Designation - Senior Marketing Leader/AVP – Online Programs (India)
Business Unit - Higher Education
Department - Marketing
Experience Range - 10 - 16 years
Location - Bengaluru, Karnataka
About upGrad:
upGrad is one of India's leading higher edtech platforms, serving millions of learners across 100+ countries with strong university and industry partnerships. With a mission to enable career success through outcome-driven learning, upGrad is now building its next growth engine focused on undergraduate learners across India.
Core Objectives:
Launch. Scale. Build Brand. Drive Revenue.
This is not a visibility-focused marketing role. This is a high-impact, P&L-owning leadership position responsible for building and scaling online programs in India.
This role requires:
- Non-linear, first-principles marketing thinking.
- Deep 360° marketing exposure (brand + performance + lifecycle).
- Strong commercial ownership of pipeline and revenue.
What You Will Own:
1. Program Launch & Go-to-Market
- Lead GTM strategy for new online programs (UG, PG, Executive).
- Define positioning, ICPs, messaging architecture, and pricing narratives.
- Build integrated launch plans across digital, brand, and partnerships.
2. Growth & Revenue Accountability
- Own funnel metrics end-to-end: Leads → MQL → Applications → Enrollments → Revenue
- Drive both volume and quality of leads.
- Optimize CAC, ROI, and channel mix.
- Work closely with Admissions & Sales to maximize conversion efficiency.
This is not just a marketing visibility role, this is a business P&L-impacting role.
3. 360° Marketing Leadership
You must be equally comfortable with:
Brand Marketing
- Building salience and long-term brand equity.
- Designing high-impact campaigns (digital-first, community-led, PR-driven)
- Crafting thought leadership narratives.
- Building credibility in the online degree space.
Performance Marketing
- Deep understanding of Meta, Google, YouTube, Affiliates, SEO.
- Media planning, budget allocation, experimentation framework.
- Funnel optimization and attribution models.
- Scaling campaigns without compromising efficiency.
4. Non-Linear Growth Thinking
- Identify unconventional growth levers beyond paid media.
- Community-led acquisition.
- Strategic partnerships.
- Masterclasses, webinars, referral engines.
- Influencer ecosystems.
- Owned media channels (YouTube, Instagram, etc.)
We are looking for someone who doesn't default to increase spend as the only growth lever.
5. Team & Agency Leadership
- Build and scale an in-house marketing team.
- Manage creative, media, and digital agencies.
- Establish execution rigor and performance dashboards.
- Drive accountability and speed across teams.
What Success Looks Like
- Strong program launches with measurable enrollment impact.
- Sustainable CAC across cohorts.
- Improved brand recall in the online degree category.
- Marketing that drives pipeline predictably, not episodically.
- A team that moves fast and thinks strategically.
Who You Are
- 10+ years of marketing experience, with at least 4+ years in a leadership role.
- Strong exposure to both brand and performance marketing.
- Proven track record of scaling India-focused businesses (EdTech experience preferred).
- Demonstrated experience in program or product launches.
- Strong commercial orientation - understands revenue, margins, and cohort economics.
- Experience working closely with Sales / Admissions teams.
- Ability to operate both strategically and hands-on.
Ideal Profile
- Experience in higher education programs / EdTech / consumer internet.
- Built a category or scaled a new vertical from early stage.
- Comfortable in high-growth, high-accountability environments.
- Data-driven with strong creative instincts.
- Thinks in systems, not just campaigns.
