Senior Manager, Marketing

How You’ll Contribute

Who We Are
The National Geographic Society headquarters, based in Washington, D.C., is undergoing a significant renovation project on its campus (called Base Camp), which will be completed in 2026. Components of the new guest experience will include a state-of-the-art pavilion entrance, auditorium, iconic photo gallery, exhibition space, immersive walk-through attraction, retail, food and beverage, education center, archives, tours, and exciting new event space. A fully sustainable, on-brand hotel may also be built and operated by a third party on the campus. The capstone of the renovation is a one-of-a-kind nighttime experience in the courtyard.

The Strategy and Revenue Team is responsible for creating the overall business strategy of all revenue streams on campus that meet or exceed gross and net revenue targets across all business lines including, but not limited to ticketing sales, tours group sales, food and beverage, retail, event rentals, and event programming.

The Senior Marketing Manager will report to the Senior Director of Marketing. Working with the Marketing Manager, Web & Email, this position will play a critical role in managing and implementing the marketing strategy for our earned and paid media. The Senior Marketing Manager will also be instrumental in ensuring the department achieves or surpasses the yearly attendance and admissions projections. The Senior Marketing Manager will be responsible for the project management of our marketing strategy. This position requires meticulous attention to detail, collaboration with colleagues at all levels of the organization and external vendors and partners, and a proactive approach to work with a positive mindset.

Your Impact

Responsibilities Include:

• Lead and mentor the Marketing Manager, Web & Email and collaborate with the Marketing Manager, Social & Engagement (who reports to the Sr. Manager of Content & Creative) to ensure cohesive marketing execution.

• Develop integrated marketing strategies that align paid, owned, and earned media efforts to drive attendance and engagement.

• Act as a key bridge between Marketing Managers and external agencies, ensuring creative, messaging, and performance goals are met.

• Maintain cross-functional alignment across teams to ensure cohesive execution of web, email, and social campaigns.

Paid Media & Performance Marketing (45%)

• Oversee the execution and optimization of paid media campaigns (search, social, display, programmatic, OOH, etc.), working closely with agencies and internal teams.

• Serve as paid media strategist and subject matter expert to colleagues on the Campus and Engagement team, providing sound counsel on how to best approach and optimize multi-channel paid campaigns.

• Partner with Sr Director of Marketing Strategy to develop and manage a multi-million dollar paid media budget and spend on campaigns of varying size and scope, ensuring cross-platform audience reach, ensuring high ROI across marketing efforts.

• Analyze campaign performance data (ROAS, CAC, CTR, engagement, etc.) to drive strategic adjustments and enhance efficiency.

• Collaborate with the Senior Manager of Content & Creative to align creative assets with paid media strategies.

• Drive growth and optimization of paid media channels by setting goals on conversion and engagement strategies, impressions/total reach, and cost per click performance.

• Develop key campaign performance metrics and report results monthly to internal business units at NGS to help inform or revise current and future campaigns.

• Develop and test new audience segments (i.e. retargeting, lookalikes, custom audiences, etc.).

Email & Website Strategy Oversight (20%)

• Oversee email marketing performance, ensuring alignment with promotional and engagement goals.

• Guide the Marketing Manager, Web & Email in implementing SEO best practices, UX enhancements, and landing page optimizations.

• Ensure website content and paid media integrations drive conversions and engagement.

Cross-Department Collaboration & Campaign Development (20%)

• Work with the Senior Manager of Content & Creative to ensure cohesive messaging across all digital channels.

• Partner with guest experience, membership, ticketing, and revenue teams to support marketing initiatives for on-site programs.

• Collaborate with the Marketing Manager, Social & Engagement to align organic social strategies with paid efforts.

Budget & Analytics Leadership (15%)

• Own the tracking, reporting, and optimization of the marketing budget.

• Develop attendance and ticket pricing models, determining revenue projections based on visitor mix (memberships, single-day guests, group sales, etc.).

• Present performance reports to leadership, finance, and other key stakeholders, ensuring transparency and data-driven decision-making.

What You’ll Bring

Educational Background

Bachelor’s degree in Marketing preferred. Credentials in marketing, communications, or fundraising are a plus.

Minimum Years and Type of Experience

7+ years of work experience with 4+ being in a similar role and 3 years of management experience. Past experience working in digital marketing, including the planning and buying of digital media.

Necessary Knowledge and Skills

• Knowledge of and experience working in paid attendance model cultural attraction marketing or a related industry – visitor attraction, zoo, theme park, museum, facilities, hospitality, and/or events

• Effective written and oral communications skills

• Experience in cross departmental project management

• Proficiency in both the Microsoft Office suite and Google Workspace tools.

• Ability to work independently and as part of a team, with a proactive and adaptable approach.

• Working knowledge of sales related CRM systems data input, retrieval, and analysis.

• Proven experience serving as a subject matter expert on paid media and offering sound counsel to key stakeholders.

• Prior experience managing buys and campaigns with significant budgets.

• Proven experience deploying analytics and making real time data-driven decisions to optimize campaigns and improve upon future performance.

Desired Qualifications

• Prior paid attendance museum or cultural attraction marketing experience 

• Experience preparing accurate attendance and gate revenue reports, using scheduling and business communication tools 

• Ability to work in a fast paced, multi-phase project environment with shifting priorities

• Attention to detail and ability to understand and prioritize multiple requests and projects while meeting deadlines

Supervision

One direct report.

Salary Information

The National Geographic Society offers a competitive and holistic total rewards package. Our compensation structure and transparent pay philosophy are based on industry-specific market data for similar-sized nonprofit organizations.

The salary range for this position accounts for a wide range of factors including but not limited to organizational need; specific skill sets; experience and training; certifications; and more. At the National Geographic Society, individuals are typically hired at or near the starting point of the salary range for their role, and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case.

The salary range for this position is $114,000 - $120,000

In addition, the National Geographic Society offers a competitive and comprehensive benefits package that includes, but is not limited to, medical, dental, and vision insurance; engaging and comprehensive wellness program; 401(k) retirement savings plan with matching contributions after 6 months of employment; flexible paid time off benefits with up to 22 days of paid annual leave per calendar year (15 days for new hires in their first year, prorated based on the number of pay periods remaining in the year) and 10 days of sick leave; 12 paid holidays and a paid winter break between December 25 and 31; paid parental leave, adoption and surrogacy expense reimbursement, fertility benefits; learning and development opportunities; Lifestyle Spending Account; pet adoption assistance and insurance; pre-tax transportation benefits with a generous employer subsidy; employer-paid life insurance and disability benefit; and a variety of National Geographic discounts and perks.

Job Designation

Resident - Our Resident category recognizes that certain staff need to be physically present at Base Camp to do their work. Some Resident staff must be at Base Camp every day to do their jobs, while others may only need to be physically present onsite some of the time to meet looming deadlines or to get work done and may require a unique schedule. As such, this category has been revised to provide maximum flexibility depending on what’s required for each individual role. The days Resident staff come into the office will be determined by their teams and workflow, and they should work with their supervisors to determine their specific schedule. And throughout the year, their schedule may be adjusted based on cyclical work cycles, deadlines, and/or ebbs and flows of work.

Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States. This position is not eligible for visa sponsorship.

We encourage you to apply even if your experience is not a 100% match with the position. We are looking for someone with relevant skills and experience, not a checklist that exactly matches the job description. We want to help you grow and in return, you help us grow into a stronger, more inclusive organization.