Director of Marketing

The Director of Marketing plays a key role in how the New Jersey Symphony communicates its work, grows its audiences, and supports the organization’s next chapter. Reporting to the Vice President of Marketing and External Affairs, this leader guides the planning and execution of all marketing, digital and audience development strategies, ensuring the Symphony presents a clear, consistent and compelling message across every platform. The Director oversees the Marketing Manager, the Digital Media Content Manager and the Marketing Production Specialist and helps foster a collaborative and solutions-oriented environment that supports strong working relationships across the organization. The role is both strategic and hands-on, partnering with the Vice President to set priorities and support the smooth execution of the department’s work. The position is based in person at the Symphony’s Newark headquarters until the new Symphony Center opens in Jersey City, expected in January 2027, at which point it will transition to the new facility. As the Symphony prepares for this next chapter, the Director will contribute to expanding audiences, strengthening the brand and advancing a positive and coordinated culture that aligns

with the organization’s goals.

Staff Management & Coordination

• Lead and develop a team of three who are responsible for advertising and media placement, audience development, broadcast email and website production, social and digital media content and other departmental coordination.
• Work with the content team to set goals for website and email engagement.
• Support overall strategy to engage trustees, musicians and staff, as well as our patrons, through social media outlets.
• Hire, train, mentor and conduct performance reviews for direct reports.
• Identify and create opportunities for professional development for direct reports.

Marketing Strategy & Audience Development

• In collaboration with the Vice President of Marketing and External Affairs, develop strategies to support subscriber acquisition, retention and repeat single-ticket purchases.
• Work with the Marketing Manager to develop and grow existing and new audience development programs, including the NextGen Young Professionals program, the Student Tickets program and other constituency-focused initiatives.
• Collaborate with the Vice President to integrate key Strategic Plan initiatives into the department’s day-to-day work plans and identify annual deliverables.

Subscription and Single-Ticket Campaign Strategy and Production

• Develop and oversee marketing campaign plans and segmentation strategy in collaboration with internal teams and external vendors.
• Track campaign performance and adjust future plans to meet revenue targets.
• Oversee the subscription renewal, acquisition and single ticket direct mail campaigns, including strategy, segmentation, mail-house fulfillment, post office coordination and analysis of campaigns.
• Work with the Patron Services team on subscription renewal and acquisition campaigns, including support for patron notifications and subscription ticket fulfillment.
• Manage the telemarketing campaign by attending weekly meetings, reviewing reporting and coordinating telemarketing offers with direct mail and social promotions. Work with the Tessitura Database Manager to provide required data and with Patron Services to
• support patron-related inquiries and transactions.
• Oversee the Symphony’s digital agencies on programmatic display and direct placement advertising.
• Secure placements with venue partners to ensure strong revenue results for co-presentations and special concerts.
• Create and embrace a culture of ongoing analysis, evaluate campaign results and recommend changes to strategy based on findings.
• Assist in the creation of marketing expense budget and manage reconciliation of invoices.
• Seek opportunities to control costs and maximize conversions and ROI.

Content Strategy, Development and Creation

• Serve as the lead producer for content planning across the Symphony’s communication channels, and coordinate and conduct interviews with the Music Director, musicians, guest artists and others.
• Tell the Symphony’s story, with support from the Digital Media Content Manager and the Marketing Manager, through video and social content that promotes events, education programs and the personalities that shape the organization.
• Build partnerships with community organizations, leaders and ambassadors to amplify brand awareness and strengthen connections with the diverse communities the Symphony serves.
• Oversee the Symphony’s relationship with its digital agency, including social media content strategy and promotional budgets.
• Manage the Symphony’s digital assets.
• Collaborate with the Marketing Production Specialist to develop and provide content for email communications, and coordinate and edit content from all departments.
• Curate and write content for social media, the website and email distribution.

Creative Services & Copywriting

• Work with the Marketing Production Specialist and the Creative Director to lead project management for all graphic and digital production requests.
• Meet with other departments on their graphic and digital needs and serve as a liaison to ensure projects stay on track and are completed on time.

Digital Experience & Platforms

• Serve as the primary lead for the Symphony’s digital strategy for the website and email channels, with a focus on patron user experience that increases engagement and conversions.
• Work with the Creative Director to manage photo representation across social, website and email channels to ensure the Symphony’s media presence is relevant and engaging.
• Conduct analysis and create reports on the effectiveness of website and online advertising campaigns.
• Review and recommend changes to strategy for the online ticket sales portion of the site.
• Research website best practices and implement changes to continually improve user experience and patron engagement.
• Ensure the website is optimized for mobile support, search engine optimization and marketing, online advertising, social media campaigns and other external platforms that link to the Symphony’s site.
• Coordinate with the Symphony’s digital agency on technical needs such as tracking codes, Google Analytics and tag administration.
• Serve as the primary contact for website and online ticket sales IT issues, with a goal of consistent uptime. Act as a liaison between the ticketing vendor, website vendor and the Symphony’s IT services vendor to ensure timely resolution of issues.
• Use marketing automation and A/B testing to research and recommend ways to improve broadcast email open rates, increase click-through rates, reduce subscriber churn and improve user experience.
• Provide reports and analysis on the effectiveness of broadcast email campaigns.
• Serve as the primary contact for the website vendor and the marketing automation vendor.
• Oversee website and marketing automation development, including design and content redevelopment projects.
• Oversee the Symphony’s domains and track domain renewal periods.

Support Organization’s Communication Needs

• In collaboration with the Vice President of Marketing and External Affairs, create and implement internal communications strategies for staff, board members, musicians and key stakeholders.
• Proofread produced materials to ensure adherence to the Symphony’s style guide, standards and brand messaging.
• Attend concerts and represent the New Jersey Symphony to concertgoers throughout the state.
• Provide support to marketing and other departments as needed.
• Department Operations
• Assist the Vice President in creating the department expense budget and actively participate in reconciliation efforts.
• Maintain positive relationships with internal and external constituents, including community members, patrons, vendors, consultants, volunteers, trustees, musicians and staff.
• Provide support to the Vice President of Marketing and External Affairs as needed, and represent the Symphony and the Vice President at meetings when requested.
• Serve as the department point person for cross-department institutional initiatives.
• A passion for working in the non-profit arts community.
• Desire to embrace the organization’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives and support an inclusive and respectful organizational culture.
• Excellent proofreading skills, both in editorial capacity and in institutional messaging alignment.
• Knowledge of AP Style is a plus.
• Demonstrated experience in managing relationships externally and internally to support advertising, telemarketing and digital agency campaigns.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work effectively across departments and with a wide range of internal and external partners.
• Ability to think strategically and translate organizational goals into effective marketing plans and actions.
• Bachelor’s degree required; 10 to 15 years of total professional experience required, preferably in a capacity directly related to marketing, advertising or communications.
• Proficient in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook.
• Working knowledge of Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Lightroom, Basecamp project management software, Tessitura patron database software and ActiveCampaign marketing automation software is a plus.
• Project management skills, especially in relation to content production.

Compensation

The salary range for this position is $80,000 to $85,000 annually. New Jersey Symphony offers a generous benefits package, including health, dental, insurance options and pension. Relocation reimbursement is not offered for this position.

To Apply

Interested applicants should send a resume to Rachael Holloway, Recruiter with ThinkingAhead Executive Search: rholloway@thinkingahead.com.