A full time Marketing Manager position at The Moth, New York NY, USA
Salary range: $155,000 to $175,000 (yearly rate) – subject to experience
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 hotdog 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:
