Director of Membership

Job Description

Job Description

POSITION:  Director of Membership 

CLASSIFICATION: Full-Time, Exempt 

REPORTS TO: Director of Development 

LOCATION: 212 West 83rd Street, New York, NY 10024 

SCHEDULE:  Hybrid 

About the Children’s Museum 

The Children’s Museum of Manhattan (CMOM) is a dynamic, mission-driven cultural institution dedicated to nurturing creativity, curiosity, and lifelong learning in children and families. Through interactive exhibitions, educational programs, and community partnerships, CMOM serves diverse audiences across New York City and beyond, creating meaningful experiences that inspire and empower young minds. 

CMOM is entering a transformational moment. Over the years ahead, CMOM will grow awareness and deepen community connection at its current home while building momentum toward the opening of a landmark new museum on 96th Street. This role offers a rare opportunity to join a small, high-impact team shaping both the present and future of one of New York’s most beloved cultural institutions. 

About the Position 

The Children’s Museum of Manhattan (CMOM) seeks a strategic and operationally grounded leader to serve as its inaugural Director of Membership. This newly created role comes at a pivotal moment for a program that currently serves approximately 1,700 member families and generates $550,000 annually, with the goal to more than double as CMOM opens its new museum in 2028. 

The Director of Membership will lead membership planning and execution through the transition, opening, and first years of the new museum. They will help shape the future program by bringing strategy, data, and institutional goals to life through effective campaigns, operations, and member experiences. 

The Director will supervise CMOM’s Membership Manager, determine the additional staffing needed during periods of increased demand, and collaborate closely with Development, Marketing & Communications, Guest Services, and external partners as appropriate. 

This is a role for a strategic operator who can translate ambitious thinking into disciplined execution and who finds as much satisfaction in improving a workflow or analyzing performance as in imagining what the membership experience can become. 

Key Responsibilities 

Membership Strategy and Program Leadership 

• Lead the development and execution of strategy for CMOM’s family membership program, including acquisition, retention, engagement, and revenue growth through the transition to the new museum and beyond. 

• Redesign membership levels, pricing, benefits, and positioning in partnership with Museum leadership and relevant internal and external partners. 

• Ensure that CMOM’s free and discounted membership offerings are thoughtfully incorporated into the future program, with clear goals for access, participation, and long-term sustainability. 

• Develop multiyear revenue, membership, acquisition, retention, and expense projections through FY30 and beyond. 

• Use research, member feedback, data, testing, and peer benchmarking to guide recommendations and improve performance. 

• Partner with Individual Giving to create pathways for members to deepen their philanthropic engagement with CMOM. 

New Museum Planning and Transition 

• Lead a multiyear membership transition and opening-readiness plan that prepares CMOM’s members, communications, systems, staffing, and operations for the move from the current museum through the new museum’s first year. 

• Develop and implement policies for renewals, extensions, benefit continuity, opportunities to secure current rates, and the transition of existing members into the new membership program. 

• Create a comprehensive member communications, engagement, and customer-service plan, including website content, FAQs, automated messages, phone scripts, staff talking points, and service protocols. 

• Anticipate increased inquiry, purchasing, processing, and benefit-fulfillment demand and establish the staffing, systems, workflows, automation, and training required to manage it. 

• Coordinate across departments to ensure that members can purchase memberships, access their benefits, and receive a seamless and welcoming experience throughout the transition and opening. 

• Monitor opening-year performance and member feedback and adjust communications, staffing, retention efforts, and operations as needed. 

Marketing and Member Experience 

• Partner with Marketing & Communications, Guest Services, Capital Project & Campaign Teams as well as external partners as appropriate to lead pre-opening, opening-year, acquisition, renewal, upgrade, and reactivation campaigns. 

• Develop and oversee a year-round member communications and engagement plan across email, website, social media, on-site channels, and other member touchpoints. 

• Define audiences, offers, value propositions, channel strategies, and performance goals, and use results to improve future campaigns. 

• Strengthen the member journey from purchase and onboarding through benefit use, renewal, upgrade, and philanthropic engagement. 

• Partner with Guest Services to improve visitor-to-member conversion, front-desk sales, and member service. 

• Collaborate with Special Events and program colleagues on experiences that build engagement and loyalty. 

Operations, Systems, and Team Leadership 

• Oversee membership processing, renewals, upgrades, cancellations, gift memberships, benefit fulfillment, and customer-service escalation. 

• Define data and technology requirements and partner with Development Operations to maintain clean, actionable data and effective integrations among CRM, ticketing, digital membership card, email, and related systems. 

• Work across Guest Services, Technology, Marketing & Communications, Development Operations, and other departments to ensure that institutional systems, policies, staffing, and front-line practices support a consistent and effective member experience. 

• Establish reporting for membership, revenue, acquisition, retention, conversion, average value, and campaign performance. 

• Improve and document membership workflows, communications, service standards, and training. 

• Manage consultants, agencies, and vendors and translate their recommendations into coordinated internal execution. 

• Supervise and develop the Membership Manager and oversee temporary or part-time staffing as needed. 
  
  
  
   

Qualifications 

Required 

• Seven or more years of progressive experience in membership, audience engagement, development, marketing, subscription, loyalty, or a comparable recurring-revenue program. 

• Demonstrated success managing, growing, or materially improving a membership or audience-based program. 

• Strong analytical fluency and experience using data to segment audiences, build forecasts, evaluate acquisition and retention, and guide decisions. 

• Understanding of lifecycle marketing, including acquisition, onboarding, renewal, reactivation, testing, and performance measurement. 

• Excellent strategic judgment, operational leadership, project management, and written and verbal communication skills. 

• Experience working with CRM, membership, ticketing, email-marketing, or related systems. 

• Proven success supervising staff and leading work across departments. 

• Initiative, adaptability, and comfort creating structure amid change. 

Preferred 

• Experience at a museum, cultural institution, family-focused nonprofit, or other visitor-serving organization. 

• Experience designing programs, communications, or customer experiences for families and an understanding of how household decision-making differs from that of individual adult audiences. 

• Experience guiding a program or team through a major organizational transition, relocation, expansion, renovation, or opening. 

• Experience successfully engaging external consultants, agencies, research partners, or campaign vendors. 

• Exposure to annual giving and an understanding of membership as a pathway to deeper philanthropic engagement. 

• Familiarity with Raiser’s Edge NXT and integrated membership, admissions, ticketing, and marketing systems. 

Salary: $100,000-$125,000 

This job description is not designed to contain a comprehensive list of all activities, duties, or responsibilities that are required of the employee. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change or new ones may be assigned at any time with or without notice. 

We offer a comprehensive benefits package including medical (free employee coverage; premium options for dependents), dental, vision, 403(b), life insurance, EAP, paid holidays, and generous PTO. CMOM employees also receive free admission to select NYC cultural institutions. 

The Children’s Museum of Manhattan is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We encourage people from all backgrounds, ages, abilities, and experiences to apply. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. If, due to a disability, you need an accommodation during any part of the interview process, please let us know. 

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