Lead Analyst, Conversion Optimization

At 2U, we are all in on purpose. We are motivated by our mission – to make learning limitless– and connected by our shared passion to deliver world-class higher education at scale. As the parent company of edX, a leading online learning platform, 2U powers thousands of  higher education offerings – from free courses to full degrees. Together with our college, university, and corporate partners, we are helping accelerate careers and transform lives. 

What We’re Looking For:

We are seeking a highly experienced and analytically rigorous Lead Analyst, Marketing Performance to own marketing performance measurement, reporting, and forecasting across a portfolio of partner and platform websites.

This role is responsible for ensuring marketing performance is accurately measured, consistently reported, and clearly connected to business outcomes across acquisition, demand generation, and conversion funnels. A key focus of this role will be advancing how the organization measures and understands emerging, AI-first discovery behaviors, including changes in how prospective students find, engage with, and evaluate content across traditional search and LLM-driven experiences.

The Lead Analyst will operate as the senior-most contributor for marketing performance analytics, while also providing day-to-day leadership, guidance, and quality oversight for analysts supporting this work. This role requires a hands-on analytics leader who can translate complex and evolving data signals into clear insights and influence senior stakeholders through trusted, forward-looking performance narratives.

Responsibilities Include, But Are Not Limited To:

• Strategic Measurement Leadership
  • Own end-to-end marketing performance measurement across acquisition, demand generation, and conversion touchpoints.
  • Define and maintain scalable measurement frameworks that enable consistent evaluation of marketing performance across channels and portfolios.
  • Partner with Data Engineering and Analytics teams to ensure data availability, accuracy, and alignment with reporting needs.
  • Establish and document KPI definitions, reporting standards, and performance baselines to support consistency and trust.
• Performance Reporting & Forecasting
  • Build and maintain executive-ready dashboards and recurring performance reporting that surface trends, risks, and performance drivers.
  • Lead marketing performance forecasting by channel and funnel stage in partnership with Marketing and Finance stakeholders.
  • Measure and report on organic marketing performance, including SEO visibility, non-branded demand capture, and emerging LLM-driven discovery metrics that tie to business performance. 
  • Monitor performance variance against targets and proactively surface risks, anomalies, or emerging trends.
  • Ensure insights clearly connect marketing activity to business and revenue outcomes.
• Senior Stakeholder Engagement & Strategic Alignment
  • Communicate performance insights to senior marketing and business leaders through clear, business-focused narratives.
  • Support quarterly and annual planning by aligning performance insights with growth targets and budget expectations.
  • Act as a trusted analytical partner to Marketing, Finance, Product, and Executive stakeholders.
  • Influence prioritization and decision making through clarity of data, not ownership of execution.
• Analyst Leadership & Quality Oversight
  • Provide day-to-day guidance, mentorship, and quality review for analysts supporting marketing performance measurement.
  • Set expectations for analytical rigor, reporting standards, and stakeholder communication.
  • Contribute to hiring, onboarding, and development of analytics talent as needed.

Things That Should Be In Your Background:

• Bachelor’s degree (BS or BA).
• 6–8+ years of experience in marketing analytics, performance measurement, business analytics, operations analytics, consulting, sales operations, or finance.
• 5+ years of experience analyzing large, complex datasets and producing executive-ready insights.
• Demonstrated experience leading analytical workstreams and mentoring analysts (formal people management not required).
• 2+ years of experience in forecasting, modeling, or performance planning.
• Advanced experience with data visualization and BI tools (e.g., Tableau, Looker, or similar).
• Strong understanding of digital marketing performance metrics across acquisition and funnel measurement.
• Experience partnering with cross-functional teams to define reporting requirements, data models, and dashboards.
• Exceptional data storytelling and executive communication skills.
  Ability to operate independently and bring structure to ambiguous problems.
  Proven ability to connect analytics outputs to business decisions and planning processes.
  Strong cross-functional collaboration and stakeholder management skills.

While this position is open to remote candidates across the U.S., we will prioritize those who live in the Washington-Baltimore metropolitan area and who are available to come into our Headquarters in Arlington, VA two days a week.

Benefits & Culture

Our global employee base is a diverse collection of innovators, dreamers, and doers working together to transform lives through higher education. We believe that every employee can advance our shared purpose, and that life at 2U should be fun and meaningful. If you’re excited by the opportunity to provide millions of learners and counting with access to world-class higher education, then join us – and do work that makes a difference. 

We offer comprehensive benefits (unique per country) and excellent work/life balance.
Full-time, U.S.benefits include: 

Medical, dental, and vision coverage

• Life insurance, disability, and 401(k) employer match
• Free snacks and drinks in-office
• Generous paid holidays and leave policies, including unlimited PTO
• Additional time off benefits include: volunteer days, parental leave, and a company-wide winter break

The anticipated base salary range for this role is ($102,000 - $125,000), with potential bonus eligibility.  Salary offers are made based on the candidate’s qualifications, experience, skills, and education as they directly relate to the requirements of the position, budget for the position and cost of labor in the market in which the candidate will be hired.

2U Diversity and Inclusion Statement

At 2U, we are committed to building and sustaining a culture of belonging, respect, and inclusion. We are proud of the steps we’ve taken to bring together an employee base that embodies diverse walks of life, ideas, genders, ages, races, cultures, sexual orientations, abilities and other unique qualities. We strive to offer a workplace where every employee feels empowered by what makes us different, as well as by how we are alike. 

2U is committed to providing reasonable accommodations during our recruitment process. If you need assistance or accommodations, please reach out to us at: recruitingaccommodations@2u.com. 

About 2U

2U partners with the world's top universities and companies to develop and deliver education programs that accelerate careers and transform lives. Through partnerships with the world’s leading colleges, universities, and companies, 2U delivers thousands of online programs to millions of learners worldwide on edX, its global learning platform. From executive education and professional credentialing to master’s degree programs and free, open courses, 2U transforms how top institutions deliver workforce-aligned online education, enabling professionals to advance without pausing their careers. Learn more at 2U.com.

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work performed by individuals assigned to this position, and are not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties and skills required. All employees may be required to perform duties outside of their normal responsibilities from time to time, as needed.

2U is an equal opportunity employer that does not discriminate against applicants or employees and ensures equal employment opportunity for all persons regardless of their race, creed, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, national origin, age, marital status, disability, citizenship, military or veterans’ status, or any other classifications protected by applicable federal, state or local laws. 2U’s equal opportunity policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including but not limited to recruiting, hiring, training, promotion, job benefits and pay.