Email deliverability specialist for email marketing platform - remote

GMass, Inc.
Posted 1 year ago
We Work Remotely
Hi, I'm Ajay, and I run GMass, a popular email automation platform. We've grown every single year and we're finally at the point where I want to offload the handling of our email deliverability work onto someone else.
 
Want to ease my workload?
 
This is a technical role that requires a deep understanding of how email is sent and received. You should already be an expert with SMTP, SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. It's strange, because I've interviewed dozens of candidates over the years who claim these protocols on their resume but then can't answer even the most fundamental questions about email authentication.

You should understand the factors that affect email deliverability and how to resolve them or work around them. GMass sends 5-7 million emails daily on behalf of tens of thousands of daily active users, and it will be your job to ensure that every single one of them lands in the Inbox.

Just kidding! If anyone ever requires that of you, run far away.
 
Issues we encounter on a regular basis: 
  • A user is claiming that it's our fault that their emails are going to Spam. Is it actually our fault?
  • A domain or IP has been blacklisted. Need to figure out a solution. 
  •  We've received an abuse complaint AWS, and we have 24 hours to respond or they start shutting down our EC2 instances.
  • A domain used for click tracking has ended up on the Google Safe Browsing list. Uh oh, the red screen of death!
  • The SendGrid compliance department says our mail stream doesn't conform to their policies. 
Technical skills that you should have: 
  • You have a deep understanding of how email is sent.
  • You should understand the SMTP protocol.
  • You should have a thorough understanding of email authentication protocols like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC.
  • You understand the DNS system and its impact on email.
  • You know how to query databases. You don't need to be a full fledged DBA, but the more SQL you know, the better, because then you can analyze deliverability trends across the whole system.
  • You understand Inbox vs Promotions vs Spam placement and factors that impact it. 
  • You've worked with transactional email services like SendGrid, Mailgun, Mandrill, and Amazon SES. 
What would make you a dream candidate
You've demonstrated thought leadership and original insight into email deliverability issues. You regularly publish your thoughts. You've been a postmaster for an Email Service Provider before. Your writing is so good that we are comfortable sending your article to our 1M+ user list.

What probably doesn't make you qualified
You've run a mail server out of your basement where you've hosted email for family and friends. While that gives you some understanding of email servers, it doesn't give you the deep experience needed for troubleshooting delivery issues and coming up with creative solutions to blocking. Long gone are the days where to unblock an IP, you just fill out a form on the blacklist's site and voila! -- problem solved.

More about me:
I created GMass seven years ago, and I love the system, company, and user base. I believe GMass has a shot at becoming a tech household name. I live in Dayton, Ohio with my wife and kids. I work a lot, because I love my work. You can find me on Twitter at @PartTimeSnob. I'm on LinkedIn too but not as active there as on Twitter:  https://linkedin.com/in/ajaygoel999

Ready to rescue me?
I prefer you send me an email directly to ajay AT wordzen DOT com, and tell me about yourself and how you fit with this role. The subject line can be whatever you like, but please include the word "deliverability" in it so I don't miss your email. My policy is that if you put effort into your email to me, you'll get a response from me.

Compensation:
This is a high-level, full-time position. We don't set traditional salary ranges for open roles. Rather, we aim for the role to offer you the highest compensation you've ever had.