Director of Marketing and Sales - American Shakespeare Center

Job Description

Job Description

DIRECTOR OF MARKETING & SALES

 

POSITION SUMMARY

The Director of Marketing & Sales leads the American Shakespeare Center's strategy for growing audiences, driving ticket sales and earned revenue, and building lasting relationships between patrons and ASC. The Director develops and executes ASC's annual marketing and audience strategy across performances, education programs, institutional marketing, paid media, and audience development.

Reporting to the Executive Artistic Director, the Director leads an established marketing team with expertise in communications and content, CRM and ticketing, audience data, and marketing operations. Working across Artistic, Learning & Engagement, Development, Finance, and patron-facing teams, the Director connects programming and institutional priorities with effective audience and revenue strategies.

The ideal candidate is a strong marketer with demonstrated success developing consumer-facing campaigns, using data to improve performance, and leading people and projects. They will bring both strategic thinking and a willingness to respond quickly to opportunities and changing sales conditions.

 

POSITION DETAILS

Reports to: Executive Artistic Director

Compensation: $55,000–$65,000, commensurate with experience

Classification: Full-Time, Exempt

Location: On-site in Staunton, Virginia 

 

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Marketing, Audience & Revenue Strategy

• Develop and execute ASC's annual marketing and audience plan across performances, education programs, institutional marketing, paid media, partnerships, and other earned-revenue activities.
• Lead ASC's audience and ticket-sales strategy, translating organizational earned-revenue goals into coordinated strategies for audience acquisition, pricing and promotion, ticket sales, group sales, memberships and packages, and other audience-based earned-revenue activity.
• Monitor sales pace, enrollment, audience behavior, and campaign performance; identify opportunities and risks and adjust strategy, targeting, messaging, offers, channels, and investment accordingly.
• Lead audience acquisition, retention, and re-engagement strategies, building pathways from first-time participation to repeat attendance and deeper engagement with ASC.
• Partner with ASC's CRM and ticketing expertise on pricing, promotions, segmentation, forecasting, sales analysis, and patron behavior to establish and track sales goals and inform revenue strategy.

Institutional Marketing & Partnerships

• Lead institutional marketing and positioning for ASC and the Blackfriars Playhouse, strengthening ASC's visibility as a cultural institution and destination theatre.
• Build relationships with tourism, community, media, and cultural partners that expand ASC's reach locally, regionally, and beyond.
• Partner with Learning & Engagement (Education Department) on marketing and enrollment strategies for student matinees, camps, workshops, adult learning, and other education programs.
• Work with Development to create pathways from audience participation and loyalty to deeper institutional and philanthropic engagement.

Marketing Leadership

• Lead paid media and promotional strategy, manage related vendors and external partners, and manage ASC's marketing and advertising budget, evaluating campaign effectiveness and return on investment.
• Provide strategic direction for campaigns, messaging, communications, public relations, and brand, with ASC's communications and content staff leading day-to-day execution.
• Lead and develop ASC's marketing team, establishing priorities, goals, responsibilities, workflows and deadlines, and measures of success.
• Serve as ASC's lead marketing strategist in organizational planning and communicate audience, sales, and campaign performance to organizational leadership and, as appropriate, the Board of Trustees.

QUALIFICATIONS

Required

• 4+ years of progressively responsible marketing experience, or equivalent experience.
• Demonstrated success developing consumer-facing campaigns that drive sales, attendance, enrollment, audience growth, or other measurable outcomes.
• Experience with integrated marketing and paid media, including using audience and performance data to evaluate results and adjust strategy.
• Comfort working with budgets, sales or revenue goals, and performance metrics.
• Experience leading projects, campaigns, staff, vendors, or cross-functional teams.
• Strong strategic judgment, communication, collaboration, and organizational skills.
• High School diploma or GED/equivalent. 

Preferred

• Experience in performing arts, live events, entertainment, hospitality, tourism, attractions, sports, education, or another consumer-facing field.
• Experience with ticketing or admissions, CRM-driven marketing, audience segmentation, memberships or subscriptions, or customer lifecycle strategy.
• Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Communications, Business or related field.

WORK ENVIRONMENT & SCHEDULE

This position is based in Staunton, Virginia and works primarily on-site at ASC's offices and the Blackfriars Playhouse. The Director works a full-time schedule with flexibility required to support the rhythms of a year-round producing theatre, including occasional evening and weekend responsibilities associated with performances, opening weekends, events, and other organizational activities.

Travel will occasionally be required in this position, primarily in the Central Virginia region to capture content or conduct interviews and market research. The Director will also have the opportunity to attend relevant industry conferences and/or networking events.

ASC is committed to a collaborative and communicative work environment that recognizes the demands of a year-round producing theatre. Team members are expected to communicate proactively about scheduling and workload, and ASC supports flexibility and sustainable workload management whenever operational needs allow.

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

Compensation: $55,000–$65,000 annually, commensurate with experience.

Benefits: Full-time employees are eligible for ASC's employee benefits package, including:

• Employer subsidized health insurance
• Optional vision, dental, and life insurance
• Paid holidays in accordance with the Employee Handbook
• Complimentary ASC performance tickets and a discount on Blackfriars Playhouse Gift Shop merchandise, in accordance with ASC policy

HOW TO APPLY

Apply here: 

Contact Lacey McCraw at View email address on us.fitly.work for questions.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY STATEMENT

The American Shakespeare Center is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of any protected characteristic under applicable law.

Warren Whitney is an equal opportunity employer. The firm, on behalf of its client, does not discriminate on the basis of any protected characteristic under applicable law. Warren Whitney reserves the right to modify or close this search at any time.

ABOUT THE AMERICAN SHAKESPEARE CENTER

The American Shakespeare Center (ASC) is a nonprofit theatre company based in Staunton, Virginia and home to the world's first recreation of Shakespeare's Blackfriars Playhouse.

ASC advances understanding, imagination, and community by illuminating Shakespeare through performance, research, and education in the Blackfriars Playhouse and beyond.

ASC produces year-round repertory theatre, educational programming, tours, workshops, camps, and community engagement initiatives rooted in the power of shared live performance.

ASC values and supports collaboration, inclusion, and work/life balance. Our home in Staunton, Virginia, embodies these values through its livable, walkable downtown, low cost of living, diverse arts opportunities, easy access to cities like Richmond, Charlottesville, and Washington, D.C., and abundant outdoor activities in the surrounding Blue Ridge and Allegheny Mountains.

Background & Drug Screening Disclaimer

Offer conditioned on passable background checks including criminal background checks, education verification and reference checks.