Title: Director of Marketing and Communications

Department: Marketing

Status: Senior Manager, Full-time

Effective Date: September 1, 2023 or as available

Salary: Competitive

Standard benefits package

Summary

The Director of Marketing and Communications is a critical position to the Opera Carolina administrative team, creating and implementing the annual marketing plan, which incorporates marketing/sales/communications for all Opera Carolina programs, supervising marketing contractors and staff, managing media budgets, and fully participating in strategic planning for the entire company.

The Director works closely with the General Director, the Marketing and Development teams, as well as the customer service staff, community program staff and education staff, graphic designer, social media and website manager. The successful candidate will have a unique palate of skills, including creative thinking, excellent communication, and leadership skills.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities

Principal Duties and Responsibilities are intended to describe the general nature and level of work performed by people assigned to this position. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of the person.

Marketing & Communications

• Manage team (social media & website manager, graphic designer, photographer, customer service personnel);

• Create and manage strategic marketing plan;

• Create and manage projects and promotions;

• Plan and coordinate the media buy with marketing team and vendors;

• Create and manage the annual Marketing Budget;

• Create marketing, media and sales strategies for the opera season, education department, special events and community performances;

• Stay abreast of best practices in traditional and electronic marketing;

• Analyze and understand target audience characteristics and media preferences/attitudes;

• Employ research data to identify the best mix of media channels to deliver advertising messages to target audiences.

Sales

• Set sales targets and strategies,

• Oversee local and regional sales, promotions, and campaigns,

• Prepare sales budgets and projections and approving expenditures

• Track and analyze data based on key quantitative metrics.

Experience in arts marketing or a solid base of understanding of arts marketing is required. Experience in the opera field is preferred but not requisite. Candidates should submit a cover letter of interest, curriculum vitae and three references. For more information and to apply for this position contact:

James Meena, General Director & Principal Conductor

james@operacarolina.org

About Opera Carolina

Founded in 1948 by the Charlotte Music Club, Opera Carolina is the largest opera company in the Carolinas; annually serving more than 65,000 people in North Carolina, South Carolina and Northern Georgia (excluding broadcasts); reaching an average of seventeen counties in the Carolinas each year through its Education & Community programs. Opera Carolina is a source of tourism to Charlotte for main stage productions at the North Carolina Blumenthal Performing Arts Center. Opera Carolina is an efficient organization with an annual budget of $3.2 mil.

The company has a long history of excellent professional leadership including Artistic Directors Richard Marshall, Henry Janiec and Charles Rosekrans, and General Directors Bruce Chalmers and James Wright. Currently under the leadership of James Meena, Opera Carolina has nearly doubled in size under Mo. Meena’s leadership, and each season produces three main stage productions as well as an extensive array of educational programs, and the Opera Unlimited community performance and program series.

As the largest opera company in the Carolinas, and one of the most successful in the Southeast, Opera Carolina’s footprint is regional. Over the last ten seasons, the Opera audience has grown more diverse in age, ethnic diversity and socio-economic demographics. On average, 30% of the audience are first-time opera goers with the 25-40 year old demographic being our 2nd largest audience segment; more than 25% of the audience comes from outside Mecklenburg County. For all programs, the average cultural diversity of the Opera Carolina service base is as follows: 5% Asian-American; 24% African-American; 2% Latin-American. Opera Carolina has a long-standing commitment to creating and producing new works and preserving the masterpieces of past generations. In the last fifteen years the company has presented eight regional premieres, and five new American operas, including Cold Sassy Tree and Susannah by South Carolina native son Carlisle Floyd, Margaret Garner by Richard Danielpour and Toni Morrison, Rise for Freedom by Adolphus Hailstork and the new musical drama I Dream by Douglas Tappin about the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and is the producer for the new house music opera House of Orfeus, set to premiere in 2024. Opera Carolina is the only Charlotte performing arts organization to be featured on national radio. The 2007 production of Margaret Garner, the 2008 production of Faust and the 2011 production of Il Trovatore were broadcast over NPR World of Opera, nationally syndicated to 92 stations and supported by Wells Fargo Private Bank. Opera Carolina is governed by a twenty five member Board of Directors comprised of business and community leaders. The Board has a deep commitment to the success of the company. In each of the last five years, individual and company donations from the Board of Directors have accounted for 50% of giving in these two categories. Opera Carolina is supported by the Infusion Fund of Charlotte-Mecklenburg, and the North Carolina Arts Council.