Awana is hiring: Director, Sales & Marketing in Gallatin

At Awana, we believe true change happens in the communities when children and youth are transformed by the gospel and engaged in Biblical discipleship in the presence of a caring adult. We believe that kids can come to know, love and serve Jesus, following Him for a lifetime. This is why, for 70+ years, Awana has been working with leaders in local churches in the US and around the world, providing solutions that equip these women and men to make disciples in children and youth.

Today, God is using Awana to reach over 7.1 million kids in 136 countries around the world. With over 500,000 equipped leaders in 84,000 clubs/churches, Awana is able to play a vital role in global evangelism and discipleship of children and youth. If you are passionate about being integral to reaching kids with the gospel, join us, and become a part of our global cause.

Summary

The Director of Sales & Marketing works to advance the ministry of Awana by providing leadership and ownership for effective ministry expansion through promoting and selling Awana events, products, services, curriculum, and other resources primarily to churches. This individual is specifically responsible for understanding church resource industry trends, building effective sales and marketing strategies and plans, while guiding execution and accountability for accomplishing organizational goals. This individual will lead an internal marketing team while working cross-functionally with various stakeholders across the organization.

This position is based in metro Nashville, TN with travel required for organizational meetings, conventions, events, and to visit various churches & ministries. Meeting locations would include our offices in St. Charles, IL and Nashville, TN.

Hiring Range for this position is $87,000 - $92,000 commensurate with experience

Who We Are Looking For:

• An exemplary leader who builds, mentors, and engages assigned team(s) while ensuring the team’s processes and work exceed the standards of operational and cultural excellence.
• A good steward of assigned budget(s), allocating appropriate expenses for effective ministry in line with our vision and mission.
• Team player who supports, upholds and demonstrates Awana values in internal and external communications and relationships.
• Collaborative partner who has a natural ability to create genuine relationships with our internal team and external partners.
• Logical problem solver who proactively communicates workflow and/or deadline status to the team.
• Self-motivated, goal-oriented professional with a passion for helping fuel exponential ministry growth.
• Flexible team member who is open to taking on new responsibilities and easily adapts to shifting priorities and needs.
• Champion of children to belong, believe and become resilient disciples.

Key Responsibilities:

Team Leadership and Development

• Ensure the team's processes and work meet team standards of operational and cultural excellence, and enable the Awana executive leaders to focus on driving strong ministry outcomes.

Sales and Revenue Growth

• Build and execute strategies for revenue growth through the promotion and sale of membership, curriculum, and events, including both new and renewal business.
• Own and hit/exceed annual sales targets in conjunction with the Awana strategic plan.
• Collaborate with field staff to generate leads, follow up accordingly, and drive revenue growth.
• Develop accurate performance and ROI projections, and adjust spending plans based on needs and accountability.
• Create and maintain sales reports that track and measure the success of initiatives.

Marketing and Campaign Management

• Develop and lead campaigns to promote events and products to existing audiences, as well as attract new audiences, both to grow revenue and reach.
• Oversee the organization’s advertising strategy, including paid and earned/traded placements across print, digital, mail, and other necessary marketing channels.
• Understand and leverage marketing and industry best practices to shape campaigns, messaging, and offerings.
• Analyze campaign results to adjust plans as necessary to meet ministry sales targets and projected ministry needs.
• Research new channels or platforms to widen our market base and work with leadership to utilize them most effectively.

Partnership and Networking

• Build, maintain, and further partnerships with networks, organizations, and churches in order to expand the reach and engagement of Awana across curriculum, events, and resources.

What You Need:

• Minimum 10 years’ experience and success in managing sales goals and B2B marketing, ideally in the Christian marketplace.
• Bachelor's degree desired with a concentration in Marketing/Digital Marketing, Business, Christian Education, Children’s Ministry, or similar from an accredited college or university.
• Professional-level people management and cross-functional team leadership experience.
• Demonstrated ability to think strategically, plan, intuitively react, and execute marketing programs that achieve measurable results.
• Strong understanding in CRM (Salesforce a plus), SEO, Google Analytics, Google Adwords, marketing automation, and data visualization tools.
• Experience with A/B and multivariate experiments for various plans and campaigns.
• Exceptional communication and written skills with the ability to craft messaging and marketing language for various campaigns.
• Understanding of traditional and online marketing techniques, best practices of marketing, sales, fundraising, and non-profit organizations desired.
• General understanding of the Bible and the various types of evangelical Christian churches in the United States is required.
• Experience with church curriculum and other resources used in children’s ministry is required. Experience with or a working knowledge of Awana Clubs is a major plus!
• Eligibility to work in the United States is required; this position is not eligible for employment visa sponsorship.

Physical Demands/Working Conditions

While performing the duties of this job, the team member is regularly required to communicate. The team member is also required to regularly utilize computer equipment (e.g., screens and keyboards) to perform work. Awana recommends maintaining ergonomic posture, utilizing properly positioned computer equipment to minimize strain, and taking regular breaks to stretch and move around. Specific vision abilities required by this job included close vision.

In working at exhibit booths and conventions, the team member is regularly required to move about the work environment, including climbing, crouching, and kneeling. Must be able to manually lift, carry up to 35 lbs. Local and out-of-town, overnight travel will be required.

What We Offer:

As a ministry that equips leaders to reach kids with the gospel and engage them in lifelong discipleship, we value our team that makes this happen and are excited to offer:

• Mission-driven work that changes the lives of children and youth around the world.
• Intentional connection, flexibility, family, and community engagement are part of our culture.
• Remote-first work environment, allowing you to do the majority of your work from where it is you call "home”. We also have two office locations designed for collaborative work and connection with colleagues in St. Charles, Illinois, and Nashville, Tennessee, that can be used at your convenience. In this role, you may have some in-person responsibilities that would require your work to be done in our Nashville office as needed.
• Benefits package, including a variety of programs you can choose from to meet you and your family’s needs. Some of these include medical, dental & vision health insurance, paid family leave, 401(k) & Roth 401(k) retirement savings plans with employer match, generous paid vacation & holidays, an employee wellness program, and more!

This Job Description reflects the current assignment of essential functions and is not meant to be all-inclusive. Responsibilities may be assigned or reassigned to this job at any time based on the needs of the organization and may be modified to reasonably accommodate an individual with a disability or for other reasons. Please note, this opportunity is contingent upon favorable completion of a reference check, background check, and I-9 completion.