Description

The Senior Director, External Affairs (SDEA) is a highly critical position at Ballet West, responsible for overseeing all marketing, communications, and development operations for Ballet West and the Frederick Quinney Ballet West Academy.  In this capacity, the SDEA generates nearly 75% of Ballet West’s operating revenue. This position reports directly to the Executive Director and also works with the Artistic Director to ensure the integration of patron loyalty with artistic planning.

The SDEA’s primary responsibility is to create strategy for generating and increasing life-time value from Ballet West patrons, consumers, or individuals and supervising the ongoing execution of this strategy.  The SDEA will:

 Strategic/Long-term

•  Develop a vision for BW’s marketing, sales, and fundraising efforts that communicates the character, ideals, and mission of the organization to a wide range of patrons, donors, employees, prospects, the greater intermountain region, and other stakeholders
• Provide consistent and clear leadership to the marketing, sales, communications, and development teams and instill a team culture that achieves revenue and relationship targets and is curious and high-performing
• Continue professional development by participating in field and industry activities (conferences, professional groups, seminars, courses, etc.) to ensure that new ideas and methods are introduced to BW on an ongoing basis
• Establish and maintain company-wide standards for written and graphic communications in printed, verbal or electronic forms
• Create and oversee audience development marketing plans, including research on target audiences, market trends, and performing arts/non-profit trends using focus groups, surveys, and industry data
• Create and oversee fundraising plans for the Annual Fund including detailed plans for individual, corporate, foundation, government support and special events
• Create and oversee special campaigns from time to time, including capital campaigns approved by the BW Board of Directors
• Build and cultivate collaborative relationships with industry leaders, board members, donors, media, government and city officials, key business partners, promotional partners, performing arts organizations, and community leaders
• Lead a team that embraces the ideals of diversity and inclusion, both internally and externally. 

 Planning and Execution

• Oversee creation of season timeline and calendars in consultation with team managers and other department heads
• Oversee the development and execution of comprehensive advertising, promotion publicity plans for subscription and single ticket campaigns for all Ballet West programs and collaborate with Academy leadership to achieve BW Academy enrollment and tuition goals
• Oversee the development of all collateral marketing in support of all Ballet West productions, fundraising campaigns, and public events
• Establish ticket sales goals by production and ticket type during budgeting process and forecast sales on a regular basis in coordination with team mangers
• Establish fundraising goals by category during budgeting process and forecast unearned revenue on a regular basis       
• Develop and oversee marketing and development expense budgets
• Provide summary reports to the Executive Director, senior managers, and Board of Directors

 Ongoing Activities

• Oversee company website, including content, design, maintenance, e-commerce, and promotion
• Oversee management and coordination of outside consultants
• Oversee digital engagement and marketing campaigns, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Google Grant, programmatic advertising, and email communication
• Oversee customer/patron complaints and expedite customer service issues in coordination with Patron Services Manager 

Requirements

The ideal candidate for the position of Senior Director, External Affairs, will have:

• Minimum of 8 years in nonprofit performing arts or related industry
• Demonstrated excellence in verbal and written communication skills
• Familiarity with ballet repertoire and the entertainment industry
• Solid business computer skills, including intermediate Microsoft Word and Excel skills
• Working knowledge of Tessitura and database management
• Experience in marketing, sales, and/or public relations field as well as fundraising, preferably in a senior leadership position
• Demonstrated ability to lead, manage and guide a team of diverse marketing, sales and fundraising professionals       
• Bachelor’s degree in communications, marketing, public relations, journalism or a related filed from an accredited college of university
• Excellent analytical skills to create, read and analyze multiple sources of data to determine action
• Passion for data and the importance of data-driven decisions and a thorough understanding of performance marketing 
• Agency experience and knowledge of Adobe InDesign and Photoshop a plus.