Marketing and Communications Manager

SUMMARY:
The Mark Morris Dance Group (MMDG) seeks a Marketing and Communications Manager to play a key role in advancing the reputation and brand visibility of Artistic Director/Choreographer Mark Morris and the touring Mark Morris Dance Group and Music Ensemble, as well as broadening the reach and deepening the engagement with key audiences through the organization’s education and community engagement programs. The Manager will be a leader in a highly motivated, results-oriented 4-person team and will implement MMDG’s marketing and content strategy across owned, earned, and paid channels with a specific focus on email marketing and data management. This position directly supervises the Marketing and Communications Coordinator and reports to the Director of Marketing and Communications.

This is a unique opportunity to have a real impact on generating new revenue streams for our organization. Like most arts institutions, MMDG has been adversely affected by the pandemic. However, our organization has shown incredible resilience and creativity during these difficult times. Mark Morris has continued to create via Zoom, and we’ve launched successful digital programs that have reached nearly 100,000 people globally. This role will play an important part in the rebuilding of our economic model, energized by the 9,000+ new subscribers to our 50K+ email list and an increase in new donors due to online programs.

The successful candidate will join a community of dedicated arts and administrative professionals who are propelled by Mark Morris’s commitment to artistic excellence, access to the arts, and the impact that the arts have in connecting and engaging communities. MMDG is committed to ongoing and sustained equity and inclusion work. All staff are expected to be actively engaged and dedicated to upholding our core values of celebrating our diverse community, pursuing excellence in all that we do, advancing access, exposure, and opportunity to dance and music, and cultivating creativity. Learn more about MMDG’s commitment to anti-racism and our core values.

Key responsibilities include:

Email Marketing and Data Management

• Work with internal and external teams to achieve editorial excellence for MMDG’s email marketing program with a focus on developing compelling content that drives results, including audience acquisition and lead generation
• Own campaign development processes from planning through deployment and analysis
• Implement A/B tests to grow engagement and conversions
• Manage post-campaign reporting and analysis by establishing and measuring KPIs, describing trends through regular reports, and sharing key insights
• Help identify and implement segmentation and personalization tactics to create engagement and conversion paths for different audiences
• Manage marketing database, including imports and list hygiene
• Help implement MMDG’s first marketing CRM, overseeing the migration and integration of records from disparate databases

Advertising

• Working with the Director of Marketing and Communications, developing a quarterly media plan for the organization
• Oversee the production and placement of all advertising buys, including social media in partnership with the Web and Social Media Manager
• Manage external agency in building and implementing Google Grants and Google Ads
• Help analyze advertising metrics and optimize media plans accordingly

Earned Media and Public Relations

• Work with the Director of Marketing and Communications to develop earned media tactics that increase the media visibility of MMDG locally, nationally, and (when applicable) internationally
• Write press releases, talking points, and pitch letters
• Manage press and influencer lists and maintain relationships with key journalists and influencers

General Marketing

• Work with the Director of Marketing and Communications to create and implement MMDG’s marketing strategy and leverage data-driven learnings to optimize and refine that strategy
• Ensure organizational messaging and brand profile are consistent across all marketing channels
• Manage marketing calendar, including content calendar
• Oversee the production of marketing materials, including the annual report, Dance Center brochures and flyers, and program graphics
• Supervise merchandising and e-commerce operations, including inventory, branded merchandise production, special initiatives, and analytics
• Monitor and share trends happening in the arts, new media, and popular culture to inform the Marketing Strategy

You will be successful in this role if you:
• Are an Excellent Writer – There’s a lot of writing in this job, from newsletters to press releases. It’s important that you’re a creative writer able to churn out energetic, engaging, purposeful prose in a relatively short amount of time. It’s also important that you enjoy doing it!
• Have a Strong Aesthetic Sensibility – You have a great eye for design and understand the impact a good visual can have to make or break a campaign.
• Have a Knack for Data – You genuinely enjoy analyzing campaign results, reporting on them, and learning from large-scale data sets to optimize and improve your work.
• Are Supremely Organized and Pay Attention to Detail – It’s important that you can prioritize and produce excellent work under time constraints and deadlines.
• Are Highly Motivated and Self-Driven – You’re a self-starter, resourceful, and comfortable with generating ideas, setting goals, and running with them.
• Love the Performing Arts and Our Work – You’re inspired by the performing arts, dance and the work of Mark Morris, and you genuinely appreciate the ways in which we pursue excellence in all that we do, celebrate our diverse community, advance access, exposure and opportunity to dance and music, and cultivate creativity.

Compensation and Benefits
• Annual Salary: Commensurate with experience
• Paid vacation, sick/personal leave, holidays and bonus days
• Comprehensive benefits package includes: Employee Health and Life insurance covered 100%, Flexible Spending Plan, Voluntary vision, dental, and life insurance coverage, Pre-tax commuter benefit, 403(b) retirement plan, 100% paid family leave, and a professional development stipend
• Access to the Wellness Center (MMDG’s on-site exercise facility), free dance classes for you and your family, and subsidized studio rental rates at the Dance Center

DEADLINE:
• The position is open until filled, but preference will be given to those candidates who apply on or before January 19, 2021.
• Please note that all candidate interviews will be conducted by video using the Zoom (https://zoom.us/) video communications application. Please download the application in advance and have a functioning camera and speaker on your device. MMDG can also provide candidates with reasonable accommodations, if needed.

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to a diverse workforce and do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, national or ethnic origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, or veteran status. It is the policy of MMDG to comply with all the relevant and applicable provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). MMDG does not discriminate against any qualified employees or job applicants with respect to any terms, privileges, or conditions of employment because of a person’s physical or mental disability. MMDG makes reasonable accommodation wherever necessary for all employees or applicants with disabilities, provided that the individual is otherwise qualified to safely perform the duties and assignments connected with the job and provided that any accommodations made do not require significant difficulty or expense.

ORGANIZATION SUMMARY
The internationally renowned Mark Morris Dance Group (MMDG) has received “highest praise for their technical aplomb, their musicality, and their sheer human authenticity.” (Bloomberg News). Founded in 1980, the Dance Group performs the repertory of choreographer Mark Morris, hailed as the “the most successful and influential choreographer alive, and indisputably the most musical” (The New York Times), whose work is acclaimed for its ingenuity, musicality, wit, and humanity. Live music and community engagement are vital components of the Dance Group. It has toured with its own musicians, the MMDG Music Ensemble, since 1996, and regularly collaborates with orchestras and opera companies around the world. In addition to 17 full-time dancers, the organization currently employs 34 full-time staff and 75 part-time staff, teaching artists, and musicians.
In the heart of the Brooklyn Cultural District, the Mark Morris Dance Center, founded in 2001, is the hub of dance and music education in Brooklyn. The nine-studio building provides affordable classes in multiple genres for people of all ages, levels, with and without disabilities, accompanied by live music. The studios, a performance space, a Wellness Center, and ancillary spaces are all available to the community and to nonprofit organizations at subsidized rates. MMDG’s Community Education Programs partner with public and private schools and community centers to provide customized classes. MMDG also offers customized dance workshops for persons with Parkinson’s disease and their caregivers.
MMDG programs in NYC and worldwide engage nearly 100,000 people annually. Propelled by core values of community, access, excellence, and creativity, MMDG is committed to ongoing equity, diversity, and inclusion work to ensure its programs are welcoming and accessible to all.

Requirements

Qualifications:
• 3-5 years of experience in a marketing role, preferably with a focus on email marketing and data management
• Excellent writing and communication skills
• Creative, resourceful, entrepreneurial mindset, with roll-up-your-sleeves mentality
• Experience working with Salesforce (or other CRM) and Pardot (or similar software that allows marketing automation) strongly preferred
• Familiarity with Google Analytics, Google Ads, Cision (or other earned media database software), and WordPress (or other CMS) a plus
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite
• This full-time position is currently remote with the expectation of all staff returning to the Brooklyn office some time in 2021. The candidate should be based within commuting distance to Brooklyn.