Email Infrastructure And Deliverability Lead

Summary

Join Apollo.io as their first Email Deliverability Expert and define the gold standard for inbox placement. You will audit and fortify Apollo's email infrastructure, build monitoring systems, and partner with engineering. Responsibilities include consulting with enterprise clients, optimizing email content, and leading deliverability rescue missions. You will also innovate with R&D teams, experiment with emerging channels, and publish industry reports. This is a contract role (20-30 hours/week). The ideal candidate possesses deep technical mastery with 5+ years of experience in large-scale email operations and a strong understanding of deliverability protocols. Apollo offers opportunities for ownership, scale and impact, and cutting-edge technology.

Requirements

• 5+ years of experience owning deliverability for large-scale email operations (10M+ sends/month)
• Strong knowledge of SPF, DKIM, DMARC, BIMI, and emerging authentication protocols. Hands-on experience with deliverability tools like Google Postmaster, MXToolbox, Everest, 250ok, and leading ESPs (SendGrid, Mailgun, etc.)
• Proven track record of resolving spam traps, blacklistings, and sender reputation challenges
• Ability to interpret inbox placement rates, bounce metrics, and engagement data to drive strategic optimizations
• Passionate about staying ahead of ISP algorithm updates (Gmail, Microsoft, Yahoo), MTA behaviors, and new standards like TLS-RPT
• You thrive in 0-to-1 environments, creating scalable solutions from scratch. Whether it’s writing DNS records or advising CROs, you get it done

Responsibilities

• Audit and fortify Apollo’s email infrastructure: Optimize IP warmup, domain rotation, and list hygiene automation
• Build and implement proactive monitoring systems for blacklists, spam complaints, and reputation shifts
• Partner with Engineering to drive the roadmap for improving the effectiveness of Apollos users' email deliverability
• Consult with enterprise clients to diagnose and resolve deliverability challenges
• Optimize email content (subject lines, CTAs) to maximize inbox placement and engagement
• Lead high-stakes “Deliverability Rescue” missions for clients experiencing issues
• Develop transparent, client-facing dashboards to track and improve inbox placement performance
• Innovate with our R&D teams on developing tools that predict and prevent deliverability risks
• Experiment with emerging channels: Dark social, BIMI-certified branding, AMP for Email
• Publish Apollo’s annual “State of Deliverability” report—establishing yourself as an industry authority
• Contribute to Apollo Academy’s thought leadership initiatives

Preferred Qualifications

• If you successfully navigated the 2024 Gmail/Yahoo mass-filtering crisis, we want to hear your story
• You can explain DMARC to a 5th grader but also geek out over RFC 5322
• You dream about pre-header optimizations and have strong opinions on subject line structures
• You understand that “deliverability” isn’t just about hitting the inbox—it’s about driving replies that close deals

Benefits

• Ownership: Define and execute the deliverability strategy for a $10B+ industry—no red tape
• Scale & Impact: Protect deliverability for 30K+ businesses and 1.5M+ Apollo users
• Cutting-Edge Tech: Leverage Apollo’s AI engine, world-class email infrastructure and massive amounts of real-time engagement data