Marketing & Sales Director – Adventure Aquarium

Administration

Camden, NJ  •  ID:

20557-687

  •  Full-Time/Regular

Do you have a talent for balancing strategy and execution and are willing to roll up your sleeves to bring your strategies to life? Do you want to join a team that values inclusiveness, strives to provide guest excellence and a great place to work for great people? You’re in luck – as a result of great succession planning, we’re looking to hire our next Marketing & Sales Director. Salary range between $105k - $120k and 20% annual bonus potential

About Your Role

As a business driver, you will lead the Marketing and Sales functions for Adventure Aquarium. You will be primarily responsible for the development of Marketing, Sales, and PR strategy and tactics to enable attainment of attendance, revenue and EBITDA goals. You’ll lead the day-to-day group sales, promotions, membership, and public relations efforts to deliver business targets. You will partner with our Atlanta-based Property Support Center (“PSC”), in delivering each of the elements in the Adventure Aquarium marketing mix with excellence. With a constant eye on attendance and other key business metrics, you will be a hands-on leader who designs, leads, and executes shifts in strategy to reach established targets. To be effective and successful, you will provide strategic thinking, departmental leadership, partnership, and executional excellence in delivering property business goals.

About Us

As a Herschend Family Entertainment property, Adventure Aquarium is in the business of creating memories worth repeating by greatly exceeding guest expectations, serving others, creating emotional connections, and seeking constant improvement. Stewardship, guest satisfaction, and team member satisfaction are our core areas of focus. We aim to be a great place to work for great people by leading with patience, kindness, humility, respect, unselfishness, forgiveness, truthfulness, and trust. Together, we will create emotional connections that will last a lifetime!

What You’ll Do

• Develop annual sales, marketing, and public relations plans; executing plans to deliver targets.
• Manage the operating calendar, attendance mix and capacity, and admission prices based on historical data, market conditions, trends, and competitive activity.
• Provide ongoing monitoring of business performance and goal attainment; recommending shifts in strategies and tactics as necessary to ensure financial plan attainment.
• Coordinate marketing campaigns to deliver on brief; serving as point-of-contact with the PSC and different property departments in the development of plans and content as needed.
• Create and lead a team of six sales and marketing professionals who serve to enable the achievement of business objectives and inspire the Property Team as a whole toward “creating memories worth repeating” for every guest.
• Oversee the development and implementation of the aquarium’s membership program, providing strategic guidance to assure successful delivery of channel objectives.
• Oversee the development and implementation of the promotions strategy and plan which leverages brand assets and paid/earned/owned media to establish Adventure Aquarium as a brand of choice with our target guest and drive visitation.
• Oversee the development and implementation of the annual group sales plan providing strategic guidance to assure successful delivery of channel objectives.
• Oversee the development and implementation of all public relations and social media strategies and tactics.
• Oversee the implementation of all sponsorship agreements
• Review and approve advertising strategy, campaign briefs, creative concepts, and media mix, weight, and timing; providing feedback professionally, and in a way that demonstrates partnership with the PSC and a respect for the process.
• Plan and administer the annual Marketing budget.
• Lead the development of consumer research and utilize existing tools and data to uncover insights, guide marketing strategy and identify growth opportunities.
• Lead the process to identify, develop and promote new product including new exhibit concepts, events, limited time offerings, and up-sell opportunities. Play a key role in the development of the strategic plan for the guest experience.
• Bring a spirit of collaboration and service to the position, applying insights to assist property leaders in determining where the aquarium brand has opportunity.
• Represent the Aquarium in the local community, tourism partners, national zoological networks, and at industry-related meetings and conferences.
• Model and reflect the Adventure Aquarium culture to guests, partners, direct reports, supervisors, peers, and property and PSC leadership.
• Purposefully develop all direct reports through an ongoing commitment to growth; creating an environment of clarity in expectation, praise/recognition, and accountability.
• Other duties as assigned.

Benefits/Perks:

• Competitive base salary ranging from $105k-$120k
• 20% annual bonus potential
• Comprehensive benefits plan through Humana and Guardian
• Profit Sharing and 401K with company match, after first year of service
• Up to 100% paid-tuition through GROW U program
• 2 weeks’ vacation, 1-week personal time, 1-week sick time, 8 paid holidays; all based on a full calendar year
• Free admission & 24 General Admission tickets annually, to be used by family and friends
• Complimentary tickets and occasional employee outings to other local attractions
• 30% Discount at our Retail and Photo areas, as well as in-house food vendors

Required Skills

What You’ll Bring: 

• Bachelor's Degree required, preferably in a field of business or marketing (or equivalent years of experience in related field).
• 10+ years progressive marketing experience, required
• Minimum 4 years of leadership experience required.
• Experience in for-profit attractions, theme parks, museums or sports franchises, preferred.
• Business leadership demonstrated through patience, kindness, trust, unselfishness, truthfulness, forgiveness, dedication and humility.
• Ability to inspire and motivate property stakeholders towards a shared vision.
• Highly organized with strong verbal and written communications skills.
• Ability to work independently and cooperatively as part of a team.
• Ability to travel locally to attend expos and networking events both during and outside of scheduled hours.
• Ability to work a flexible schedule including some weekends, evenings, and holidays.

Required Experience

Special Requirements:

• Successful completion of pre-employment drug screening and background check
• Ability to speak, read, and write effectively in English
• Ability to operate a computer and keyboard