Director of Marketing & Communications Full Time

Islington, London
ALMEIDA THEATRE

Job Description – Director of Marketing & Communications

The Almeida is looking for a creative and strategic Director of Marketing & Communications to lead the outward-facing relationships which drive the company’s ambitious vision for the coming years by leading the marketing, sales and communications of the theatre, by generating around £3.75million ticket sales each year, by maintaining the high profile of the Almeida and by driving audience development.

You will be an excellent communicator and have proven marketing experience and be able to interpret relevant data to drive strategic ambition and provoke discussion and challenge thinking.

Responsible to: Executive Director

Responsible for: Marketing Manager (and their team), Press Manager, Sales and Insights Manager, Social Media and Digital Content Manager. The role also oversees the Box Office Manager and Box Office team.

Brief:

This is a senior management position to:

• Devise and deliver the overall marketing, communications, and audience development strategies for the theatre
• Lead on the development of the Almeida Theatre’s brand position with the Executive and Artistic Director, retaining a strong visual identity and advocate our external profile and reputation
• Lead and develop the digital communication strategy – including the producing and exploitation of digital content
• Oversee the sales and ticketing strategy to deliver over £3.75 million income annually

Responsibilities:

Marketing and Communication

• To oversee the marketing, media and sales strategies for the Almeida Theatre including all its co-productions, tours, and transfers in the UK and internationally, where applicable To create and manage a sales and ticket pricing strategy to maximise income To oversee the strategy for campaigns to meet targets, drive sales and forecast performance To initiate relationships with key brand or media partners and support relationships with Development partners Overall responsibility for the annual marketing and communications budget

Audience Development

• To oversee and further develop our integrated audience development strategy, as part of Actions for Change
• To identify audience development needs and work with Marketing Manager and others to redress underrepresented audience segments
• To oversee Customer Relationship Management strategies across the audience and work with the Marketing Manager and Individual Giving team to achieve a consistent organisational message
• To lead the strategic growth of Almeida audiences through long term development of the theatre’s Customer Relationship Management system Tessitura, and its data analysis functionality
• To develop and extend reach and engagement with audiences To monitor and analyse audience behaviour and demographics
• To recognise areas of research required and implement recent market research recommendations as appropriate

Digital

• To lead the Almeida’s Digital Communications strategy to extend reach and engagement
• To ensure the digital infrastructure, such as website, are able to support key marketing and organisation objectives
• To have a strategic overview and sign-off of the social media and digital engagement plans
• Support in the production of digital capture and input into distribution and exploitation strategies to maximise reach and income

Management and Reporting

• Overall leadership of the Marketing, Communications and Sales teams
• To manage teams to deliver a high quality of work and lead on identifying training and development needs
• To maintain excellent relationships with outside agencies and freelancers
• To liaise with the Almeida Theatre Board of Trustees and, in regard to marketing and communications, to attend meetings when required
• To contribute to the successful working of the theatre’s senior management team, shared responsibilities and organisational aims
• To compile and present statistical reports and trends, provide advice to the Directorate, Almeida Theatre Board of Trustees, management teams and funding bodies as required
• To provide sales forecasts and advice to the artistic and producing teams to inform programming decisions
• To participate in industry-wide / cross-venue strategic initiatives and advocate these within the organisation
• Any other duties as reasonably requested by the Artistic or Executive Directors

PR and Communications

• To be responsible for all of the theatre’s communications across all channels
• To work with the Press Manager to handle urgent media enquiries or requests for comment, acting as a spokesperson for the organisation
• To brief the executive leadership team ahead of interviews and media calls
• To horizon scan for any PR opportunities or threats
• To manage crisis and corporate communications strategies
• To develop internal communication strategies

Equality:

We want to create and sustain a productive, diverse and inclusive working environment. We ask everyone who works with us to champion this ambition and embed it in their day-to-day work being at the heart of our Actions for Change: Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policy and Anti-Racism Policy and monitored through our action plan.

Environmental Sustainability:

We strive to be an environmentally sustainable organisation and ask that our all our teams work to support this. In doing so we are seeking to promote efficient and sustainable practices that create minimal impact. This is outlined in our Environmental Sustainability Policy and tracked in our annual action plan.

Person specification

• Significant marketing and communication experience at a senior level within an arts or culture environment
• A proven record of creating, implementing and evaluating marketing campaigns
• Excellent communication, planning and organisational skills with absolute attention to detail
• A proven track record in managing and interpreting data
• Strong leadership and ability to motivate a team
• Budget management
• The ability to work effectively under pressure
• Brand awareness and management
• Computer literate, including Microsoft Office
• Experience of marketing and sales functions of ticketing systems, preferably Tessitura
• Interest in theatre/arts industries

Summary of terms :

This post is offered as a permanent full-time position

• Salary: Circa £56,000 – £59,000 depending on experience
• Holiday: 25 days per annum pro-rata
• Probationary period: Six months
• Pension: Following 13 weeks’ service you will be automatically enrolled into the Almeida’s auto-enrolment pension scheme, with NOW Pensions.
• Alternatively, the Almeida offers a salary sacrifice pension scheme with Scottish Widows following a successful probationary period. You have the option of opting out of joining a pension scheme if you prefer
• Other benefits: Theatre ticket subsidy scheme, staff discount in the Almeida bar and other local amenities, season ticket loan, training and development opportunities
• Location: This position is based at the Almeida Offices, 108 Upper Street, London, N1 1QN