment to transparency and fairness within our hiring process, particularly regarding compensation. The salary range posted for each role applies to both employment offers and employees actively working in the role.

New hires are typically offered a starting salary between the minimum and midpoint of the range to ensure there is continued opportunity for salary progression during your employment at Backroads, reflecting our commitment to rewarding ongoing dedication, high performance, and significant contributions to our team. This approach not only supports our budgeting strategy but also our intention to foster an environment that encourages long-term growth and strong relationships between Backroads and our valued employees.

Our office roles are onsite in our Berkeley headquarters, unless specifically noted as 'available for remote'. We do allow one work-from-home day a week, as well as one work-from-anywhere week per year. This pay range is intended for in-person work in our Berkeley, CA headquarters. Pay ranges for remote-eligible roles will be subject to adjustment based on the geolocation of the employee.