Director of Marketing & Development

About the Role

The Director of Marketing & Development leads half of Berkeley Playhouse’s external revenue: the contributed income that comes from donors, sponsors, campaigns, and events, and the earned income that comes from ticket sales, season passes, and the marketing engine that drives them. This is a senior strategy seat. The Director reports to the Managing Director, partners closely with the Artistic Director and Producing Director, and leads a small external revenue team: the Marketing & Communications Manager and the Director of Patron Services.

The person in this role sets strategy and directs execution. They decide how we price a season, how we grow a donor base, and how our story reaches the Bay Area. The team they supervise carries the day-to-day production of that work.

Key Responsibilities

Revenue Strategy & Ticketing

• Own the consolidated external revenue picture: ticket sales, season passes, ticketing fees, contributed income, and sponsorship, with regular reporting to the Managing Director and Board.
• Set ticket pricing, discounting, and inventory strategy for MainStage and YouthStage productions in partnership with the Managing Director and Director of Patron Services, and adjust in season based on sales data.
• Drive season pass and subscription growth through acquisition, renewal, and retention strategy.
• Use AudienceView sales data and Google Analytics to evaluate campaign performance and redirect marketing effort and spending during a run.

Individual Giving & Donor Culture

• Build and run the annual fundraising calendar: appeal schedule, year-end and fiscal-year-end campaigns, and the segmentation and messaging behind each.
• Design and grow Berkeley Playhouse’s long-term donor program in partnership with the Managing Director, including giving levels, benefits, recognition, and the pathway from first-time gift to sustained support.
• Carry and cultivate a portfolio of major and mid-level donors: identification, qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship.
• Grow donor retention and recurring giving.
• Oversee timely, accurate donor acknowledgment and gift processing. Day-to-day gift entry and acknowledgment production are handled by the Office Manager under this role’s direction.

Fundraising Events

• Design and execute fundraising events and the online auction in partnership with the Managing Director: concept, budget, run of show, solicitation strategy, and post-event follow up, with production and logistics support from the Marketing & Communications Manager.
• Own each campaign and event after action review: what it actually netted, and what changes next cycle.

Marketing Leadership

• Set the marketing strategy for each production, Education initiative, and institutional campaign. The Marketing & Communications Manager executes against it.
• Supervise, develop, and prioritize the work of the Marketing & Communications Manager across social, email, web, print, and press.
• Steward the Berkeley Playhouse brand and evolve it: keep our roots, extend our reach.
• Set the paid and organic digital strategy and hold it accountable to sales and donor data.

Sponsorship & Partnerships

• Own corporate sponsorship and business partnerships end to end: strategy, solicitation, agreement terms, renewal, and fulfillment, with fulfillment deliverables executed by the Marketing & Communications Manager.

Grants

• Administer the current grant portfolio: rolling calendar, deadlines, reporting, and compliance, including sourcing program outcome data from the Education and Production departments.
• Collaborate with the Managing Director and Artistic Director on grant applications and funder relationships, sharing responsibility for identifying opportunities and drafting proposals.

Systems & Data

• Serve as the organization’s primary administrator of Bloomerang (donor CRM), including ownership of the contract, renewal, and budget line.
• Reconcile contributed revenue to the books with the Finance Manager, and ensure restricted funds are tracked and spent to restriction.

Team & Organization

• Supervise the Marketing & Communications Manager and the Director of Patron Services.
• Contribute to strategic planning alongside the Artistic Director, Managing Director, and Producing Director.
• Participate in annual budget planning and manage the development and marketing expense budgets.
• Attend opening nights and fundraising and donor events. This is a required part of the role.

How Success Is Measured

Specific targets are set annually with the Managing Director. The role is measured on:

• Total external revenue against goal: contributed revenue and ticket / season pass revenue
• Donor retention, recurring donor growth, and growth in donors at defined giving levels
• Sponsorship revenue and renewal rate
• Grant revenue and on-time funder reporting
• CRM remediation milestones and data integrity

Qualifications

Required

• Demonstrated responsibility for revenue results, in fundraising, ticketing and sales, or both
• Experience supervising staff or leading cross-functional work
• Experience cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding individual donors
• Comfort with data: CRM administration, sales reporting, and using analytics to drive decisions
• Strong writing and editing skills
• Budget management experience

Preferred

• Experience in performing arts, arts education, or a comparable nonprofit setting
• Ticket pricing and inventory strategy experience (AudienceView or a similar ticketing system)
• Familiarity with Bloomerang, Mailchimp, WordPress, and Google Ads / Google Analytics
• Auction or event production experience
• Bay Area donor, funder, and press community knowledge

We know that strong candidates rarely check every box. If you meet most of the required qualifications and the work described here is the work you want to be doing, we want to hear from you.

How to Apply

Interested applicants should submit the following to jobs@berkeleyplayhouse.org:

1. Resume
2. Minimum of 2 references (email and phone number)
3. Introductory letter that explains why you’d like to work at Berkeley Playhouse and what skills you will bring.

Download the full job description (PDF)

Berkeley Playhouse is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to building a staff that reflects the diversity of the Bay Area, and we strongly encourage applications from people of color, LGBTQ+ people, people with disabilities, and people whose backgrounds are underrepresented in professional theater. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, marital status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

No phone calls please.