🔹 Job Title: Director of Marketing and Communications
🔹 Company: Mark Morris Dance Group
🔹 Location: 3 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11217
🔹 Job Type: On-site, Full-time
🔹 Category: Performing Arts
🔹 Date Posted: April 3, 2025
🔹 Experience Level: 5-10 years
🔹 Remote Status: On-site
🚀 Job Overview
Key aspects of this role include:
- Developing and implementing a comprehensive marketing and communications strategy to enhance local, national, and global awareness of the Mark Morris Dance Group’s mission and programs.
- Collaborating closely with the Executive Director, Director of Development, and Artistic department to align marketing efforts with institutional goals and drive messaging for major initiatives.
- Managing a team of 3-4 staff members, including a Marketing Manager, Creative Content; Marketing and Digital Engagement Associate; Dancer Social Media Liaison, and external consultants.
- Overseeing all marketing efforts, including digital and social media advertising, SEO, and email marketing.
- Leading brand management efforts, ensuring consistent messaging and visual identity across all digital and print communications.
- Developing and executing inclusive, culturally responsive, and accessible marketing strategies to engage a diverse audience.
- Collaborating with cross-functional teams to ensure marketing technology and initiatives are fully integrated and support overall organizational objectives.
- Monitoring industry trends in arts and culture to ensure the organization’s offerings remain relevant, competitive, and community-focused.
📋 Key Responsibilities
🔑 Strategy and Leadership
- Develop and implement a comprehensive marketing and communications strategy to enhance local, national, and global awareness of the Mark Morris Dance Group’s mission and programs.
- Collaborate closely with the Executive Director, Director of Development, and Artistic department to align marketing efforts with institutional goals and drive messaging for major initiatives.
- Lead and mentor a high-performing marketing team, providing strategic direction, professional development, and performance management.
- Promote a culture of collaboration, innovation, and creative thinking, encouraging the team to experiment with new strategies to stay motivated and bring fresh ideas to the table.
- Oversee and manage the marketing budget, effectively allocating resources to achieve marketing goals within budget.
- Develop and implement crisis communication strategies to safeguard the organization’s reputation and ensure clear, transparent messaging during challenging periods internally and externally.
🎯 Audience Development and Revenue Growth
- Drive audience development, engagement, and revenue growth by creating and managing marketing campaigns for performances, education programs, and community engagement initiatives.
- Develop and execute strategies to support the recruitment and retention of students across all education programs.
- Partner with the Development Department to enhance audience engagement through targeted email automation, segmentation, and personalized donor journeys that drive sustained support and increased giving.
- Support Artistic department and booking representative in the active promotion of the Mark Morris Dance Group and Music Ensemble to presenters, venues, and festivals, leveraging marketing materials, media campaigns, and strategic partnerships to expand performance opportunities.
- Advise, assist, and support presenters in their efforts to sell tickets to MMDG performances.
📈 Marketing Execution and Content Development
- Manage all marketing efforts, including digital and social media advertising, SEO, and email marketing.
- Lead brand management efforts, ensuring consistent messaging and visual identity across all digital and print communications.
- Develop and implement comprehensive social media strategies to drive engagement, visibility, and community connections, including influencer and partner collaborations.
- Oversee content creation and media production, collaborating with designers, photographers, videographers, and copywriters to develop compelling storytelling materials.
- Leverage marketing and development automation tools to streamline campaigns and enhance personalization at scale.
- Create and execute inclusive, culturally responsive, and accessible marketing strategies to engage a diverse audience.
- Lead e-commerce marketing strategies, including online merchandise, Digital Dance Center, and virtual offerings.
📊 Data, Analysis, and Innovation
- Track, analyze, and report on campaign performance; use data-driven insights to optimize strategies and improve outcomes.
- Implement testing frameworks (A/B testing and multivariate analysis) to continuously refine campaign strategies and ensure marketing initiatives deliver optimal results.
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams—including IT, operations, and program leads—to ensure marketing technology and initiatives are fully integrated and support overall organizational objectives.
- Monitor industry trends in arts and culture to ensure the organization’s offerings remain relevant, competitive, and community-focused.
- Conduct surveys and gather feedback from constituents to evaluate and enhance programming, ensuring offerings meet community needs and align with organizational goals.
- Oversee the ongoing integration of Salesforce, consolidating audience, donor, and participant data from multiple platforms.
🤝 Partnerships and External Relations
- Develop strong relationships with press and external partners to maximize coverage and visibility.
- Manage external consultants and vendors, including PR/media firms, digital agencies, freelance designers, and content creators.
💼 Supervisory Responsibilities
- Yes
🔑 Minimum Education & Experience Requirements
- 8-10 years of marketing experience, preferably in the cultural or performing arts sector, with proven expertise in branding, digital marketing, audience development, and content strategy.
💡 You Will Be Successful in This Role If You:
- Are an Outstanding Leader – You have an inspiring creative vision and see obstacles as opportunities. Once you have a goal in sight, you are dedicated in your pursuit. You thrive on continued learning and professional development.
- Have Launched New Programs and Initiatives – You know the ins and outs of audience/customer-base segmentation and development. You have a track record of significantly growing fans or customers.
- Have a Strong Aesthetic Sensibility – You have a great eye for design and understand how to support and interpret the artistic director’s aesthetic and vision.
- Are an Extraordinary Project Manager – You are incredibly organized and can manage multiple initiatives, keeping the larger group on track to meet deadlines.
- Love our Work and Align with Our Core Values – You’re inspired by the ways in which we celebrate our diverse community, pursue excellence in all that we do, advance access, exposure, and opportunity to dance and music, and cultivate creativity. You’ve seen a show or taken a class, and you’re hooked!
📈 Applicant Insights
🔍 Company Context
- Industry: Performing Arts
- Company Size: 51-200 employees
- Founded: 1980
- Headquarters: Brooklyn, NY
- Description: The Mark Morris Dance Group (MMDG) is a renowned performing arts organization dedicated to developing, promoting, and sustaining dance, music, and opera productions by Mark Morris. It serves as a cultural resource to engage and enrich the community, with a mission to develop, promote, and sustain dance, music, and opera productions by Mark Morris and to serve as a cultural resource to engage and enrich the community. Propelled by core values of community, access, excellence, and creativity, MMDG is committed to ongoing work on inclusion, equity, and diversity to ensure its programs are welcoming and accessible to all.
- Specialties: Dance, Performing Arts, and Arts Education
📊 Role Analysis
- Career Level: Senior leadership
- Reporting Structure: Reports directly to the Executive Director
- Work Arrangement: On-site, with a flexible hybrid schedule considered after the successful completion of a six-month on-site introductory period.
- Growth Opportunities: Opportunities for professional growth and development within the organization.
🌍 Location & Work Environment
- Office Type: The Mark Morris Dance Center, a nine-studio building providing affordable classes in multiple genres for people of all ages, levels, with and without disabilities, accompanied by live music.
- Office Location: 3 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11217
- Geographic Context: Located in the heart of the Brooklyn Cultural District, surrounded by cultural institutions, parks, and vibrant neighborhoods.
- Work Schedule: Standard full-time work hours, with flexibility for hybrid work arrangements after the successful completion of a six-month on-site introductory period.
