Associate Director of Marketing

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Associate Director of Marketing
Full Time

Chicago, IL, US

Salary Range: $100,000.00 To $108,000.00 Annually

About the Adler Planetarium
The Adler Planetarium connects people to the universe and each other. Whether introducing a guest to the Ring Nebula, a neighborhood school to a community partner, a research team to a network of citizen scientists, or one staff member to another, the Adler's focus on meaningful connections dates back nearly a century.

Today, the museum typically hosts close to 400,000 visitors annually and reaches millions more through youth STEAM programs, neighborhood skywatching events, online citizen science, and other outreach efforts. With the Adler's support, people of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities gain the confidence to learn more about science and space discovery, and to explore their universe together under the sky we all share.

The Position
The Adler Planetarium is seeking an Associate Director of Marketing to join our dynamic team on Chicago's Museum Campus. Are you ready to help launch stellar ideas into the universe? As the Associate Director of Marketing, you will be the operational powerhouse translating big-picture strategic priorities into cosmic, audience-centered marketing campaigns. Reporting directly to the Senior Director of Marketing & Communications, you will lead a growing team, orchestrate multi-channel plans, and ensure the smooth, day-to-day execution of digital and traditional marketing initiatives that drive attendance and engagement across all public-facing channels. It's a fast-paced, highly collaborative, and hands-on role perfect for someone who loves both creative storytelling and operational excellence!

Marketing Planning & Execution
Translate institutional-level strategy into detailed multi-channel plans (digital, print, onsite, and out-of-home) to drive attendance and revenue, and champion exhibitions, sky shows, membership, and other institutional initiatives. You'll manage the museum-wide campaign calendar and coordinate cross-departmentally with exhibitions, programs, guest experience, and advancement. You will direct audience segmentation, email automation and marketing streams, and performance optimization.

Digital Performance & Marketing Operations
Serve as the primary owner of website content; optimize user experience (UX) pathways; improve marketing workflows/automation; and manage performance analytics, KPI dashboards, SEO, paid media, and data-driven email streams. Deliver regular reporting on campaign and channel performance to support ad spend and strategy optimization and inform future planning.

Content Strategy & Brand Storytelling
Lead cross-functional content planning sessions, partner with creative teams to build high-quality multimedia content, and coordinate with the marketing team and other science and technical experts to ensure accuracy and brand consistency.

Team Leadership & Mentoring
Provide day-to-day oversight, coaching, and professional development for a growing marketing team while effectively managing timelines and approvals.

The Work Schedule
The typical work schedule for this position is 35 hours per week, from 9 AM to 5 PM, with a flextime and telecommuting option—2 days a week telecommuting and 3 days onsite at the museum.

The Compensation & Benefits (Full-Time)
Base Pay Range: $100,000-108,000/yr

Work-Life Balance

Eligible to accrue up to 18 vacation days per year to start

3 sick days as of date of hire (can accrue up to 6.5 days per year)

4 Personal Holidays (Prorated for new hires starting after January 1st)

Flexible Work Arrangements

Paid Family Bereavement Leave & Jury Duty

Competitive Health Coverage

Healthcare, Dependent Care & Commuter flexible spending accounts

Adler Paid Short-Term Disability insurance

Retirement Savings Plan

403B plan with Adler match

Adler match is 100% vested immediately

Eligible to enroll as of the date of hire

Network of Support through our EAP programs

Resources to help address emotional, legal, and financial issues

Face-to-face, telephonic, and web-based services

Free subscription to the Calm Premium app

Employee Loan Program

Discounted Onsite Parking Program

Free Entrance to Chicago area museums and cultural institutions

The Person
The ideal candidate is a brilliant marketing orchestrator who thrives at the intersection of structure and creativity. You are someone who loves to win the trust of a team through positive personal influence, actively mentoring others and fostering an environment of continuous learning. You possess exceptional communication skills, easily jumping from high-level, consultative interactions across museum departments to hands-on email drafting or dashboard tracking. Change doesn't faze you; you adapt your strategies on the fly, incorporate feedback beautifully, and treat data as a tool for endless optimization. Ultimately, you are an organized, motivational leader who is excited to keep the museum's messaging aligned, accessible, and out-of-this-world!

Required Qualifications

Bachelor's Degree.

8+ years of progressively responsible marketing experience, including coordinating multi-channel campaigns and managing day-to-day marketing operations.

Proven experience supervising or mentoring staff, delivering feedback, and supporting professional development.

Exceptional storytelling ability (across copywriting, photo, and video editing) and a data-driven mindset, with dashboard and KPI development and reporting experience.

Working knowledge of web content management (CMS), UX principles, CRM systems, email automation/segmentation, SEO, paid media, and social platform analytics.

Outstanding project management skills and a strong track record of interdepartmental collaboration in highly matrixed organizations.

Preferred Qualifications

A Bachelor's Degree with specializations in Marketing, Integrated Marketing Communications, Digital Media, or AI in Marketing.

Extensive experience with data-driven email marketing platforms and website optimization efforts.

The Adler Planetium is dedicated to complying with its Equal Opportunity employer obligations. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to any characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.

If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process, please email the Human Resources Department at recruiting@adlerplanetarium.org with the nature of your request and your contact information. Accommodation requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

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