The Senior Director, Marketing (Senior Director) will lead the Festival’s audience development strategies, deepening relationships with its patrons, attracting new audiences and supporting each step of the visitor experience. The Senior Director will guide the work of a team of leaders dedicated to meeting revenue expectations and relationship building metrics working closely with advancement and education. Deeply versed in digital and experiential marketing, the Senior Director will play a key role in achieving the Festival’s ambitious earned and contributed revenue targets. This role will lead the implementation of the Festival’s brand strategy, which is comprised of three layers: the overarching brand, the annual season, and the individual productions and events, including the Forum, the Lab, education offerings, STRATFEST@HOME and the touring and outreach activities.
Roles and Responsibilities
Strategic Leadership and Marketing
- Develop and oversee the implementation of integrated marketing plans designed to meet ambitious revenue targets in collaboration with the position’s key direct reports.
- Formulate the profile of the Festival’s target markets, tracking the effectiveness of the marketing tactics against the audience segments, improving bottom-line results.
- Articulate a clear value proposition associated with the brand and ensure the proposition is integrated into compelling copy and the work of the marketing, audience engagement, publicity, sponsorship, and communications teams.
- Establish, implement, and evaluate short- and long-range departmental objectives, policies, and operating procedures to ensure goals are met or exceeded.
- Regularly analyze sales data and competitive activity and share with the Festival senior team, together with observations and recommendations.
- Recruit, manage, and provide direction and support to employees, fostering professional development, effectively managing performance and maintaining a caring and inclusive work environment.
- Guide the work of the Marketing, Publicity, Audience and Community Engagement, Film Production & Distribution, Corporate Sponsorship, and Analytic teams setting the overall plan and supporting the leaders regularly in the execution of those plans.
- Advise colleagues on programming choices based on knowledge of target markets, competitive offerings, emerging social issues, and internal competencies.
- Identify and develop new customers, build loyalty among existing customers, and win back lapsed customers.
- Generate the evolution of a brand strategy that supports the Festival’s strategic goals and objectives.
- Oversee and direct the evolution of the Festival’s web and digital presence with the goal of optimizing revenue.
- Nurture positive relations with the Board of Directors, delivering information in a consistent and effective manner, which includes as staff support to the Marketing Committee and serving on ad-hoc committees as they arise.
- Embrace other strategic leadership and marketing duties as needed.
Audience Engagement and Partnerships
- Govern the functions of the Audience Engagement department to meet annual net ancillary revenue targets from commercial business units (cafes and catering, retail, parking, non-Forum tours, Front of House).
- Maintain regular contact with internal and external stakeholders, working to ensure consistent communication towards developing a common brand and reputation.
- Forge and nurture connections with local, provincial, and national tourism agencies, and with other cultural organizations within Canada and beyond.
- Steer a ‘Sense of Occasion’ strategy, which encompasses all aspects of the patron experience with the twin aims of enhancing those experiences and encouraging loyalty.
- Promote, develop, and maintain positive relations with partners, vendors, and distributors.
- Embrace other audience engagement and partnerships duties as needed.
Revenue Generation and Public Visibility
- Orchestrate the functions and team supports designed to meet annual corporate sponsorship, corporate membership, and advertising revenue targets.
- Guide the development of the Festival’s website and the selection and implementation of the customer relationship management system in collaboration with the IT Director.
- Lead the functions designed to expand the Festival’s brand beyond the stage, specifically the film and digital content. Support the team in identifying plays to be filmed and exploiting the use of these films on the streaming platforms and other channels including the Festival’s own streaming service Stratfest@Home.
- Inspire the development of the key art to promote each season and the individual productions, events, and experiences in consultation with the Artistic Director.
- Oversee the budgets for the Marketing, Publicity, Audience and Community Engagement, Film Production and Distribution, Corporate Sponsorship, and Analytic departments, setting the revenue and expense targets and submitted quarterly forecasts.
- Lead the Festival’s demand pricing strategy in collaboration with the Executive Director.
- Generate and administer marketing plans in relation to government funding opportunities.
- Develop and deliver strategies on Festival earned revenue opportunities around gift shop sales, merchandise, and food and beverage.
- Report on marketing campaign and sales/revenue achievement at Board and Finance Committee meetings.
- Serve as staff lead to the Marketing Committee by both reporting to the Committee and soliciting its feedback and advice.
- Liaise with the advancement department on the development of the annual communication/solicitation plan and review materials to ensure they are consistent with brand standards.
- Embrace other revenue generation and public visibility duties as needed.
Traits and Characteristics
The Senior Director will be an exceptional team builder who is capable of working individually and collaborating across complex teams, contributing with little need for individual recognition. They will serve with a high level of integrity, discipline, and an ability to function well under pressure. The Senior Director will ensure high professional standards for themselves and the team. With a drive to achieve goals and be resourceful, they will focus on how new ideas, methods, and opportunities can deliver practical and extraordinary results.
Other key competencies include:
- Leadership and Teamwork – The capability to communicate convincingly in public presentations, small group discussions, and written and verbal communications while motivating others with knowledge, enthusiasm, and direction.
- Problem Solving and Self Starting – The capacity for a strong work ethic and overcoming problems through the consideration of many vantage points.
- Professional and Personal Accountability – The integrity to be answerable to supervisors, colleagues, and the public, for personal and professional actions and decisions.
- Goal Orientation and Time and Priority Management – The dexterity to manage, prioritize, and complete multiple complex tasks based on setting clear objectives and actionable plans.
Qualifications
A minimum of 10 years of senior experience in marketing is required from work in the creative industries, tourism, consumer marketing, or other fields, but preferably in a nonprofit and arts-based environment. A proven track record of leadership in marketing, branding, budgeting, forecasting, technology, the use of Customer Relationship Management software, and advancing the mission of a similar complex organization, is a must. A master’s degree in marketing, communications, or business administration or equivalent experience is an asset, as is demonstrable passion and enthusiasm for theatre. Outstanding interpersonal, written, and verbal skills in English are required. Residency in proximity to the Festival’s main offices in Stratford is required to facilitate working on-site. Those currently eligible to work in Canada, as well as international applicants who would need immigration support, are more than welcome to pursue this unique opportunity.
Compensation and Benefits
The Stratford Festival provides a competitive and equitable compensation package. There is a comprehensive group benefits package includes health, dental, vision, an RRSP matching program, Manager lieu days on top of vacation time, and complimentary opening night tickets. The Festival is committed to providing meaningful rewards that reflect the value of the team members, while promoting wellbeing, engagement, and work life balance.
Applications and Inquiries
As part of an inclusive process, interested applicants are invited to inquire and/or submit a cover letter that uplifts their qualifications for the outlined position, and a resume that highlights a chronological career progression, education, and associated accomplishments.
If you don’t meet all the criteria outlined in the position but are interested in the position, please reach out to Arts Consulting Group for a conversation. The Stratford Festival is committed to accommodating applicants with disabilities throughout the hiring process, in accordance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act. Arts Consulting Group will work with applicants requesting accommodations at any stage of the hiring process. To submit materials (electronic submissions preferred), please visit https://artsconsulting.com/opensearches/stratford-festival-seeks-senior-director-marketing/.
It is a great privilege to gather and share stories on this beautiful territory, which has been the site of human activity—and therefore storytelling—for many thousands of years.
This territory is governed by two treaties. The first is the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant of 1701, made between the Anishinaabe and the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, an agreement to set violence aside and peacefully share and care for the land in the Great Lakes Basin. The second is the Huron Tract Treaty of 1827, an agreement made by eighteen Anishinaabek Chiefs and the Canada Company, an agency of the British Crown. As an organization and as individuals, we at the Stratford Festival are in a process of learning how we can be better treaty partners.
Stratford Festival wish to honour the ancestral guardians of this land and its waterways: the Anishinaabe, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, the Wendat and the Attiwonderonk. Today many Indigenous peoples continue to call this land home and act as its stewards; this responsibility extends to all peoples, to share and care for this land for generations to come.
