Director of Membership

The Director of Membership leads OPERA America’s membership growth, engagement, and retention strategy across both individual and organizational membership programs. This position oversees a membership portfolio representing thousands of individual members and more than 500 institutional and affiliated organizations, generating over $1 million in annual membership revenue.

The Director is responsible for developing and executing strategies that strengthen membership value, increase recruitment and retention, and deepen engagement across the opera field. Working closely with colleagues across programs, communications, research, and development, the Director ensures that OPERA America’s membership program reflects the needs of the field while supporting the organization’s broader mission.

The Director supervises the Individual Membership Manager and Organizational Membership Manager and leads the systems, campaigns, and processes that support a high-performing membership program.

Membership Strategy and Growth

·        Develop and implement a comprehensive membership strategy focused on acquisition, retention, and revenue growth across individual and organizational categories.

·        Set annual goals and key performance indicators, monitoring and reporting on progress regularly.

·        Evaluate and refine membership structure, tiers, pricing, and benefits to ensure they reflect the evolving needs of the field.

·        Identify new membership opportunities across the performing arts ecosystem, including emerging companies, training programs, artists, and administrators.

Revenue and Lifecycle Management

·        Oversee the full membership lifecycle: recruitment, onboarding, renewal, upgrades, and reactivation of lapsed members.

·        Lead annual membership campaigns across direct mail, digital outreach, and targeted prospecting.

·        Manage revenue forecasting and reporting in partnership with Advancement and Finance teams.

·        Ensure accurate processing, acknowledgement, and reconciliation of membership dues and transactions.

Membership Engagement and Benefits

·        Champion the development and communication of membership benefits, ensuring clear value and strong participation.

·        Collaborate with internal departments to integrate membership benefits across programs, events, publications, and research.

·        Design strategies to deepen engagement through communications, programming, and targeted outreach.

·        Gather and act on member feedback via surveys, interviews, and participation data.

Team Leadership and Operations

·        Supervise the Individual Membership Manager and Organizational Membership Manager, providing direction, coaching, and performance management.

·        Oversee membership workflows, database management, renewal processes, and reporting systems.

·        Establish efficient, professional standards for member services and communications.

·        Develop and document operational procedures to support a scalable, high-performing program.

Data, Systems, and Analytics

·        Maintain oversight of membership data within OPERA America’s CRM, ensuring data integrity, segmentation, and accuracy.

·        Build dashboards and reports tracking acquisition, retention, engagement, and revenue trends.

·        Use data analysis to identify growth opportunities and continuously improve the member experience.

Cross-Department Collaboration

·        Partner with Marketing and Communications on membership messaging, campaigns, and materials.

·        Work with Programs team to incorporate membership engagement into various convenings.

·        Represent membership priorities in cross-departmental planning to ensure member needs shape OPERA America’s services and initiatives.

Qualifications

Required

·        Experience in membership, customer success, fundraising, sales, or relationship-based revenue roles (nonprofit or mission-driven preferred).

·        Demonstrated success driving retention and acquisition using goals, campaigns, and pipeline discipline.

·        Strong CRM fluency (i.e.: Salesforce, Tessitura, Spektrix, Raiser’s Edge, HubSpot, etc.) and comfort with dashboards, segmentation, and reporting.

·        Excellent writing and interpersonal communication skills; persuasive and member centered.

·        Ability to manage multiple projects, deadlines, and stakeholder relationships with clarity and follow-through.

·        Must be self-motivated

·        Must be change-friendly

·        Must be a team player

·        Must advance the organization’s equity and strategic goals.

Preferred

·        Experience in a membership association, service organization, or arts/culture ecosystem.

·        Familiarity with opera/classical music or performing arts field dynamics.

·        Experience with pricing/packaging, benefits design, and membership tier strategy.

·        Supervisory experience and comfort building team workflows.

Work Style & Competencies

·        Strategic builder with strong operational follow-through.

·        High EQ relationship manager; confident, warm, and credible with members.

·        Data-informed decision-maker who can translate insights into action.

·        Process-oriented and proactive—spots friction and fixes it.

·        Collaborative and cross-functional; comfortable influencing without authority.

This position is based on-site in New York City and follows standard business hours of 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. Limited work-from-home opportunities may be available on an as-needed basis and are subject to prior approval by the President/CEO and Chief of Staff.

Apply online at operaamerica.org/DirMembership Review of applications will begin immediately.