The Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education is looking for qualified applicants to fill the position of Director of Membership: MBAE seeks an experienced and energetic leader to assist the organization in its implementation of a business model consisting of a formalized membership network to support its activities and enhance its engagement and impact on improving educational opportunities and college and career readiness for all of the state’s students. The Director of Membership will develop a system for the recruitment and retention of members, engage members and support them in their relationship with MBAE and its work, promote and communicate the value of membership in MBAE and its education policy agenda, and work as part of the MBAE team to advance its overall policy and impact goals.

MBAE Mission and History: MBAE is committed to excellence, opportunity and innovation in our public education system in preparing all students to engage successfully in a global economy and society.

Our mission is to work with, for, and through the business community to impact education policy and practice in Massachusetts to ensure a high-quality education for all students.

Since its founding in 1988, MBAE has been committed to the belief that it is in the interest of every employer in Massachusetts to promote and advance K-12 education and to close the achievement and opportunity gaps in public education. In 1993, Massachusetts took dramatic steps, based on a blueprint laid out in MBAE’s seminal reform proposal, Every Child a Winner, to improve the state’s K-12 public education system. As a result, student achievement improved and, by many measures, Massachusetts leads the nation in K-12 public education. However, racial and socio-economic achievement gaps persist and many students still find themselves unprepared for success in college, career and citizenship. MBAE is committed to closing the chronic achievement gaps in the Massachusetts public education system and addressing equity through the elimination of opportunity gaps for all. Failure to close these gaps would result in jobs continuing to go unfilled while the state’s most vulnerable students get left on the economic sidelines.

MBAE is a vibrant organization, with strong finances, an engaged board of directors, and a network of 38 business organization affiliates collectively representing over 31,000 local employers across the state. MBAE is poised to begin a new chapter of our work in conducting research, developing evidence-based solutions, and advocating for policies that will create equitable educational opportunities for all students. Through its current programs and initiatives, MBAE is keenly focused on education-related goals, such as: creating universal student access to college and career readiness programs in every high school; ensuring equitable and effective distribution and use of funding for education; increasing school leader autonomy and flexibility; closing the digital equity gap; expanding access to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) program and improving the strength of those programs; and expanding the state’s talent pipeline for businesses by increasing student access to career based programming such as providing students opportunities to earn industry-recognized credentials in high school.

The Position: Director of Membership – This position, created in 2021, is the result of our strategic planning process and designed to ensure the organization’s continued success.  The strategic plan calls for the organization to formalize a membership model where businesses more fully support, and engage in, the organization’s work. The Director of Membership will continue to develop and implement this aspect of our strategic direction and will take responsibility for recruiting and retaining members and for serving as the primary connection between members and the organization’s work. The Director will be the facilitator of activities to ensure members are informed and have the ability to engage in and influence MBAE’s work and impact, while delivering on the organization’s value proposition.  The Director of Membership reports directly to the Executive Director and will be responsible for implementing our model of business membership and support. The Director of Membership will also participate in related fundraising and development activities.

Key responsibilities:

Member Recruitment and Retention

• Collaborates with the Executive Director to:
  • Create a roadmap for initial and sustainable membership growth
  • Establish short and long term goals and plans to achieve organization membership objectives
  • Outline a data driven membership engagement, retention and recruitment strategy and implementation plan
• Develop and lead the execution of the organization’s member recruitment and retention strategy including but not limited to:
  • increasing number of new members
  • building and implementing a retention plan
  • building a strong prospect database.
• Manage outreach and follow up to potential and existing members
• Act as a liaison to MBAE’s Board of Directors and Membership Committee through quarterly meetings; work with the committee chair to set the agenda for and facilitate each meeting
• Identify opportunities to enhance member benefits and services offered by MBAE

Communications

• In partnership with the Director of Communications and Advocacy, manage MBAE’s membership program, including designing membership packages and coordinating delivery of benefits related to sponsorship
• Prepare and execute marketing campaigns to attract leads using traditional and digital mediums
• Leverage data to deliver messages across retention campaigns

Affiliate Network

• In partnership with the Director of Policy, Initiate and manage strategic partnerships with our existing Affiliate Network and other related associations and groups to help recruitment and retention of membership
• Create strategies and plans to move Affiliates to the new membership model

Internal and External Reporting and Communication

• Work with both staff and members to develop and manage processes for feedback about membership, programs, and services.
• Oversight of all membership data, tracking and reporting, including, but not limited to, membership trend analyses and recruitment and retention reports.

Qualifications:

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, communications, sales, business administration, or a related field. Other fields, such as education and public policy, will be considered.

Work Experience

• A demonstrable track record of stakeholder management, with experience building and maintaining strong, positive relationships with donors, policy makers, community leaders and other constituents; ideally a track record of success working and communicating well with a board of directors
• Experience in membership recruitment and retention models
• Proven success in writing copy for membership acquisition and retention as well as executing and managing traditional and digital campaigns
• Experience using analytics to interpret outcomes, identify campaign opportunities, and drive membership-marketing decisions
• Proven project management skills with ability to execute and deliver on multiple projects
• Database experience, ideally with Salesforce

Skills

• Working knowledge and understanding of the Massachusetts business landscape
• Experience in leveraging relationships within business-related environments
• Working knowledge of organizational fundraising and development
• An ability to think strategically with proven operational effectiveness; the ability to generate a compelling vision, rally others around it, and execute effectively in order to achieve the desired outcomes
• Excellent writing and oral communications skills
• Enthusiastic, creative self-starter who can multi-task and thrive in a busy, fast–paced environment
• Excellent interpersonal skills, with the ability to get along with diverse constituencies and personalities, including members, staff, and contacts at external organizations

Salary

The salary for this position is competitive and based on experience

Application

Please submit resume and cover letter to:

Michelle Harrington

Director of Operations

Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education

10 Post Office Square, Suite 800 South

Boston, MA 02109

mharrington@mbae.org