Mgr, Acquisition Marketing – Direct Response _HYBRID Chicago or Carmel
About the role
CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE: CNO) is a leading insurance and financial services company focused on securing the future of middle‑income America. Through brands such as Bankers Life, Colonial Penn, Optavise, and Washington National, CNO delivers life and health insurance, annuities, financial services, and workforce benefits to more than 3.3 million policyholders, supported by $38.3 billion in total assets. With a strong financial foundation, national presence, and a culture rooted in integrity, excellence, and people‑first values, CNO offers meaningful opportunities for professional growth and impact across its U.S. locations, including its headquarters in Carmel, Indiana. This position is not eligible for visa sponsorship. The Manager, Acquisition Marketing‑Direct Response will own the day‑to‑day performance, execution, and continuous improvement of direct response marketing programs that drive profitable customer growth, translating strategy into action across direct mail and email channels, ensuring campaigns execute with quality and precision, and driving performance through data, testing, and clear decision‑making.
Responsibilities
- Lead end-to-end execution and delivery of direct mail and email acquisition programs.
- Own performance across leads, conversion, revenue, and cost efficiency.
- Translate business objectives into clear campaign plans and priorities.
- Develop and manage targeting, segmentation, and contact strategies.
- Design and execute test-and-learn plans across audience, offer, and creative.
- Analyze performance data and proactively drive insights and optimization.
- Manage campaign timelines, dependencies, and cross-functional execution.
- Partner with Marketing, Sales, Analytics, Finance, and Operations to deliver results.
- Oversee external agencies and vendors to ensure quality, accuracy, and timeliness.
- Own budget tracking, forecasting, and spend discipline tied to performance outcomes.
- Identify risks, remove blockers, and ensure consistent program delivery.
- Lead and develop team members, driving accountability and performance standards.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s Degree in Business, Marketing, Communications or related field
- 7 years of relevant experience in acquisition marketing, direct response, performance marketing, or related disciplines.
- Strong understanding of direct mail and/or email marketing in an acquisition context.
- Highly analytical, comfortable working with performance data and making decisions from it.
- Proven ability to manage multiple campaigns and priorities at once.
- Strong attention to detail and execution discipline.
- Comfortable pushing back and challenging assumptions when needed.
- Clear and direct communicator, able to explain performance and next steps in plain English.
- Demonstrates ownership mindset (acts like they own the business, not just the task).
- Candidate location in Central or Eastern US time zone is preferred OR willingness to work Central or Eastern time zone business hours.
Qualifications
- Master’s Degree
- 10 years of related work experience, including 7+ years of work experience in direct response, product marketing, or related field
- Has overseen a large customer acquisition program in retail, travel, insurance, financial services, or other similar data‑driven, regulated industries.
Benefits
- Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance
- Performance-based bonus or sales incentive
- 401(k) retirement plan with company match
- Short-term & long-term disability insurance
- Paid time off and 10 corporate holidays
- Paid parental leave
- Company-paid life insurance
- Mental & Financial Well-Being resources
Pay
Compensation Pay Range: $118,600.00 - $178,000.00 Annual