About The Role & The Moment at The Moth
The Moth champions the vitality and urgency of storytelling and has defied categorization since its inception in 1997–starting on a front porch in Georgia and now spanning live events across the globe, audio and video formats, books and publications, workshops and corporate training–all focused on connection through shared experience. Through the work of The Moth’s ambitious, values-aligned, and incredibly resourceful staff (including a full-time staff of 45 and large community of independent contractors), the organization has experienced tremendous growth, now achieving 50 million annual podcast downloads per year, airing on 565 public radio stations, and producing 600+ events annually. The Moth has an annual operating budget of approximately $14 million, of which approximately 70% is earned and 30% is contributed. In seeking its first Vice President of Marketing & Communications, The Moth has the opportunity to align the marketing efforts for its diverse offerings around a central brand strategy and story that will clarify its public message, underscore its impact and value, and drive demand for its rich programs and live experiences.
In the year ahead, The Moth will engage in a comprehensive review of its mission and strategic objectives to deepen its impact while continuing to make the case for shared stories as essential elements to build empathy in an increasingly divided and digital world. Under the leadership of Executive Director Sarah Haberman and newly-appointed Chief Creative Officer Christina Norman, The Moth’s current planning and evolution will ensure audiences remain at the center, and that audience expansion is inclusive through focused growth, thoughtful segmentation, and exploration of new offerings that speak to shifting consumer behavior. This will include continued investment in data infrastructure to enable such an audience-first approach, ongoing pursuit of values-aligned brand partnerships, as well as working with its new podcast partner, Audacy (starting in 2025), and continuing to foster its long-standing radio partnership with PRX. The inherent opportunities in these changes will be key for the new VP to grasp and maximize, and it will be incumbent upon them to build a compelling case for the best way to do so.
As The Moth’s formal marketing operation was only recently formed in 2019, the new VP of Marketing & Communications will have the opportunity to build upon early efforts, assessing and optimizing the structures and systems that are currently operational throughout the department and the organization to become a centralized hub for growth and engagement. The successful VP will bring the care and skill to honor previous iterations of structure and strategy while forging and leading a collaborative vision for increasing discovery of The Moth, expanding reach and inspiring the next generation of diverse and loyal supporters.
In summary, the key opportunities for The Moth’s Vice President of Marketing & Communications are:
- Developing a centralized brand strategy, story, and architecture to support all programs and convey the urgency of The Moth’s mission and core offerings
- Growing the audience for The Moth’s diversified content streams in an evolving audio and video landscape through a comprehensive marketing strategy – maintaining a focus on all segments of current and lapsed audiences while engaging new and potential audiences
- Centralizing and optimizing sales functions to support The Moth’s many live performances
- Assessing current systems and structures to align Marketing and Communications operations with organizational goals
- Contributing significantly to the upcoming strategic planning process across the organization
- Representing and centering the audience at The Moth’s Executive table to keep the audience top of mind in all facets of The Moth’s work
- Working in partnership with the Sr. Manager of Brand Partnerships to expand our portfolio of corporate sponsors.
About The Moth
The Moth’s mission is to promote the art and craft of storytelling and to honor and celebrate the diversity and commonality of human experience.
Since its launch in 1997, The Moth has presented thousands of stories told live and without notes. Moth shows are renowned for the great range of human experience they showcase. Each show starts with a theme, and the storytellers explore it, often in unexpected ways. Since each story is true and every voice authentic, the shows dance between documentary and theater, creating a unique, intimate, and often enlightening experience for the audience.
The Moth was founded by the novelist George Dawes Green, who wanted to recreate in New York the feeling of sultry summer evenings in his native Georgia, when moths were attracted to the light on the porch where he and his friends would gather to spin spellbinding tales. The first New York Moth event was held in George’s living room and the story events quickly spread to larger venues throughout the city.
The Moth conducts eight ongoing programs:
• The Moth Mainstage: Live, curated shows that tour internationally. Five storytellers tell a 10-12 minute, true, first-person story without notes. Stories are crafted with extensive input from Moth directors. The Mainstage has featured stories by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Elizabeth Gilbert, Malcolm Gladwell, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, John Turturro, Molly Ringwald, Boots Riley, Damon Young, Mike Birbiglia, Rosanne Cash, Danyel Smith and Tig Notaro, as well as an astronaut, a pickpocket, a hot¬dog eating champion and hundreds more.
• The Moth StorySLAM Program: Open-mic storytelling competitions open to anyone with a five-minute story to share on the night’s theme. Each story is scored by judges selected from the audience. Recurring StorySLAM series take place in 28 cities: 26 in the US plus Melbourne, AU and London, UK.
• The Moth Podcast: The 2020 Webby People’s Voice Award Winner for Best Podcast Series—which is downloaded more than 50 million times a year.
• The Moth Radio Hour: The Peabody Award-winning radio show, which airs weekly on 570 public radio stations nationwide.
• The Moth Community Program, which brings storytelling workshops and performance opportunities to community groups and organizations across the US, aiming to dissolve stereotypes and build bridges across communities. Initiatives focus on the criminal justice system, veterans groups, LGBTQ+ communities, economic mobility, and more.
• The Moth Education Program, which extends storytelling opportunities to high school and college students through after-school and weekend programs, as well as professional development opportunities for educators.
• The Moth Global Community Program, which develops and elevates true, personal stories from extraordinary individuals in the global south. In many cases, participants go on to apply their stories to advocacy and change-making work, addressing issues such as gender equality, agricultural improvement, family planning, and neglected tropical diseases.
• MothWorks, which uses the essential elements of Moth storytelling to develop workshops and private engagements for companies and organizations to build trust and empathy within teams, strengthen leadership capabilities, foster connection with stakeholders, and invigorate workplace culture.
The Moth’s Values
The Moth promotes understanding and connection through the practice of storytelling and by elevating the artform on stages, airwaves and in workshops around the world, we are creating a more compassionate world where every individual story matters.
We believe that by telling true personal stories and honoring an individual’s experience, we can:
- challenge dominant narratives
- inspire greater confidence in storytellers
- deepen connection in community; and
- spark empathy among listeners around the world
About The Position
The VP of Marketing & Communications (VPMC) is responsible for the overall brand marketing vision for The Moth—making clear to new and existing audiences how The Moth’s diverse array of programs and offerings bring the mission to life. They will lead planning and implementation of The Moth’s marketing and communications strategies to drive brand awareness, audience growth, and revenue across its extensive business verticals including audio products (podcast and radio programming), live events, memberships, brand partnerships, storytelling workshops, books and custom publishing projects, and merchandise. The VPMC also works closely with the Development team to support organizational fundraising efforts.
The VPMC will lead audience growth through event marketing, brand partnerships, creative services, digital & social media, email marketing, and press/communications. The role requires an executive who can approach mission-driven work with a dual analytical and creative mindset, ensuring The Moth maintains its position as the leader in the modern storytelling movement. The VPMC reports to the Executive Director and will work in collaboration with leaders across The Moth’s programming verticals.
Leadership & Primary Directives
- Set the strategic vision and lead the marketing and communications department’s audience growth initiatives to meet The Moth yearly business goals
- Lead audience growth initiatives across live events, brand partnerships, workshop programs and creative services
- Oversee activation of all owned, earned, and paid channels, including digital and social media, CRM, email marketing, press/communications, and more
- Lead and mentor a team of five (5) direct reports including the Senior Manager, Brand Partnerships; Marketing Manager; Junior Designer; Social Media Coordinator; Marketing Assistant (Part-Time)
- Oversee two (2) external partners including a digital marketing agency and press/communications representative
- Manage external content revenue and distribution partners, Audacy podcast network (The Moth Podcast) and PRX (The Moth Radio Hour)
- Collaborate with the Director of Finance and Administration on organizational budgeting and financial planning, both revenue and expenses
- Foster a culture of collaboration, trust, improvement and continuous innovation
Marketing Strategy & Planning
- Develop and implement comprehensive marketing strategies to drive audience and revenue growth for The Moth’s core business verticals including live events, membership, radio and podcast sponsorship, brand partnerships, books and custom publishing, merchandise and storytelling workshops; serve as strategic partner to Development in fundraising
- Manage the marketing budget, ensuring effective allocation of resources to maximize ROI
- Establish KPIs and metrics to ensure the effectiveness of marketing campaigns—providing regular reports and insights to the Executive Leadership Team in line with organizational priorities and goals
- Manage The Moth’s multiple brands/business verticals, ensuring consistent messaging and positioning across all marketing channels
- Participate in annual and quarterly strategic planning and research projects to identify audience growth opportunities, industry trends, customer needs, and the competitive landscape in partnership with the Executive Director and Executive Leadership Team
Audience Engagement & Growth
- Oversee all digital marketing and content creation including paid and organic social media, email marketing and journeys, paid media and SEO/SEM
- Directly manage the marketing and audio growth efforts for The Moth’s award-winning audio programs including The Moth Radio Hour and The Moth Podcast
- Oversee themoth.org including the upcoming website redesign, site maintenance, optimization and more
Revenue Generation
- Provide strategic oversight on the event marketing strategy with the Marketing Manager to ensure an increase in ticket sales and press for The Moth 600+ events annually
- Lead The Moth’s Brand and Corporate Partnerships strategy with the Senior Manager, Brand Partnerships to forecast and exceed revenue goals—helping to ideate sponsorship opportunities and build relationships with business leaders
- In partnerships with the Executive Director and Chief Creative Officer, manage the advertising and distribution partners for The Moth Radio Hour and The Moth Podcast ensuring revenue and audience goals are met
- Directly manage all aspects of marketing for special projects including but not limited to The Moth Ball, books and custom publishing projects, high-profile events, our tiny home tour, etc
- Manage the design, production, budgeting and revenue generation for The Moth’s Merchandise offerings
- Collaborate with the Development team to provide strategic and operational support for all fundraising efforts, and ensure they are in line with The Moth brand guidelines
Desired Skills & Qualifications
- A genuine commitment to The Moth’s mission and values and a belief in the inherent value of storytelling
- A dynamic, responsive, and inclusive leadership style, and an ability to make a compelling business case to colleagues and partners to ensure collective success
- A proven track record of results-driven brand marketing experience and leadership, with a preference for experience in creative environments that combine live events and digital content
- A willingness and ability to engage across difference to work toward shared understanding
- A balance of both analytical and creative abilities (not mutually exclusive!)
- A working knowledge of the podcast industry landscape and business model
- Experience with The Moth’s marketing technologies (or similar) preferred, including AirTable, Salesforce, Experience Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Craft CMS, Google Analytics, Shopify
- Strong relationship building, negotiation, and influencing skills
- A robust and established existing network of fellow top level marketing executives and corporate contacts is preferred.
A Note from Tom O’Connor Consulting Group:
Not sure you meet 100% of our qualifications? Research shows that men apply for jobs when they fulfill an average of 60% of the criteria. Yet, women and other people who are systematically marginalized tend only to apply if they meet every requirement. If you believe that you could excel in this role, we encourage you to apply.
We are dedicated to considering a broad array of candidates, including those with diverse workplace experiences and backgrounds. So, whether you’re returning to work after a gap in employment, simply looking to transition, or taking the next step in your career path, we will be glad to have you on our radar. Please use your cover letter to tell us about what you hope to bring to this role.
Compensation
The Moth offers a competitive compensation and benefits package, with a salary range between $155,000-175,000 and a very generous benefits package that includes health and dental (100% of premiums paid for the individual, 80% for dependents), vision, short- and long-term disability insurance, flex spending accounts for health and dependent care, commuter benefits, and a 401(k)-retirement plan with company match after one year. All employees receive generous paid-time-off, all federal holidays, unlimited sick days, and closure for the entire final week of December.
This position is full-time in-person at The Moth’s offices in New York City (Financial District). The Moth team is in office two days per week (Tuesdays and Wednesdays) and fully remote in July and August.
Application Instructions
The search for the Vice President of Marketing & Communications is being conducted on behalf of The Moth by Tom O’Connor Consulting Group, a New York-based executive search and consulting firm specializing in the arts and culture industries. Tom O’Connor is leading the search process, reporting to The Moth’s Executive Leadership Team.
To apply, visit the online application (https://tinyurl.com/35ems3sh) and submit your materials. Please use your cover letter to tell us about what you hope to bring to this role, and how your background and experience responds to the desired skills and qualities.
The priority application deadline for this search is January 10, 2025. Applications received by this date will be given priority consideration, though interviews will likely begin on a rolling basis before this time. While we will still accept and consider applications received after this date, we encourage you to apply as early as possible for the best chance at being considered for the position. Please note that meeting the priority deadline does not guarantee an interview. No phone calls, please.