Head of Growth

Proton seeks an Executive Head of Growth in Zürich to lead product-led growth for its privacy-focused email and calendar services, driving activation, retention, and virality through data-driven experimentation.

The company is looking for a strategic leader to take full ownership of the product-led growth engine for Proton Mail and Calendar. This role focuses on embedding growth mechanisms directly into the product experience to drive user activation, conversion, and retention. The successful candidate will align product, engineering, and marketing efforts into a unified strategy, owning the roadmap and key performance metrics while fostering a culture of rapid testing and iteration.

Responsibilities

• Manage the complete user journey, from initial signup and onboarding through to activation, free-to-paid conversion, and long-term retention.
• Create and implement in-product growth experiments, including onboarding flows, activation nudges, paywall placements, upsell opportunities, and referral systems.
• Collaborate with product marketing, influencer, social, and performance teams to develop integrated cross-functional growth strategies.
• Work with core Mail and Calendar product teams to enhance features that maximize user retention and lifetime value.
• Establish and maintain a rigorous experimentation pipeline, covering hypothesis generation, A/B testing, instrumentation, and result analysis.
• Identify and build viral loops and network effects, such as referrals and collaboration features, to drive organic user acquisition.
• Define and track core growth metrics, including activation rates, conversion rates, churn, LTV, and referral coefficients, holding direct accountability for their improvement.
• Partner with data and analytics teams to build the necessary instrumentation and dashboards for clear visibility into the user funnel.
• Translate user research and behavioral data into actionable product and marketing initiatives that optimize the conversion funnel.
• Influence the product roadmap by treating growth opportunities as a primary input for future development priorities.

Requirements

• Demonstrated experience owning product-led growth strategies within SaaS or consumer technology products.
• Proven ability to work cross-functionally with diverse marketing teams, including product marketing, performance, social, and influencer channels.
• Deep expertise in experimentation, including designing robust tests, understanding statistical validity, and distinguishing actionable insights from noise.
• Strong technical and analytical skills, with proficiency in product analytics tools and the ability to discuss implementation trade-offs credibly with engineers.
• Experience in building or scaling virality and referral mechanics, particularly in products with network effects.
• Leadership by influence, with the capacity to align product, engineering, marketing, and data stakeholders around a shared growth vision without direct reporting authority.
• A strong bias toward shipping and testing, aligning with the company’s culture of hands-on builders.
• A cost-efficient, scrappy mindset, recognizing that the company is bootstrapped and relies on smart execution rather than large budgets.
• Comfort with ambiguity and the willingness to make bold, high-conviction decisions regarding growth potential within the product.

What the company offers

• Comprehensive health coverage, robust retirement options, generous leave policies, and wellness support.
• Stock options, providing an opportunity to become owners of the company.
• Provision of the right hardware and software to perform at your best.
• Investment in professional growth through dedicated Learning & Development resources.
• Daily lunch and snacks provided in the offices.
• Coverage for public transport, bike allowances, or parking costs.
• Flexible working arrangements, allowing employees to own their schedules.

About the company

Proton is a privacy-first technology company trusted by millions of users worldwide. The company operates independently, answering solely to its users rather than advertisers, investors, or governments. It is bootstrapped, relying on smart execution and a culture of hands-on builders to achieve its goals. The team is diverse, collaborative, and tight-knit, comprising individuals from various backgrounds and top academic institutions.

• Millions of people trust Proton with their privacy; the company answers only to users, not advertisers, investors, or governments.
• The team is diverse, collaborative, and tight-knit with people from all walks of life, including top academic institutions.
• Proton is bootstrapped and wins through smart execution rather than big budgets.
• Culture of hands-on builders.