High Desert Museum Job Opportunity – Director of Marketing & Communications
Title: Director of Marketing & Communications
Division: Communications
Classification: Salaried, regular full-time exempt
Directly supported by: Executive Director
Directly supports: Communications Team, Visitor Experience Manager
Salary Range: $100,000 – $120,000
Working at the High Desert Museum
Join a talented and diverse team! The High Desert Museum is a dynamic workplace where you can learn from a curator about art, visit our North American river otters, and enjoy the laughter of the thousands of school children who visit us on field trips every year, all in a day on the job. Set in a tranquil Ponderosa pine forest just south of Bend, the Museum embraces being both a vital community resource and one of the most popular destinations in the region. We’re filled with people who support each other and are passionate about what we do.
About us
The High Desert Museum opened in Bend, Oregon in 1982. As an interdisciplinary museum, it shares the stories of the High Desert region through cultures, art, history and the natural world to convey the wonder of the High Desert region, which spans across 11 states of the Intermountain West. The Museum features 100,000 square feet of indoor space, which includes two permanent exhibitions and three changing galleries, and outdoor exhibits beyond the main building that include the Autzen Otter Exhibit, the Donald M. Kerr Birds of Prey Center and the 1904 High Desert Ranch. The Museum also offers a range of programs, from summer Kids Camps to wildlife photography workshops. Last fiscal year, the Museum welcomed nearly 220,000 visitors, more than double the size of Bend.
The Museum is a private, 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. It has become the largest cultural institution in Oregon east of the Cascades over the last four decades and today is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, is a Smithsonian Affiliate, was the 2019 recipient of the Western Museums Association’s Charles Redd Award for Exhibition Excellence and was a 2021 recipient of the National Medal for Museum and Library Service.
About this job and what you’ll do
The High Desert Museum makes for an amazing workplace, where you’ll be filming otters one moment and meeting artists the next.
The Director of Marketing & Communications leads the Museum’s external voice and visibility within the region and beyond, collaborating internally and externally to share the vibrancy of this 43-year-old regional cultural anchor. This person oversees all external communications for the Museum, ensuring consistency in branding, voice and tone across multiple platforms. The Director of Marketing & Communications develops and implements the Museum’s communications and marketing strategies, including for increasing attendance, visitor-driven revenue, and membership and donations. And this role is also responsible for efforts to ensure a vibrant, on-brand visitor experience on the Museum grounds.
The Director of Marketing & Communications supervises a Communications Team of 2-plus as well as contractors to accomplish this work, and also the Visitor Experience Manager, who oversees the Admissions Team and Silver Sage Trading Team.
The Director of Marketing & Communications role at its core is that of lead storyteller—to connect with smart, engaging people doing meaningful work here at the Museum, tease out these stories and then raise awareness about them—the exhibitions and programs, fundraising efforts and behind-the-scenes initiatives—among key target audiences through appropriate mediums.
Moreover, the Director is a strategic leader responsible for driving the museum’s sustainability and its connection to our community and region. In this role, you will act as a steward of our mission, ensuring the museum remains a vital cultural hub while overseeing growth in admissions, membership, program discovery and visitor experience satisfaction.
Your primary objective is to grow our marketing into a data-informed, audience-centric model. By prioritizing admissions, membership growth, and retention, you will ensure the museum’s financial health to support its mission. You will architect our customized and curated visitor experience from the first looks at digital media to arriving at the Museum, utilizing visitor insights to create personalized experiences that deepen the bond between the museum and the diverse audiences that vacation to Central Oregon or call it home.
This is a full-time, salaried position and will require occasional attendance at evening and weekend events.
In addition to our strong health and welfare benefits, the Museum also provides full-time employees with 10.5 paid holidays, and four personal days per calendar year (this will be prorated based on hire date). You will also accrue two weeks of paid vacation per year for the first year of employment.
About who you are
You are above all passionate about the Museum’s mission. You’re comfortable in a fast-paced culture and appreciate the diversity of duties—it means you’re always learning! You like to try new things and will regularly bring ideas to the table. But you’re also detail-oriented with a commitment to accuracy and timeliness. With such a public-facing role, you understand the responsibility of guiding the Museum’s voice and use sound judgement throughout your work. While you can work independently, you also appreciate collaborating with others. And you do it all with a can-do attitude and a sense of humor!
Want to learn more?
For a detailed job description listing the essential functions of this position and the education, experience, and skills requirements, click here.
Importantly, we recognize and honor that the qualifications required to excel in this position can come from a range of both professional and lived experiences. In the job description we describe what we believe to be important qualifications for a candidate to have while remaining open to the diversity of experiences that can lead to these skill sets. Position descriptions are often presented in a way that leaves qualified candidates feeling unwelcome, intimidated, uncomfortable and/or unqualified to apply. Recognizing that, we strongly encourage anyone who feels passionate about this work and believes they have what it takes to thrive in this role to apply.
Want to apply?
Please email PDFs of your resume, cover letter and five samples of your work—examples include a press release, article, creative material, and brand strategy document to: jobs@highdesertmuseum.org
The Museum provides an equal employment opportunity to all persons without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity/transgender status, age, disability, veteran or marital status, genetic information or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.
Mission
The High Desert Museum wildly excites and responsibly teaches through innovative, interdisciplinary experiences, creating connection to and dialogue about the High Desert.
highdesertmuseum.org/job-opportunities