Retail Relationship Marketing Specialist

Role Summary

Maintains responsibility for coordinating and facilitating day-to-day operations between vendors supporting the Care Connect Retailer Marketing Communications Platform and Subaru of America (SOA). Oversees vendor integrations and platform enhancements with a focus on retailer experience and enrollment, customer engagement, and sales. Serves as the face of the Care Connect program and subject matter expert (SME) to the SOA Field and retailers.

Primary Responsibilities

• Responsible for day-to-day relationships with Care Connect program vendors to keep vendors accountable for meeting all requirements and deadlines as directed by Subaru of America (SOA) team. 
  • Supports the growth and direction of the Care Connect program and promotes the benefits of the program to the retailers and how best to leverage the tools and features of the program, including: Trade Up Advantage, News Connect, and Market Drivers. 
  • Maintains timelines and project workflows by coordinating with vendors through SOA-provided or vendor-provided project management platforms such as JIRA and/or Monday.com. 
  • Supports the Retail Relationship Marketing Manager on the development and implementation of short- and long-term strategies, including technology enhancements, content development, processes, sales scripts, training, Field incentives, and launch plans. 
  • Coordinates vendor sync calls and provides meeting notes/takeaways. 
  • Coordinates with program vendors, Retail Relationship Creative Specialist, and Retail Relationship Marketing Manager to ensure that creative and engineering projects are completed on time and within determined budget.
• Program Features and Enhancements: 
  • Monitors Care Connect program performance and retailer/customer experience, working with program vendor and cross-functional internal stakeholders (including Fixed Operations, Legal, and Information Technology [IT]) to identify and implement new features and enhancements. 
  • Acts as project lead overseeing business requirements, data integrations, launch plans, and maintaining initiatives post launch. 
  • Provides guidance to and holds program vendors, contractors, and internal partners accountable for meeting requirements and deadlines. 
  • Reviews all program-related quotes for accuracy prior to management approval.
• Field and Retailer Training and Education: 
  • Serves as a subject matter expert (SME) on the Care Connect program for the Retail Relationship Marketing team, which includes the following responsibilities: 
  • Develops best practice/informational training resources for the Field and retailers on tools and processes. 
  • Develops the training schedule, approves curriculum, and oversees vendor execution (including attending retailer production shoots for material) with the Retail Relationship Marketing Manager. 
  • Creates engaging content and presents at national conferences and Field meetings; conferences and meetings include National Business Conference (NBC), National Training Conference (NTC), National Retail Advisory Board (NRAB), and executive meetings.
• Program Analytics Management: 
  • Coordinates analytical projects; serves as day-to-day point of contact to vendors to ensure that actionable results are delivered that may be utilized by the business, stakeholders, and SOA retailers. 
  • Continuously monitors program metrics and usage to identify successes and improvement opportunities; reports findings to upper management and Field as necessary.
• Program Vendor Integration: 
  • Provides oversight of the various data and content integrations between SOA and the Care Connect program vendors. 
  • Coordinates with SOA IT on document management system (DMS) integrations to ensure that vendor integrations align with SOA data governance guidelines. 
  • Maintains map of vendor integrations and data flow between retailers, vendors, and SOA.
• Assists the Retail Relationship Marketing Manager with the development and management of the Care Connect trade show exhibit for NBC. This includes building the exhibit, coordinating with the Retail Relationship Creative Specialist on booth layout and design of the booth materials, sourcing promotional items, and directing the vendor field staff on site as applicable.

Additional Responsibilities

• Assists the Retail Relationship Marketing Manager in ad-hoc marketing projects or needs, including special presentations and reports.
• Serves as a retailer advocate by understanding that the primary customer is the retailer by focusing on their best interest in order to mitigate risk and create a positive program experience. Periodically travels to meet with retailers to gather feedback on programs.
• Supports the de