Chief Marketing and Communications Officer

Please submit a cover letter with your application.

Employment Status: Full-Time, Exempt

Job Summary:

The Chief Marketing and Communications Officer (“CMCO”) leads the strategy for developing, implementing, and evaluating Honolulu Museum of Art’s (“HoMA”) integrated marketing and communication activities. This role combines strategic marketing planning and execution, creative storytelling, brand positioning, and public relations with a focus on increasing visitor numbers and enhancing audience engagement.

The Honolulu Museum of Art:

Opened in 1927, the Honolulu Museum of Art is a home for art and education created for the benefit of the entire community. Founder Anna Rice Cooke envisioned a museum that would bring people together through the power of art and “the deep intuitions that are common to all.” The museum was conceived of as a place of meaningful exchange and dialogue, celebrating the diverse artistic and cultural traditions of Hawai‘i’s multi-ethnic population. From this founding intention grew the museum of today, with a world-class encyclopedic collection of more than 55,000 works of art, representing a stunning breadth of places and eras, from all corners of the globe and from the ancient past to the present day.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Ten years of professional experience in institutional marketing, communications, or related roles, in a leadership capacity. Equivalent experience or a combination of education and experience will also be considered.
• Five years of experience in brand strategy, marketing principles, and visitor behavior in a non-profit, cultural, or educational organization.
• Outstanding written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong leadership and people management skills, with the ability to motivate and inspire teams to achieve measurable results in communication campaigns.
• Extensive experience with using all marketing and communications channels, including digital media, and the ability to think broadly and creatively in their application.
• Demonstrated ability to think strategically and plan tactically to develop and execute all marketing and communications initiatives and the ability to address different target audiences.
• Experience working with a graphic design team to produce promotional, marketing, in-house infographic, onsite information, and wayfinding material.
• Experience commissioning and using market research data to drive decision-making, along with the ability to communicate important audience insights and data points to a variety of stakeholders.
• Strong financial literacy and the ability to manage a department budget with high efficiency.
• Excellent project management skills with the ability to manage multiple ongoing projects while meeting deadlines.
• Must have the ability to communicate effectively with diverse audiences.
• The traits of honesty, integrity, enthusiasm, and perspective; a strong work ethic, supported by commitment and follow-through.
• Ability to work within and support a diverse community of visitors, artists, and employees.
• Ability to build, lead, and develop a driven, diverse team of employees and volunteers.

Desired Qualifications:

• Experience in marketing and communications for visitor/client-driven organizations in arts or culture.

Key Responsibilities:

• As part of the museum’s leadership team, plays a key role in developing and implementing strategies to achieve HoMA’s vision.
• Leads necessary strategic planning to actively drive audience attendance, diversity, and revenue generation, working collaboratively with colleagues across the organization. Accountable for delivery against HoMA’s audience-related KPIs.
• Builds HoMA’s brand through the development and implementation of a strong brand strategy, and ensures it is successfully expressed through all initiatives; is the brand advocate, working to align operating strategies with HoMA’s core values.
• Oversees financial planning in relation to Museum audiences, including forecasting visitor numbers, income, and pricing. Develops and maintains budgets for all Marketing & Communications Department operations and activities.
• Leads the development and delivery of internal communications in order to ensure colleagues are updated on museum strategy and activities, and to drive employee engagement.
• Demonstrates a commitment to fostering, cultivating, and preserving a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion through respectful communication and cooperation with others at all times, continuous training, and modeling inclusive behaviors.
• In partnership with HR, supports the leadership team in ensuring equitable experiences, strengthening inclusion acumen, and promoting a culture of inclusivity and belonging that embraces the contributions of all staff.

Marketing Responsibilities:

• Oversees and supports the work of the Marketing team to develop and implement marketing strategies with metrics and benchmarks that will drive revenue goals and increase visibility and engagement among local, national, and international audiences.
• Presents a clear and cohesive communication and marketing strategy to key stakeholders, including leadership, board of trustees, and donors.
• Oversees HoMA’s website and wider digital presence to increase visitor attendance, community engagement, and membership, and to build the brand.
• Plays a key role in HoMA’s approach to Customer Relationship Management (CRM), working closely with key stakeholders across the organization to ensure audience data is captured and analyzed to inform marketing and communications decisions.
• Works closely with Visitor Engagement to develop and implement all onsite communications, including on-site promotions, visitor messaging, signage, and environmental graphics, to ensure a consistent brand experience through all visitor touchpoints.
• Leads the commissioning of audience and market research, tracking and reporting in order to provide intelligence about our audiences to support all areas of the organization with strategic and business planning.

Design Responsibilities:

• Directs and supports the creative work of the Design team in delivering inspiring and effective concepts and design creative to position the HoMA brand and connect with audiences, including through multiple media advertising campaigns, exhibition creative, identities, digital, print, and environmental design.

Press & Public Relations Responsibilities:

• Champions HoMA’s global reputation, leading all corporate communications, public affairs, and PR and media relations, including major PR campaigns for exhibitions and public programs, issues and crisis management, and broadcast and media partnerships.
• Working closely with the Director and CEO, helps shape internal statements, including those concerning museum policy, positions on news events affecting the museum and the field, and exhibits and artists presented at the museum.
• Oversees the writing for and general creation of innovative and inspiring museum materials such as the Members’ Magazine.

Compensation:

The Honolulu Museum of Art is committed to practicing salary transparency. The minimum salary for this position is $125,000 per annum and the maximum salary is $150,000 per annum. This opportunity includes a generous benefits package, including but not limited to:

• Fully covered medical, dental, and vision insurance for employee.
• 12 paid holidays.
• 15 days of vacation accrual in 1st year, increasing to 20 days in 2nd year.
• 15 days of annual sick leave.
• Group retirement plans with employer matching after 2nd year.
• Shop, Museum Café, and Art School discounts.
• Onsite parking provided.

Working Conditions and Atmosphere:

Works in an office environment. General office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. with flexible scheduling as needed. Ability to operate general office equipment including computer, copier, printers, fax machine, etc. Ability to lift, carry, push, pull, up to 25 lbs. of general office material or equipment. Ability to work some evening and weekend hours.

The employee must be able to fulfill all essential duties with or without a reasonable accommodation. This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive list of all activities, duties, or responsibilities that are required of the employee. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change or new ones may be assigned at any time with or without notice.

Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusivity:

HoMA welcomes people from all backgrounds and walks of life, and this is reflected in our diverse community of employees. We encourage applications from candidates across a wide variety of backgrounds, including, but not limited to, people of all races and ethnicities, people with disabilities, women, veterans, and all members of the LGBTQ community.

HoMA is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and is committed to providing equal opportunity for all employees and applicants. HoMA recruits, hires, trains, promotes, compensates, and administers all personnel actions and benefit programs without regard to race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, including pregnancy and gender identity and expression, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, reproductive health decisions, marital status, arrest and court record, citizenship, credit history, military and veteran service, victim of domestic violence or sexual abuse victim status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state or local law.

The statements contained herein describe the scope of the responsibilities and essential functions of this position but should not be considered to be an all-inclusive listing of work duties and requirements. Individuals may perform other duties as assigned including work in other areas to cover absences or relief to equalize peak work periods or otherwise balance the workload.

HoMA maintains a policy of nondiscrimination in all employment practices and decisions, ensuring equal employment opportunities for all qualified individuals. This applies to both HoMA employees and applicants for employment with the Museum. Any form of harassment of any employee because of any protected status is also prohibited.