Director of Membership

Educause•REMOTE, Remote, US,

1d•$105,000 - $127,000•Remote

About The Position

The Director of Membership provides strategic and operational leadership for EDUCAUSE’s membership program, with primary accountability for membership growth and retention strategy, operational excellence, membership business performance, governance, and the systems and capabilities required to deliver a scalable, high-value member experience. Reporting to the Vice President of Professional Development and Membership, the Director leads the Membership team responsible for membership operations, service, and relations, including direct supervision of the Senior Manager, Membership Operations. The Director is responsible for translating EDUCAUSE’s organizational priorities related to membership into actionable strategies, capabilities, and performance outcomes, including ensuring the organization can expand into priority markets, deepen engagement across the member lifecycle, reinforce the membership value proposition, and modernize systems and practices to support long‑term growth. Operating as the Director, this role exercises significant autonomy, judgment, and influence, serving as EDUCAUSE’s functional leader for membership while collaborating closely with peers and partnering across Marketing, Technology, Data, Research, and Engagement functions to align lifecycle strategy, communications, analytics, and member experience initiatives.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree.
10-15 years of progressive experience in membership, association management, or a related field, with demonstrated leadership responsibility.
Prior experience leading teams and managing complex operations or programs required.
Strategic thinking and business acumen at a functional leadership level.
Advanced financial, analytical, and operational management skills.
Ability to build positive and productive relationships with a focus on meeting the needs of members and co-workers.
Ability to lead teams, manage performance, and drive results through others.
Ability to collaborate effectively across functions and influence without direct authority.
Excellent, diplomatic written and verbal communication skills and executive presence.
Demonstrated AI literacy, including the ability to apply AI thoughtfully to membership growth, engagement, and operational decision‑making.
Coursework, certification, or professional development related to AI strategy relative to the primary duties and responsibilities of the position.
Ability to lead change initiatives, oversee complex membership programs and projects, and effectively manage competing priorities while ensuring successful execution, stakeholder engagement, and measurable outcomes.
Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer.
Scheduled working hours either in the employee's time zone or EDUCAUSE core working hours or core working hours to be determined with the supervisor.
Be available and responsive during scheduled work hours.
Any time off or change in working hours must be pre-arranged according to department guidelines and consistent with the rules applicable to employment (e.g., vacation, sick, personal, leave of absence).

Nice To Haves

ASAE’s certificate in Association Management or CAE

Responsibilities

Directs and manages staff responsible for providing membership support and membership operations.
Provides direct reports with professional development opportunities including training, coaching, work direction, motivation, feedback and recommendations for rewards and corrective action; conducts performance reviews.
Ensures the department is appropriately staffed to meet its objectives and leads recruiting and selection efforts when vacancies arise, focusing on bringing in talent aligned with EDUCAUSE’s mission and goals.
Leads, coaches, and develops the Membership team, fostering accountability, inclusion, and continuous improvement.
Supervises contractors, outside vendors, and member volunteers providing outsourced services solutions that support the department.
Develops and executes membership growth and retention plans grounded in market analysis, segmentation, and a clearly articulated member lifecycle.
Oversees acquisition, onboarding, renewal, and everboarding strategies that reinforce membership as a progression over time.
Leads strategies to expand the member base by entering new markets and increasing penetration within existing segments.
Leads the governing team responsible for assuring the paywall decisions reflect the organizational principles for member-only value.
Partners with internal stakeholders to support implementation of new or evolving dues models, ensuring operational readiness and clear member communication.
Uses performance data, feedback, and predictive insights to identify churn risks, growth opportunities, and priority audiences.
Provides strategic direction for targeted outreach campaigns, sector‑specific messaging, and recruitment and renewal strategies grounded in market insights.
Contributes to initiatives that personalize member communications and advises on membership value articulation across channels.
Defines strategic lifecycle priorities, retention indicators, and audience engagement objectives in partnership with Marketing and organizational stakeholders.
Develops and maintains a comprehensive membership strategy aligned with EDUCAUSE’s organizational goals for growth, engagement, and long‑term sustainability.
In consultation with the Vice President, establishes annual and multi‑year membership business objectives for membership counts, financial goals, and member experiences.
Translates strategy into operational priorities and resource allocation for the Membership team.
Leads initiatives that integrate membership value drivers into membership communications.
Aligns membership priorities with professional development, research, conferences, publications, and other enterprise initiatives.
Provides leadership and oversight for membership operations, systems, processes, and service delivery.
Provides strategic oversight for EDUCAUSE “member only” initiatives and oversees governance and operational execution of paywall work.
Ensures membership infrastructure is scalable, efficient, and prepared to support personalization, analytics, and future AI‑enabled capabilities.
Oversees effective use and continuous improvement of the AMS/CRM and related platforms.
Establishes and enforces standard operating procedures, service standards, and internal controls.
Leads operational modernization initiatives that improve productivity, reduce manual effort, and enhance data reliability.
Develops action and work plans to ensure alignment between strategy and execution.
Lead member outreach activities to welcome new members, provide onboarding support, and provide ongoing education of the value of membership.
Lead special programs and services to grow and maintain member engagement, i.e., EDUCAUSE Ambassadors, membership orientations, new member onboarding, acknowledge member promotions/retirements, etc.
Attend events (EDUCAUSE’s events and external, industry-related events) to serve as a brand ambassador, participate in recruitment and onboarding activities, and contribute to enhanced member experience activities.
Develop, mature, and maintain new and existing member engagement efforts.
Collaborate with other business units and community leaders to develop new outreach strategies and identify opportunities for continuous improvement of outreach and engagement work.
Supports development and implementation of engagement maturity models and early‑warning indicators that inform proactive outreach and retention strategies.
In consultation with the Vice President, leads membership dues revenue forecasting, dues modeling, and budget planning in collaboration with Finance and the Vice President.
Sets membership strategies based on historic association data, trend data, and forecasting to inform member dues and annual budget scenarios.
Serves as departmental budget manager. Advise the executive lead for membership in developing annual membership dues budget.
Creates policies around rules and exceptions for on-demand member dues invoices carefully documenting any special pricing agreements.
Monitors key performance indicators related to growth, retention, engagement behaviors, revenue, and member satisfaction.
Uses member insights and KPIs to guide prioritization, investment decisions, and continuous improvement.
Champions member data integrity, governance, and integration to ensure readiness for benchmarking, analytics, and AI‑augmented business intelligence.
Partners with data, research, and technology teams to define membership‑related metrics and reporting needs.
Uses dashboards and analytics to support data‑informed decision‑making, growth strategies, and engagement optimization.
Complete supervisor-level training in various systems of record, OFAC compliance, and SOP use and create team training materials and opportunities for direct reports.
Use artificial intelligence strategically and responsibly to advance member expansion, engagement, insight generation, and operational excellence.
Identify and champion AI use cases that improve personalization, predict churn and growth opportunities, enhance decision‑making, and reduce manual operational work.
Ensure AI adoption aligns with EDUCAUSE values, data governance standards, member privacy expectations, and ethical principles.
Model AI literacy and responsible experimentation within the Membership team and contributes membership leadership to enterprise AI initiatives, pilots, and governance efforts.
Represent EDUCAUSE in a professional manner at all times; engages with co-workers, volunteers, and members in a civil, caring, respectful way. Supports the professional development of others in their work to advance the mission and vision of EDUCAUSE.
Participate in EDUCAUSE events and activities as needed. Travel may be required to support EDUCAUSE conferences/events, research team operations, and external events relevant to the position.
Act as a departmental liaison with employees, members, volunteers, volunteer groups, and clients.
Supports members in a manner that facilitates their growth, engagement, and enhances their EDUCAUSE experience.
As a frontline user of EDUCAUSE systems and data services, complies with data quality standards; adheres to data governance policies, procedures, and processes for ensuring data integrity. May act as the application or data collection lead for the department.
Duties, responsibilities and activities may change or new ones may be assigned at any time with or without notice.

Benefits

Medical, Dental, and Vision
2-for-1 employer match to your 403(b) retirement plan; up to 10% of your base salary
Employer-paid Life and AD&D, Short‐Term Disability, and Long‐Term Disability
15 days of vacation and 6 days of personal time annually
9 paid holidays
One week of paid time off when offices are closed between Christmas and New Year’s Day
36-hour work week (without any reduction in pay) amounting to 26 additional days of paid time off each year
Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
Emergency Travel Assistance
Professional development assistance
Monthly connectivity reimbursement