Chief Marketing, Communications, and Sales Officer

The Opportunity

The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) seeks a transformative Chief Marketing, Communications, and Sales Officer (CMCSO) to expand awareness, market share, and revenue – to drive impact growth. This is an incredible opportunity for a proven marketing, communications, and sales leader to significantly impact the health and well-being of the Greater Philadelphia region. Horticulture has proven potential to transform inequitable health outcomes. Founded in 1827, PHS is an internationally recognized not-for-profit that uses horticulture to advance the health and well-being of the Greater Philadelphia region. 

Inequitable health outcomes frequently correlate with inequitable environmental conditions.  PHS believes that unlocking the power of horticulture and gardeners can positively change these outcomes.  Research on the work of PHS and others has shown that cleaning and greening vacant lots, planting trees, and building community through horticulture effectively and affordably reduces violence and improves mental and physical health.   

To capture this opportunity, PHS adopted Vision 2027 and today creates impact through horticulture-based programs focused on four social determinants of health: livable environments, social connections, access to fresh food, and access to economic opportunity.  PHS’s major programs include the award-winning Philadelphia Flower Show, on-the-ground Healthy Neighborhoods greening efforts in more than 250 neighborhoods, a network of more than 20 Public Gardens and Landscapes, and diverse content and experiences for Members and Home Gardeners. Check out the website for a map of program activities and a recent annual report.   

PHS relies on a large and diverse community of members, donors, partners, and volunteers to deliver our programs.  Growing this community into an ever larger and more inclusive support base will be a key priority for the CMCSO and will require intense collaboration with the Chief Development Officer.  

The Role 

PHS’s CMCSO is an organizational leader who directly leads Marketing, Communications, and Sales activities and serves as an important support partner, advisor, and influencer to all parts of the organization.  The CMCSO must be comfortable working in an environment with a mix of direct authority and accountability as well as areas of indirect authority and shared accountability.  The CMCSO owns our brand, communications, marketing, lead generation, and ticket sales functions and is accountable for achieving awareness, lead generation, and ticket sales KPIs. CMCSO is directly responsible for $8m+ in Flower Show ticket and ticket-related sales, shares responsibility with others for all revenue and inbound resources (e.g., volunteers, in-kind services, strategic partnerships, etc.), and plays an important role in fulfilling member expectations for quality content.  

In addition to managing ongoing marketing, communications, and sales activities, the CMCSO plays a critical role in planning and delivering strategic growth in awareness, market share, and revenue.  This includes market research and growth planning activities in partnership with the Chief Development Officer as well as championing and representing the voice of the customer in product development efforts to tie the Philadelphia Flower Show, Membership Experience, Public Gardens and Landscapes and other offerings more closely to the demands of current and potential audiences.  

The CMCSO reports to the President, serves on the senior leadership team, interacts regularly with the Board, collaborates with teams across PHS, and serves as a principal external spokesperson.  PHS is in an accelerated time of innovation and growth. The CMCSO must be a change leader who is excited about all PHS’s programs, including the Philadelphia Flower Show, and wants to lead growth in awareness, market share, and revenue.   

Driving Change  

The CMCSO will play a critical role in solving the greatest strategic challenge facing PHS – growing our revenue to allow us to sustain existing activities and fuel growth. To grow revenue, we are focused on leveraging the Philadelphia Flower Show and Public Gardens and Landscapes to deliver more revenue and profit as well as building membership and philanthropy. We are committed to doing this in a way that welcomes all and actively advances goals for diversity, equity, and inclusion.    

Looking three years out, the CMCSO will have been successful if: 

• We have continued to build awareness and market share while achieving our ambitious lead generation and conversion goals.   
• We have achieved our revenue and profitability goals for the Philadelphia Flower Show, Public Gardens and Landscapes, Membership, and Philanthropy. CMCSO has direct responsibility for Flower Show ticket sales and shared responsibility for the other areas which rely on CMCSO-led efforts to generate awareness, leads, and customer insights leading to product development.  
• Our audiences are significantly more diverse and all audience members feel welcomed, included, and able to help shape our culture and work. 
• We understand the needs of current and target audiences and regularly develop our products to match audience preferences.   

Leadership Responsibilities 

The CMCSO leads the Marketing, Communications, Creative Services, Ticket Sales, and Library teams. The CMCSO’s direct reports are: VP of Content Marketing, Associate Director of the PHS McLean Library, Director of PR and Communications, Director of Sales, Director of Creative Services, and Associate Director of Web Marketing.  There are 12 FTEs total in the Marketing team, including the CMCSO, plus seasonal interns.  

While Marketing and Communications are centralized under the CMCSO, Sales and Program Delivery are decentralized across PHS.  The CMCSO works as an influencer and partner with others responsible for revenue and resource generation (e.g., Development, volunteer-dependent Program teams, etc.) and shares responsibility for their outcomes.  Key partners include the Chief Development Officer, the Shows and Events Team, the VP of Business Development (corporate sponsorship), and the Chief of Staff.  

Specific responsibilities include: 

• Own and develop the brand, positioning PHS as a social impact leader using horticulture to advance health and key products such as the Philadelphia Flower Show, Public Gardens and Landscapes, Meadowbrook Farm, and Pop Up Gardens.  
• Directly lead marketing, communications, lead generation, and ticket sales activities responsible for generating 150,000 leads per year; directly lead sales of ticket and ticket-related revenue for Flower Show of $8m+ per year; and contributing to the success of work by Development and others to convert leads into members, customers, and volunteers.  
• Plan and deliver strategic growth in awareness, market share, and revenue.  This includes market research and growth planning activities in partnership with the Chief Development Officer as well as championing product development efforts to tie the Philadelphia Flower Show, Membership Experience, Public Gardens and Landscapes and other offerings more closely to the demands of current and potential audiences.  
• Lead the development and distribution of content related to horticulture, gardening, and applying horticulture to advance health and well-being via the PHS McLean Library, GROW (quarterly member publication), and digital channels.   
• Analyze and report on effectiveness of all marketing, communications, and sales activities and recommend investments and adjustments in approach based on results.   
• As assigned, lead org-wide initiatives related to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and other strategic priorities.   
• Serve as an internal and external spokesperson for PHS.    
• Manage PHS's intellectual property assets.   

Ideal Experience and Qualities

The ideal candidate will bring proven experience leading and transforming highly successful business-to-consumer and business-to-business marketing efforts. The successful candidate must demonstrate the experience necessary to deliver on the responsibilities listed above. Expected experience and personal qualities include, but are not limited, to: 

• At least 10 years of senior-level experience leading marketing, communications, and sales activities in comparable or larger business-to-consumer and business-to-business organizations and leading multi-level teams of staff; managing a multi-disciplinary team of 10+ people; and direct revenue ownership. Successful candidate must possess relevant, significant experience in all three areas (marketing, communications, and sales).  
• Personal passion for PHS’s work using horticulture to advance health and well-being through the Philadelphia Flower Show, Healthy Neighborhoods, Public Gardens and Landscapes, and Member/Gardener Engagement.  
• Personal commitment and desire to advance inside and outside the organization PHS’s Values and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Statement. 
• Proven ability to think strategically AND execute to results in a fast-changing, complex organizational environment.    
• Comfort working in a complex organization including working up (with the President and the volunteer board), horizontally (with peers in different functions), and down (with team, both under direct control and in other functions).  
• Demonstrated experience driving growth in awareness, market share, revenue, and other resources preferably from individuals, businesses, non-profits, governments, and foundations.  
• Proven track record of envisioning, creating, executing, and evaluating successful marketing, communications, and sales activities from scratch including advocating for internal support and resources; building and leading cross-functional teams; and working with broad audiences with wide-ranging needs and expectations.
• Robust experience in leading complex Marketing, Communications, and Sales activities including growth planning and product development.   
• Passion and results for recruiting, developing, and leading best-in-class teams; championing team members professional growth; facilitating collaborative planning, decision-making, and execution across teams; and taking responsibility for team efforts, being held accountable to results, acknowledging failure, and crafting improvement strategies.   
• Political savvy and emotional maturity, ability to consider all sides of an issue, prioritize and respectfully balance competing interests and perspectives; active listening; eliciting and receiving disparate input from many sources, then analyzing and crystalizing that information into a sound, well-organized message.  
• Calm and unflappable style, underpinned with focused energy; unquestioned integrity, seasoned with a sense of perspective.