Vice President of Marketing, Events, Sales and Communications

RESPONSIBILITIES:
As a team member, exemplify Zoo Knoxville’s core values through interactions with guests and fellow team members.

Executive Leadership & Strategy:
-Serve as a member of the Zoo’s senior leadership team, contributing to organizational strategy, decision-making, and performance management.
-Conduct a comprehensive assessment of current marketing, communications, events, and sales functions, identifying gaps, inefficiencies, and opportunities for growth.
-Develop and implement long-range strategic action plans, including Zoo Knoxville’s 2026 and 2027 plans, focused on performance improvement and long-term sustainability.
-Establish clear KPIs, performance metrics, and accountability structures across all functional areas.
-Align departmental strategies with Zoo Knoxville’s strategic plan, brand positioning, and revenue goals.

Marketing & Brand Strategy:
-Lead the development and execution of integrated marketing strategies across paid, earned, and owned channels (PESO model) to drive attendance, membership, and revenue growth.
-Oversee brand management to ensure consistency, quality, and alignment across all platforms and guest touchpoints.
-Evaluate and optimize relationships with external agencies, vendors, and partners.
-Ensure data-driven decision-making through analytics, audience segmentation, and performance tracking.
-Oversee the CRM and audience-data infrastructure, ensuring strong data capture and segmentation that inform marketing, membership, and development strategies.
-Guide website, digital, and content strategies to improve conversion, engagement, and storytelling impact.

Communications & Public Relations:
-Serve as the organization’s senior communications leader and advisor on messaging, positioning, and media relations.
-Oversee public relations strategies to elevate Zoo Knoxville’s visibility, reputation, and thought leadership.
-Set the strategy for media, tourism, corporate, and civic relationships, directing the Communications Manager who serves as day-to-day spokesperson, while personally representing Zoo Knoxville at executive-level functions.
-Ensure consistent, compelling storytelling that advances conservation, education, and community engagement.
-Lead crisis communications planning and execution, as needed.
-Strengthen internal communications alignment across departments.

Events & Guest Experience Integration:
-Oversee the strategic direction, planning, and execution of all Zoo Knoxville events to ensure alignment with revenue and brand objectives.
-Evaluate event portfolio performance (attendance, revenue, guest satisfaction) and implement improvements or restructuring as needed.
-Drive innovation in event programming, including seasonal experiences, signature events, and new revenue-generating concepts.
-Ensure strong cross-functional collaboration with Operations, Guest Experience, and Development teams.
-Direct marketing that strengthens earned revenue across retail, food and beverage, admissions, and on-grounds signage, informed by guest survey and satisfaction data.

Sales & Revenue Growth:
-Lead the development and execution of comprehensive sales strategies across admissions, memberships, group sales, and special events.
-Identify and implement new revenue opportunities, pricing strategies, and promotional tactics.
-Own pricing, ticketing, and yield-management strategy across admissions, memberships, and events, improving channel mix and online conversion to maximize earned revenue.
-Oversee revenue operations, using dashboards and forecasting to manage and improve performance across all earned-revenue streams.
-Partner with Development to align sponsorship and partnership opportunities with marketing and event strategies.
-Drive a performance-based culture focused on achieving and exceeding revenue targets.

Team Leadership & Organizational Development:
-Provide direct leadership, coaching, and accountability for all direct reports and functional teams.
-Assess team structure, capabilities, and performance; implement necessary organizational or role adjustments.
-Foster a culture of collaboration, innovation, accountability, and excellence.
-Ensure clear roles, responsibilities, and workflows across marketing, events, communications, and creative functions.
-Support recruitment, onboarding, and transition planning as needed.

Operational Excellence:
-Oversee departmental budgets, ensuring effective allocation of resources and strong return on investment.
Implement systems, processes, and tools that improve efficiency, communication, and execution.
-Ensure all marketing, communications, and event initiatives are delivered on time, on budget, and at a high level of quality.
-Attend zoo events and activities as required.
-Additional duties as assigned or required.