The mission of Jazz at Lincoln Center, Inc. (“JALC”) is to entertain, enrich and expand a global community for jazz through performance, education, and advocacy. From college students to young stars, from working professionals to celebrated masters, we present quality jazz for an ever-increasing audience in an unprecedented range of activities and a variety of venues. We are dedicated to lifting audiences and bringing people together with substance and with integrity. JALC has created a dynamic platform where our key constituents – jazz artists (beginner to grizzled veteran), fans (casual listeners to advanced scholars), educators (local band leaders to leading artist-educators) and advocates (local community advocates to important national promoters) – can meet, engage, learn, and work towards common objectives.
Position Description
Reporting to Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Chief Marketing Officer, the Senior Director, Marketing will define, design, and implement successful media and marketing campaigns that strengthen JALC’s brand and identity and increase brand awareness globally. This person will continue to build JALC’s audience and convert this audience into supporters of JALC and users of JALC’s many programs and products.
This position will drive all earned, owned, and paid media strategy development and implementation to increase and diversify revenue sources and scale mission impact. It will also oversee and manage JALC’s marketing team, along with all design and communications staff. This person will manage all PR and communications strategies and spearhead impactful media campaigns rooted in great storytelling. This person will also cultivate relevant influencers and design targeted, community marketing strategies to increase audience growth, engagement, conversion, income, and mission impact.
Success in the role requires passion and creativity, strategic thinking, strong organization and management skills, a proud commitment to meeting internal client needs in a collaborative and team-oriented manner, excellent verbal and written communication skills, an understanding of the work JALC and its importance and relevance, and a sense of urgency.
Key Responsibilities
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Develop and manage integrated, multi-year marketing programs for Jazz at Lincoln Center's season concerts, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (and its tours), Dizzy’s Club, JALC’s various education programs, Blue Engine Records, the Jazz Live streaming service, long and short form video programming (including live concert broadcasts) and other products and initiatives.
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Continually improve a strong, support-oriented center of excellence for the organization, with a focus on primary internal client constituents which include Development (i.e. fundraising), Concerts and Touring, Education, and Frederick P. Rose Hall, The House of Swing.
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Strengthen and evolve the quality of all digital/print and written material and collateral and ensure all client deliverables are on time and meet client requirements while always remaining aligned with the overall brand identity.
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Support the ongoing development, cultivation, and impact of JALC’s brand and manage all institutional marketing and ensure cohesive messaging, quality standards, and brand identity.
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Manage and continually improve the budgeting and planning process, collaborating with internal clients to understand and define their needs and objectives and translating them into a marketing plan and budget.
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Manage JALC’s social media strategy and digital marketing channels, designing and producing relevant content to leverage all paid, earned, and owned media.
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Effectively manage all outside individuals and companies that support marketing, design, PR, communications, and other related work – hold them accountable to strict, clear deadlines and deliverables and ensure that they adhere to JALC’s stated institutional values.
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Work with colleagues in the Development Department to establish ambitious fundraising targets for the sale of JALC Memberships and donations and execute all branding and marketing necessary to consistently increase these vital sources of income.
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Establish and track key performance indicators, including audience growth and engagement, fundraising, and return on investment for marketing spends. Track and regularly report progress and highlight areas of under-performance – proactively, and always with remediation plans.
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Support and collaborate with all outside presenters who book the JALC Orchestra or other JALC programming.
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Support the professional and personal development of direct reports and other teammates by establishing clear goals and providing regular performance feedback and supporting staff members’ career development.
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Inform the development of new online content based on performance analytics and implement best practices for SEO and SEM to drive traffic and engagement at JAZZ.org.
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Provide analytic support for the Director of Sales to help refine pricing and forecasting, and to refine the organization’s investments in video and other online content.
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Monitor and regularly report on JALC’s marketing performance relative to other arts and performing arts organizations, whether for- or non-profit.
Qualifications
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High EQ, character, standards, and integrity.
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Excellent analytical, communication, and project management skills, and the ability to translate ideas into results.
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Proven success at setting and meeting/beating aggressive budget targets and inspiring staff to deliver high client satisfaction.
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Proven experience leading a team that successfully marketed a brand with a diverse portfolio of programs and assets through creative, effective, and profitable campaigns.
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Ability to create a fun, inspirational culture of success and accountability while fostering a shared understanding of goals, objectives, and purpose.
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Comprehensive, contemporary understanding of how to optimize each traditional and digital marketing channel and how best to leverage all forms of earned, owned, and paid media.
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Strong network of executives and key staff at best-in-class marketing products and service providers.
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Detailed understanding of the state-of-the-art data analytics practices and qualitative and quantitative market research.
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Understanding of contemporary marketing and communications tools and best practices, including SEO/SEM, Google Analytics and CRM software, and basic familiarity with web design.
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Excellent judgment and creative problem-solving skills, including negotiation and conflict resolution, and the ability to prioritize, multi-task, and manage multiple projects in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment.
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Passion for jazz music or the larger cultural and civic objectives of Jazz at Lincoln Center – and ideally, both – and a devotion to the arts broadly.
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An understanding and the ability to articulate the vital importance of the arts to civic life and cultural identity.
Work Hours
While it is a flexible work environment, it is not a remote work environment. All staff work together as a team, Monday through Friday at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s administrative offices at 3 Columbus Circle and at Frederick P. Rose Hall, The House of Swing.
Those who are offered a position with Jazz at Lincoln Center will be required to provide written confirmation of a completed COVID-19 vaccination as a condition of employment. To assist any individual who is unable to be vaccinated because of a medical condition or who objects to being vaccinated on the basis of sincerely held religious beliefs and practices, JALC will engage in an interactive process to determine if a reasonable accommodation can be provided, so long as it does not create an undue hardship for the JALC and/or does not pose a direct threat to the health or safety of others in the workplace and/or to the employee. To request accommodation, please notify JALC Human Resources in writing at HR@jazz.org.
Jazz at Lincoln Center is an equal opportunity employer that affords equal opportunities to all applicants, employees, contractors, and other covered persons, and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws. Jazz at Lincoln Center is committed to creating an inclusive, open, and respectful culture that reflects and embraces diversity.