Salary Range: Competitive in Line with Relevant Skills and Experience

Job Vacancy

Director ofMarketing Sales

Department:Marketing Department

Salary Range: Competitive – in line with relevant skills and experience

Deadline for Applications: Tuesday 30 August 2016 (5:00pm)

Interviews: TBC

Permanent

All candidates must complete an application form. Forms can be downloaded at and submitted electronically to or in hard copy to the HR Department, WNO, Wales Millennium Centre, Bute Place Cardiff CF10 5AL.

Our purpose

Opera is our passion. At the heart of that passion is our belief that opera has the power to transform lives. We will reach out to everyone – using our creativity, our daring, and our dynamism to ignite a new generation of opera lovers and to guide new and existing audiences on a journey of discovery.

Values

Expert

in what we do at every level and we want to share this expertise with the largest possible audience

Collaborative

our work is made by a talented team working together with a can-do attitude

Smart

by being agile, open-minded and in touch we can identify new opportunities and use our resources wisely to take opera to more audiences in more places

Provocative

as opera pioneers we are unafraid to challenge bothourselves and our audiences. We will create moving, provocative and powerful experiences that arelife-transforming. We are inquisitive and unafraid to take risks

Strategic principles

We’ll do great opera

We’ll be great value

We’ll reach more people

We’ll be an artistic leader

We’ll be financially responsible

Welsh National Opera transforms lives through the power of opera.

We are passionate about opera and want to share this passion with as many people as possible. We do this with award-winning performances of fully-staged operas which combine a sense of adventure with the highest possible quality. We keep our performances accessible through affordable ticket prices. Beyond the theatre we connect with people through our community and education work and digital projects.

Welsh National Opera is one of the UK’s leading opera companies with a growing international reputation. It transforms lives through the power of opera. Its output includes world class main-scale productions, award-winning community and education programmes, concerts, broadcasts and digital activities.

The energy which drives the Company today is rooted in its formation in the 1940s. In 1943, WNO was founded by a group of people from across South Wales including miners, teachers and doctors. They wanted to forge an opera Company befitting Wales’s rich reputation as the ‘land of song’. The first rehearsals took place above a garage in Cardiff and their first performance was in April 1946 with the double bill of Cavalleriarusticana and Pagliacci. From those early days through to today, WNO has attracted some of the world’s best opera singers, and indeed offers many young singers their first steps to international renown. Welsh National Opera has been led from the pit by a series of great Music Directors and has worked with many of the art form’s most influential directors; traditions which continue to this day. TomášHanus will join WNO as Music Director in August 2016. At its heart sit the Company’s two full-time ensembles, the 40 strong Chorus and 55 strong Orchestra. The Company’s funding structure is unique amongst large-scale arts organisations in the UK as it receives its core funding from both the Arts Council of Wales and Arts Council England. The Company performs at its home base – the state-of-the-art Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff and tours in Wales and England performing to over 120,000 people each year.

Today WNO is an ensemble of passionate and committed musicians, artists, craftspeople, technicians and administrators. It employs over 250 people and has a turnover of £16m. WNO is well poised to drive the next chapter of its exciting journey having recently appointed Mark Molyneux to the position of Chair of the Board and Leonora Thomson to the position of Managing Director. David Pountney, one of the world’s most influential opera directors, joined WNO to lead the Company as Chief Executive in 2011 prior to becoming the Company’s Artistic Director in December 2015. Starting with Free Spirits in spring 2013, David’s programming centres around themed seasons which bring different but thematically-linked works together. Through these themed seasons WNO hopes to take audiences on a journey of discovery and introduce a new generation of opera lovers to this great art form along the way. Leonora works alongside David to execute strategy and build upon what is already regarded as a world-renowned organisation.

Marketing Department

The Marketing Department has the following key objectives:

• To develop and implement a marketing strategy which supports the organisation’s objectives
• To deliver an agreed annual box office target.
• To develop new audiences for opera
• To take lead responsibility for the management of the company’s brand identity
• To work with all WNO departments and partners to present the company in a positive light

Welsh National Opera’s marketing team is responsible for generating box office income and developing new audiences for opera. The team needs to recruit additional skilled and passionate people to join us on an adventure as we work to increase income, develop our audience and enhance our profile.

The marketing team is responsible for developing new and strengthening current audiences through research and analysis which in turn leads to strategically planned and smartly executed marketing campaigns, working closely with colleagues across the organisation, the venues to which WNO tours and other key partners. The team is also responsible for the company website, digital communications and print and publications.

Job Description

Job title: Director of MarketingSales

Responsible to:Managing Director

Responsible for:Head of Campaign Marketing, Print Publications Manager

Main purpose of job:

To develop and implement marketing strategies which support the delivery ofWNO’s strategic objectives;developing audience reach and engagement, increasing revenue generation and managing itsvisual identity.

Scope and dimensions:

The Director of Marketing Sales will lead the development of the company’sstrategic marketing approach,supporting thefuture direction of the organisation and delivering maximum return on investment in marketing spend. Reporting to the Managing Director, the role will be part of the WNO Senior Management Team, with responsibility for overseeing the entire marketing provision and will work closely with the Youth and Community andDevelopment and Communications departments to ensure the marketing strategy and plans are aligned and meet the needs of theorganisation.

Key accountabilities

• To lead in formulating innovativemarketing strategies and campaigns which enhance our reputation and increase revenue through box office and across other income streams
• To work collaboratively with the Senior Management Team, leading the delivery of the company’s marketing aims, aligning these with the company’s overall strategic goals
• To set and deliver strategieswhich increaseaudience engagement, develop new audiences, encourage loyaltyand deliver box office targets
• To work collaboratively withthe Director of Development, Communications and Strategy and the Director of Engagement and Partnerships, ensuring their audiences and stakeholders are actively considered when developing strategies and campaigns
• To work in collaboration with the Director of Development, Communications and Strategy to develop an integrated communications plan with audiences from ticket-buyers, to donors, to Youth and Community participants to ensure maximum effectiveness in awareness-raising, ticket sales, advocacy and donations. Work in collaboration with the Director of Development, Communications and Strategy to ensure WNO brand communications are proactively managed and the organisational profile raised by the two teams working together.
• To provide inspirational leadership to the marketing team, ensuring activities are co-ordinated and structured, responsibilities are clearly defined, individuals are developed and team performance is managed to support maximum effectiveness in planning and implementation of the marketing strategy
• To form close, inspiring and energetic partnerships between WNO and the venues it performs in, building mutual support for the organisations’strategic agendas
• To develop a framework for providing relevant insight relating to markets, trends, competitors and audiences and provide data and action points to support strategic plans
• To oversee the development of WNO’s visual identity, image creation and to lead the Marketing team in their role as the company’s “brand guardians” in an enabling and collaborative manner.

• To ensure marketing and communications strategies are aligned by working collaboratively with the DIrector of Development, Communications and Strategy
• To collaborate withother SMT members topromoteeffective communication of plans to all company departments, embeddingthem as part of the culture of the organisation
• To represent the organisation at a senior level, to stakeholders and partner organisations

• To lead the development of best practice in marketing, via research programmes, seeking external inspiration and a network of industry contacts
• To communicate marketing strategy, operations, plans and evaluations to the wider organisation and partners, and build confidence in the marketing function
• To optimise marketing spend, ensuring a good balance between different marketing channels, including print and digital
• To lead the development and implementation of audience analytics, identifying where appropriate the requirement for additional data sources, and working with stakeholder organisations (eg Arts Councils) as appropriate
• To analyse, evaluate and translate key internal and external data to provide market forecasting models ensuring these inform and support the evaluation criteria of strategic opportunities
• To work collaboratively with other SMT members in identifying opportunities to grow further income from our customer base, also to develop further commercial opportunities
• To closely manage the reporting and analytical insight relating to the performance of the Marketing department from a target activity, budget tracking and ROI perspective

Person Specification

Director of Sales & Marketing

Essential skills, knowledge and experience:

• Strategy experience and proven expertise in applying strategic models (e.g. Mckinsey 7S Model, SWOT, PEST, Porter’s 5 Forces etc)
• Degree educated (preferably Marketing, Economics or Business) and/or equivalent professional qualification eg CIM
• Significant and proven experience of operating at Director level within an arts marketing environment with regular interaction at Senior/Board level
• Proven and demonstrable experience instrategic consultation and audience development
• Extensive arts marketing experience in marketing strategy,insight, research and analytics and campaign planning
• Experienced leader with evidence of developing team members to their full potential and a proven ability in successfully managing people
• Experience in initiating and developing different types of partnerships
• Experience of building and managing relationships with partner/stakeholder organisations through influencing and persuading
• Experience of working in a target driven environment and can demonstrate successful track record in achieving sales and income targets
• Ability to implement change in a complex organisation
• Experience of working across organisations to support functions other than ticket sales eg development, youth and community
• Willingness to collaborate and identify potential opportunities through working with others
• Good organisational and project management skills with the ability to influence and achieve buy in at all levels
• A strong understanding of financial evaluation and experience as budget holder with extensive budget management experience
• Ability to clearly present ideas and strategic plans at Senior/Board level
• Ability to communicate at all levels, particularly with key stakeholders, partners and internal customers
• Expert in Microsoft tools including Word, Excel, Powerpoint, database management
• Experience of developing digital functionality and strong capability and understanding of social media and marketing analytics i.e. Google Analytics, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter
• Ability to manage competing priorities and pressures, deadlines and demands
• Demonstrable understanding and commitment to the principles of diversity

Desirable skills, knowledge and experience:

• MBA would be beneficial
• Experience of working with the Tessitura database
• An interest in opera/ classical music/the arts
• Welsh language speaker/writer

Main Terms and Conditions

• Competitive salary – in line withrelevant skills and experience
• The offer of an appointment is subject to receipt of two references that are satisfactory to the company
• The appointment is subject to a probationary period of six months
• Termination of engagement during the probationary period is by one month’s notice on either side. Termination thereafter is by threemonths’ notice on either side
• Normal office hours are 9.30 to 5.30, Monday to Friday, with a 1-hour lunch break, but it should be understood that the work involves occasional attendance at performances and events and therefore there is a need to be flexible in working outside normal office hours and sometimes at weekends
• Holiday entitlement is 25 days per annum (pro rata during first year of employment)
• Sickness benefit during the probationary period is at the statutory minimum. Entitlement after completion of the probationaryperiod is a maximum of 13 weeks at full salary and 13 weeks at half salary, inclusive of statutory sick pay in both cases
• The Company offers a contributory pension scheme

Health and Safety

Individual Responsibilities

All Employees

(Level 6)

Every employed person, including Managers.

Responsibilities

All employees are responsible for:-

The observance and implementation of rules and systems which are derived from the Health and Safety Policy and the arrangements for its implementation.

Taking reasonable care for their personal health and safety and that of fellow employees and others who may be affected either directly or indirectly by their acts or omissions at work.

Reporting promptly to the appropriate Manager potential or actual hazards and defects.

Taking part in any health and safety training considered by the Company to be necessary in order to comply with the Company Health and Safety Policy and current legislation.

Knowing the correct action to be taken in the event of an accident, fire or other emergency.

Co-operating with Management and other employees in meeting statutory requirements.

Not interfering with or misusing anything provided to protect their health, safety or welfare which is required by legislation and using any machinery, equipment, substance or safety device in accordance with any training and instruction.