About Specialist Holidays Group
Specialist Holidays Group (SHG) is a leading specialist travel group, bringing together a family of trusted, expert-led brands that create exceptional holidays for discerning travellers. Each brand combines deep destination knowledge with personalised, high-service experiences — expertise that sits at the heart of everything we do.
Our portfolio spans accessible luxury and cruise through Destination2 and Destination2Cruise; ultra-premium, bespoke travel through Sovereign Luxury Travel; the USA, Canada, Caribbean and Latin America through American Holidays; authentic Italy through Citalia; and great-value getaways through Holiday Gems. Together they share one promise: Travel. Expertly Delivered.
The Role
The Head of CRM & Loyalty is the group lead for customer relationship management, lifecycle marketing and loyalty strategy across Specialist Holiday Group’s portfolio of travel brands.
This role owns the customer database, communications, and compliance frameworks that drive quality sessions, leads, repeat bookings and lifetime value. Acting as both strategist and operator, the postholder defines CRM best practice, delivers data-led campaigns and shapes the future of personalisation, loyalty and customer experience across the Group.
Working closely with Brand, Performance, Web & CRO and Sales, the Head of CRM & Loyalty ensures every customer touchpoint from first enquiry to repeat travel is insight-driven, compliant and commercially optimised.
Key Responsibilities
CRM Strategy & Execution
- Develop and deliver a group-wide CRM strategy focused on acquisition, conversion, retention and re-activation.
- Lead the design and implementation of multi-brand customer journeys across email, SMS, Direct Mail and automation platforms, ensuring seamless experiences from prospect to loyal advocate.
- Build and optimise lifecycle programmes that increase booking frequency, average order value and NPS.
- Partner with the Marketing Analyst and Insight teams to translate behavioural and transactional data into actionable segmentation and personalisation tactics.
- Establish CRM KPIs tied to commercial outcomes sessions, leads, revenue and repeat bookings and report progress monthly to the CMO and brand leads.
Loyalty & Customer Experience
- Lead development of a Group Loyalty Framework, encompassing recognition, reward and referral mechanics.
- Evaluate existing repeat-guest programmes and evolve them into scalable, insight-driven loyalty initiatives.
- Collaborate with the Head of Website & CRO to embed loyalty and personalisation elements into online experiences.
- Work with Product and Sales to ensure consistent delivery of the promised customer experience pre-, during- and post-travel.
Data, Compliance & Governance
- Act as the GDPR and data-protection lead for the Marketing function, ensuring all activity complies with UK GDPR, EU GDPR, PECR and internal policies.
- Own the marketing permissions, consent management and suppression processes across all brands.
- Work closely with Legal and IT Security to manage any data-handling or breach-response requirements.
- Ensure that data held within CRM platforms is clean and error-free, carrying out cleansing or enrichment activities as required
- Ensure robust documentation and audit trails for all data flows, third-party integrations and system vendors.
Personalisation & Automation
- Champion one-to-one personalisation through dynamic content, product recommendations and behavioural triggers.
- Define and implement the roadmap for marketing automation tools (e.g., HubSpot, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Braze etc.).
- Partner with the Technology and Analytics teams to evolve data pipelines, ensuring accurate customer identity resolution and event-based targeting.
Commercial Delivery & Optimisation
- Drive measurable uplift in CRM-driven sessions, leads, conversions and bookings.
- Manage CRM budgets and forecast contribution to revenue and ROI.
- Lead continuous A/B testing and performance analysis across all campaigns, sharing learnings to improve efficiency.
- Identify cross-sell and up-sell opportunities across brands and destinations, using data insight to prioritise high-value segments.
Team Leadership & Collaboration
- Lead and develop the CRM & Loyalty team, setting clear objectives and fostering a test-and-learn culture.
- Lead the CRM Centre of Excellence, ensuring Direct Marketing best practise is utilised, and the team are inspired to innovate and experiment to optimise CRM performance.
- Collaborate closely with Heads of Brand, Performance Marketing, Social Media and Website & CRO to ensure integrated, omnichannel delivery.
- Collaborate with Performance Marketing to provide compliant audience segments for inclusion or exclusion within paid marketing activity.
- Partner with the Trade Sales and Contact Centre teams to ensure CRM programmes support conversion and service excellence.
- Represent CRM and Customer Experience at senior leadership meetings and deputise for the CMO on relevant matters.
Agency & Vendor Management
- Manage relationships with CRM platform vendors, email-delivery partners and loyalty solution providers.
- Oversee CRM and data agencies to ensure campaigns are executed to brand standards, on time and within budget.
- Lead procurement and contract negotiation for CRM technology and support services.
Experience & Skills
Essential
- Minimum 7 years’ experience in CRM, Loyalty or Lifecycle Marketing roles, including at least 3 at leadership level.
- Proven track record of delivering measurable commercial impact via CRM and personalisation programmes.
- Deep understanding of customer data, segmentation, marketing automation and analytics.
- Demonstrable experience of building or managing loyalty or rewards programmes.
- Strong knowledge of GDPR/PECR, consent management and compliance frameworks.
- Skilled in CRM tools such as HubSpot, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Emarsys or equivalent.
- Experience managing agencies, technology vendors and cross-functional stakeholders.
- Strong analytical ability, with confidence in interpreting data and presenting insight.
- Excellent communication, influencing and stakeholder-management skills.
Personal Attributes
- Customer-obsessed and commercially minded in equal measure.
- Detail-oriented, compliant and data-driven.
- Innovative and forward-thinking, constantly seeking ways to enhance loyalty and lifetime value.
- Confident, collaborative leader who inspires through expertise and action.
- Calm, organised and accountable under pressure.
- Passionate about travel, technology and building long-term customer relationships.
Working with us
Core Benefits*
- Competitive salary
- Company Pension Scheme
- 30 days holiday including Bank Holidays, rising 1 day per year (up to 33)
- Enhanced Pension
- Enhanced Maternity & Paternity
- Learning & Development Funding
- Life Insurance
Additional Benefits*
- Health & Wellbeing Hub (including EAP)
- Long Service Awards
- Staff Travel Discounts
- Company social events
- Employee Discounts Platform
- Eye Care eVouchers
- Friendly working atmosphere
- On-site parking
- Casual dress code
*Benefits may be subject change.
Benefits:
- Casual dress
- Company pension
- Employee discount
- Free parking
- Health & wellbeing programme
- Life insurance
- On-site parking
- Work from home
Application question(s):
- Able to commute to our Chester office
- At least 3 years at leadership level
- Skilled in CRM tools such as HubSpot, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Emarsys or equivalent.
Experience:
Work authorisation:
- United Kingdom (required)
Work Location: Hybrid remote in Chester CH1 6LT
