The Grant Park Music Festival (the Festival) in Chicago, Illinois seeks a full-time Marketing Director. The Marketing Director is responsible for developing and executing strategic marketing and communications campaigns that inspire the community, grow and retain audiences, and meet and exceed the Festival’s annual membership and One Night Pass revenue goals (akin to subscriptions and single tickets at other performing arts organizations).

The Marketing Director will join our hard-working, collaborative team of 17 year-round staff members who are dedicated to the Festival’s mission of enriching lives through the power of music. For more than 90 years, the Festival has been Chicago's summer musical sensation, demonstrating that classical music performed by a world-class orchestra and chorus can have a transformative impact on the city. Showcased in the city's most spectacular setting, the Festival continues to be the summer gathering place for all of Chicago. The Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park is the official home of the Grant Park Music Festival, with free seats available for every concert.

The Marketing Director reports to the Chief Marketing Officer, manages the activities of the Patron Services department, and works closely in alignment with other Festival colleagues, including members of the Development, Artistic, and Community Engagement teams.

Key Duties And Responsibilities

In collaboration with the Chief Marketing Officer, internal team, and outside consultant, develop annual budget goals and quarterly re-projections for the Festival’s membership (subscription) and One Night Pass (single ticket) revenue campaigns.
Manage a coordinated communications campaign to meet/exceed revenue goals and nurture lasting audience relationships.
- Plan and supervise the Festival's comprehensive email campaign.
- Lead the Festival’s digital marketing efforts in partnership with outside agency and designers; collaborate on digital media projects with other Festival departments.
- Oversee production of materials, including, but not limited to: direct mail, brochures, postcards, flyers, and signage; work with outside designers, printers, and mailhouses and oversee projects to completion.
Regularly review and analyze data from internal sources - Tessitura and Google Analytics - as well as outside vendors - Wordfly, Capacity Interactive, and TRG Arts. Propose changes to strategies, tactics, pricing, and messaging to improve outcomes.
Supervise preparation of weekly campaign progress reports using Tessitura Analytics and other data sets.
Oversee the organization’s website, developing content and working with Festival colleagues to create a site that is creative, engaging, up-to-date, and on-brand; work with the Festival's Tessitura Manager and outside web developers to ensure that the site functions smoothly and effectively.
Manage all aspects of Festival concert programs - printed and digital versions - coordinating the creation of written content, design, and production in coordination with outside writers, web developers, designers, and print vendors.
Hire and supervise outside photographers and videographers for a variety of Festival events throughout the year; maintain photo and video assets and support media asset needs across Festival departments.

Candidate Qualifications

Minimum of five years professional experience managing sales/marketing in a non-profit performing arts organization; demonstrated track record of successfully driving sales and revenue generation.
Proficient in Microsoft 365 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook) and Adobe Creative Cloud (Photoshop, InDesign) applications.
Thorough understanding of existing and emerging best practices in marketing, especially those specific to the performing arts.
Experience leading and managing a team.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
Tessitura experience is a plus.
Highly self-motivated, personally and professionally resilient, and capable of working independently and collaboratively.
Passionate about the performing arts; classical music knowledge a plus.
Don’t fit all of the qualifications listed above, but feel passionate about the position? Please apply anyway! We are eager to work with enthusiastic and ambitious people. You may be just the right fit for this role.

Compensation & Benefits

$77,500 - $85,000 annually, commensurate with experience.
This position is full-time and exempt.
Competitive annual benefits package includes fifteen days paid vacation, ten paid holidays, four paid personal days, and 12 paid sick days; employee and dependent health insurance (Six BCBS plan options; 75% employer paid); dental and vision insurance (25% employer paid); life insurance (100% employer paid); 403(b) retirement plan with 3.75% employer matching contribution after one year of employment.
Complimentary premier seating at Festival performances, steeply discounted parking at the Millennium Park Garage, opportunities for free/discounted tickets to partner performances/shows at venues across Chicago.

SCHEDULE & WORK LOCATION

Work is performed in-office at 205 E Randolph St in Chicago.
Full-time exempt staff members currently have the option to work from home on Fridays; note that this option is not available during the ten-week Festival season.
Generally, Festival office hours are 9am - 5pm. During the 10-week summer season and other critical times in the Festival's business cycle, exempt staff members routinely work in excess of 40 hours per week.
During the ten-week concert season, the Marketing Director attends all Festival performances at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park and select ancillary events at locations around Chicago.
Outside of the Festival summer season, the Marketing Director will participate in evening organizational events approximately five times per year.
Start Date: November 2025 or ASAP

About The Festival

For more than 90 years, the Grant Park Music Festival has been Chicago's summer musical sensation, demonstrating that classical music performed by a world-class orchestra and chorus can have a transformative impact on the city. Showcased in the city's most spectacular setting, the Festival continues to be the summer gathering place for all of Chicago. The Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park is the official home of the Grant Park Music Festival, with free seats available for every concert.

The Festival strives to create a workplace that reflects the diversity of our city and the audiences we serve. People of all backgrounds and experiences, and especially those that have been historically underrepresented in the field, are encouraged to apply for open positions at the Festival. Read more about our commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging HERE.

The Association provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to actual or perceived race (including traits associated with race, including, but not limited to, hair texture and protective hairstyles such as braids, locks, and twists), color, sex, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, pregnancy (including childbirth, or medical or common conditions related to pregnancy or childbirth), genetic information, marital status, familial/parental status, disability (physical and mental), military status, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity and expression, citizenship or immigration status, unfavorable discharge from military service, order of protection status, credit history, arrest record, conviction record, family responsibilities, and any other classification/characteristic protected by applicable federal, state or local law.

The Festival is led by Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Giancarlo Guerrero, Chorus Director Christopher Bell, Grant Park Orchestral Association President and CEO Paul Winberg, and Board Chair Adam Grais.

For more information on the Grant Park Music Festival, please visit our website: gpmf.org.

Grant Park Music Festival

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