THE ORGANIZATIONThe mission of the North Carolina Symphony is to be North Carolina's State orchestra, an orchestra achieving the highest level of artistic quality and performance standards and embracing its dual legacies of statewide service and music education. Founded in 1932, the North Carolina Symphony (NCS) is a vital and honored component of North Carolina's cultural life. Led by Grammy Award-winning Music Director Carlos Miguel Prieto, the professional musicians of the orchestra serve the 100 North Carolina counties each year, with more than 300 concerts, education programs, and community engagement offerings reaching adults and schoolchildren—in large and small communities—and in concert halls, auditoriums, gymnasiums, restaurants, clubs, and outdoor settings. NCS is proud to expand its access to audiences around the globe through concerts and educational offerings available through the digital space. NCS's state headquarters venue is the spectacular Meymandi Concert Hall at the Martin Marietta Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Raleigh. The Symphony's service across the state includes series in Chapel Hill, Wilmington, New Bern, and Moore County, as well as the Summerfest series at its summer home, the outdoor Koka Booth Amphitheatre in Cary. NCS brings some of the world's greatest talents to North Carolina and embraces home-state artists from classical musicians to bluegrass bands, creating live music experiences distinctive to North Carolina. NCS is dedicated to giving voice to new art and has presented more than 50 U.S. or world premieres in its history. Committed to engaging students of all ages across North Carolina, NCS leads one of the most extensive education programs of any symphony orchestra in the country—serving over 150,000 students each year. In alignment with the curriculum set by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, the Symphony provides training and resources for teachers, sends small ensembles into classrooms, and presents full-orchestra in-person and online Education Concerts that bring the fundamentals of music to life. Music Discovery for preschoolers combines music with storytelling, and at the middle and high school levels, students have opportunities to work directly with NCS artists and perform for NCS audiences. The North Carolina Symphony is an equal opportunity employer. Employment decisions are based solely on the individual's qualifications, merit, experience, and performance. NCS is proud to be a partner orchestra of the National Alliance for Audition Support.
THE POSITION:
Reporting to the President & CEO, the Vice President of Marketing & Audience Development is a key member of the senior leadership team responsible for developing and executing statewide strategies that achieve earned revenue, audience growth, patron loyalty and institutional communications objectives. The Vice President provides executive leadership for marketing, sales, audience development, communications, brand strategy, patron experience, and patron loyalty initiatives, that strengthen the North Carolina Symphony's visibility, deepen patron engagement, and advance the organization's long-term financial sustainability. The Vice President leads a high-performing team in developing integrated, data-driven marketing and communications strategies that increase revenue, build patron relationships, and grow and retain audiences across the state of North Carolina. The position collaborates with senior leadership on strategic planning, budgeting, institutional messaging, technology innovation, artistic planning, pricing strategy, organizational priorities and initiatives that advance the Symphony's mission of artistic excellence, statewide service, and music education.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
Earned Income & Marketing (40%)Provide strategic leadership for all statewide earned revenue initiatives, achieving annual ticket revenue goals of at least $5.7 million while managing departmental budgets and maximizing return on marketing investment. Lead, mentor, and evaluate the marketing, sales, and communications team in planning and executing integrated, multi-channel campaigns using customer segmentation and analytics, dynamic pricing, targeted messaging, CRM technology, and performance analytics including regression analysis and sales pacing. Develop pricing, packaging, and promotional strategies that maximize attendance, revenue, and long-term patron value across subscriptions, single-ticket and special event programming. Establish and achieve annual performance goals for subscription, single-ticket revenue, paid attendance, capacity utilization, patron retention, new audience acquisition, customer lifetime value, and return on marketing investment. Institutional Communications & Audience Development (20%)Develop the Symphony's comprehensive brand, communications, and audience engagement strategy to strengthen visibility, deepen community connections, and position the organization as one of North Carolina's premier cultural institutions. Oversee public relations, media relations, digital communications, social media, website content, videos, podcasts, email marketing, and print publications to ensure timely and compelling messaging across all platforms. Ensure cross-departmental brand consistency. Serve as the organization's senior communications strategist for institutional announcements. Strategic Leadership & Organizational Sustainability (15%)Partner with the President & CEO and senior leadership team to develop and implement long-range strategies that strengthen financial sustainability and advance the Symphony's mission. Provide leadership in earned revenue forecasting, expense management, programming recommendations, Patron loyalty strategy, technology, and digital innovation. Customer Experience & Patron Loyalty (15%)Set the standard for organization-wide, customer-facing operations to deliver exceptional patron experiences before, during, and after performances by overseeing parking, security, front-of-house management, usher services, patron communications and run-of-show content and distribution. Lead organization-wide patron loyalty initiatives in collaboration with the Vice President of Philanthropy to strengthen retention, engagement, and lifetime patron value while supporting both earned income and contributed revenue goals. Other Responsibilities (10%)Perform other duties and special projects as assigned. CANDIDATE REQUIREMENTSBachelor's degree or equivalent required.10+ years of progressive leadership experience in performing arts marketing, preferably with orchestra marketing experience. Track record of meeting and exceeding revenue and attendance objectives through integrated subscription and single-ticket marketing campaigns and CRM-driven audience engagement. Demonstrated ability to analyze data, develop strategic plans, and make informed decisions that advance organizational goals. Demonstrated success leading high-performing integrated communications and audience engagement initiatives. Excellent interpersonal, verbal, written, and presentation skills. High standards of integrity, professionalism, and sound judgment. Collaborative leadership style with flexibility, initiative, and commitment to continuous improvement. Commitment to supporting the mission, vision, and values of the North Carolina Symphony. Proficiency with Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Copilot, and OneDrive. Ability to travel throughout North Carolina and work evenings and weekends as needed. Because driving between worksites and to various locations may be a central function of the position, administrative staff must maintain a valid driver's license and have reliable transportation.
COMPENSATION & BENEFITS:
This is a full-time salaried position based in the Triangle region of North Carolina. The annual salary is $140,000. The benefits package includes health insurance through Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, long-term disability coverage, life insurance, an employee assistance program and voluntary vision and dental insurance. Enrollees in our optional 403(b) retirement plan receive an employer match and our Health Savings Account offering provides a bi-annual employer contribution. LIVING IN RALEIGHThe Symphony's home base of Raleigh is the state's capital, located in the Piedmont (central) region of North Carolina. Raleigh is the largest city in a 3,500 square mile Metropolitan area known as the Triangle (Raleigh / Durham / Chapel Hill) and is among the fastest-growing cities in the US. Raleigh is located approximately 140 miles from the Appalachian highlands and 130 miles from the Atlantic Coast, making the ease of a day trip to the mountains or the beach a unique benefit of living here. Located within the area is Research Triangle Park, home to several corporate hubs and regional headquarters: Fidelity Investments, Duke Health, IBM, Red Hat, SAS, GlaxoSmithKline, and Cisco all have large presences, to name a few. The home of many creative and well-educated citizens, Raleigh has been lauded as a "Best City for Business and Careers" by? Fortune?magazine and a "Best Place to Live in America" by? Money?magazine. It provides its people and businesses with a world-class combination of economic vitality, low unemployment, tremendous educational opportunity, environmental quality, and exceptional quality of life. The park system offers a vast network of recreational greenway trails that connect neighborhoods, and the housing market continues to be strong compared to national averages. Thirteen institutions of higher education provide affordable and premium educational opportunities for adult and extension classes and a well-educated citizenry of students, graduates, and faculty. The Triangle is also an area of tremendous resources where cultural and performing arts organizations thrive. Other major institutions include the North Carolina Museum of Art, North Carolina Museum of History, Carolina Ballet, North Carolina Opera, American Dance Festival, Ackland Art Museum, Nasher Art Museum, Marbles Kids Museum, North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, Morehead Planetarium, and Carolina Performing Arts at UNC-Chapel Hill. There are film, music, dance and crafts festivals, local theater groups, and touring Broadway shows. The Triangle is also a vital sports center. It is host to the NHL's Stanley Cup-winning Carolina Hurricanes, minor league baseball's Durham Bulls, and the sports programs of ACC members Duke University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and North Carolina State University. TO APPLYInterested applicants should submit a resume and statement of interest to Rachael Holloway, Recruiter, ThinkingAhead Executive Search at [email protected].ThinkingAhead Executive Search is an Equal Opportunity Employer, committed to a work environment that supports, inspires and respects all individuals. Personnel processes are merit-based and applied without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, age, disability, national or ethnic ancestry, military service status, citizenship, or other protected characteristic. This applies to every aspect of employment including hiring, training, advancement and termination. The firm is committed to creating a just culture of diversity, equity and inclusion by practicing, within the company and the marketplace we serve, intentional strategies that serve marginalized individuals and groups.
