Gemma Saunders
About Gemma Saunders
Gemma Saunders is the Director of Retail Marketing at Afterpay, where she has worked since 2021. She has extensive experience in marketing and campaign management, having held various roles at Optus and other companies, and has a background in Management Science and Biology from Keele University.
Current Role at Afterpay
Gemma Saunders serves as the Director of Retail Marketing at Afterpay, a position she has held since 2021. In this role, she has focused on developing processes and best practice playbooks for large omni-channel campaigns. She has also implemented test and learn initiatives aimed at increasing the number of active customers. Under her leadership, Afterpay has achieved year-over-year growth of +12% for Afterpay Day, which is recognized as the second largest retail event in Australia.
Previous Experience at Optus
Gemma Saunders has extensive experience at Optus, where she held multiple roles over several years. She began as the Optus Yes Shop Campaign Manager in 2012 for four months. She then progressed to various positions, including Segment Marketing Manager for Youth, Young Adult, and Mature segments from 2012 to 2013, and Customer Communications, Loyalty, and Lifecycle Manager from 2013 to 2015. From 2015 to 2017, she worked in Postpaid Mobile Proposition Development and Go-to-Market strategies. Her final roles at Optus included Associate Director for Strategic Propositions and 5G Australia Launch from 2017 to 2021.
Education and Expertise
Gemma Saunders studied at Keele University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree with dual honors in Management Science and Biology from 1996 to 1999. This educational background has provided her with a strong foundation in both analytical and strategic thinking, which she has applied throughout her career in marketing and campaign management.
Career at Nokia and Other Companies
Prior to her tenure at Afterpay and Optus, Gemma Saunders worked at Nokia Mobile Phones as a Trade Marketing Manager in the UK for seven months in 2004. She also held positions at iris worldwide as Group Account Director from 2007 to 2012 and at Haygarth as Senior Account Manager from 2003 to 2007. Additionally, she had a brief secondment as Brand Marketing Manager at Sony Ericsson in 2011.
Marketing Achievements
Throughout her career, Gemma Saunders has demonstrated a strong ability to drive marketing performance. At Afterpay, she exceeded a return on ad spend (ROAS) of +26% for large-scale integrated marketing campaigns. She has also overseen the delivery of complex campaigns involving over 1,000 merchants and more than 60 internal stakeholders and agencies, showcasing her project management skills and strategic oversight.