The Morton Arboretum is an internationally-recognized botanical garden and tree research center in Lisle, Illinois. As the champion of trees, the Arboretum is committed to scientifically-informed action, locally and globally, and encouraging the planting and conservation of trees for a greener, healthier, and more beautiful world. 

Trees are a critical asset to our communities, our region, and our world, but they are under threat. Through research and worldwide partnerships, The Morton Arboretum is addressing the many challenges trees face today, bringing awareness to the important role trees play in our lives, and deepening the understanding of trees and the communities of plants, animals and people that rely on them. 

A four-season destination, The Morton Arboretum offers myriad experiences and programs that underscore the importance of trees and nature. On 1,700 acres, members and visitors can discover 4,500 different kinds of plants, educational exhibits, the award-winning Children’s Garden, new Grand Garden, and 16 miles of hiking trails. Classes in horticulture, natural areas restoration, and botanical art, among other areas help inspire and grow nature advocates. The Morton Arboretum is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) charitable organization, welcoming more than 1 million visitors annually.

Industry: Non-profit Organizations
Company Size: 201-500 employees

The Morton Arboretum

Savvy Admin PROD

The Morton Arboretum is a world-renowned tree-focused botanical garden located just outside of Chicago in Lisle, Illinois. With more than one million annual visitors, the Arboretum seeks an experienced marketing specialist to drive awareness of the Arboretum with new audiences, and keep recent guests informed and interested in what the Arboretum is offering through email and marketing strategies and tactics. Help advance our mission to plant and protect trees for a greener, healthier, and more beautiful world while working with a talented marketing team. Work with teams across the organization to achieve institutional priorities and objectives.

Location: Hybrid (The Morton Arboretum, Lisle, IL)

Position Summary: Responsible for the implementation of The Morton Arboretum’s integrated marketing communications that attract and engage audiences and heighten brand awareness. Create brand-appropriate promotional copy for marketing campaigns across communication channels. Play a key role in the development of annual advertising plans. Lead marketing automation and email marketing efforts. Collect and analyze data to measure the success of marketing efforts and improve understanding of Arboretum audiences.

Essential Functions:

Develop and implement promotional and integrated marketing plans for Arboretum exhibitions, events, and programs. Prepare creative briefs and partner with Creative team for campaign creative development. Write, edit, and proofread branded marketing copy for use across communication channels..

Serve as a point-of-contact with external media agencies and internal teams. Support the development of and facilitate an annual advertising plan to support reputation, participation, and revenue goals.

Oversee the generation, analysis, and presentation of marketing statistic reports comparing promotional activities with attendance and revenue trends.

Lead email marketing efforts, including automation, setting a comprehensive strategy that balances multiple departments’ needs and schedules, providing and producing content, tracking outcomes, proposing tests and improvements.

Work in partnership with the Marketing and Communications Project Manager, as well as Creative and Public Relations colleagues, to set priorities, monitor job progress by tracking schedules and meeting deadlines for deliverables, communicate changes and job status, expedite requirements, track and meet budgets, and resolve scheduling conflicts and project problems.

Assists in preparing the annual marketing budget. Submit and track incoming invoices to Finance team. Assist with budget management.

Demonstrate alignment with the Arboretum’s employee core values.

Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications: Bachelor’s degree required, preferably in a related field. 3+ years of relevant experience required, including marketing, email marketing, and advertising project management. Exceptional writing/editing/proofreading skills, and meticulous attention to detail. Experience leading project collaborations with successful and measurable outcomes required. Experience with email marketing and digital marketing (examples: Meta, TikTok, Google Ads) required. Ability to meet deadlines and handle multiple projects simultaneously required. Advanced knowledge and demonstrated ability of marketing tactics and how to combine them effectively required. Experience working with an advertising or media planning agency preferred. Critical thinking and problem-solving required. Familiarity with Google applications, Asana, Survey Monkey, Salesforce, Act On, and email and marketing automation systems preferred. Experience in an agency, museum, botanic garden, or large-scale nonprofit organization helpful.

Success Factors:Positive attitude with the ability to work to deadlines in a fast-paced environment. Curiosity about new communication channels and opportunities, as well as the trends that inform them. Emphasis on teamwork and supporting others. Analytical mindset with the ability to identify solutions to increase marketing success. Confident, comfortable public demeanor with strong verbal skills. Detail-oriented, flexible, and self-directed. Ability to balance creative and strategic thinking, and sustain complex collaborations. Customer service-oriented with the ability to relate effectively with persons internal and external to the Arboretum.

Physical Demands and Work Environment:The physical demands and work environment characteristics described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these essential functions.

Physical Demands: Requires some physical activity: it is necessary to operate a computer for prolonged periods on a daily basis, limited carrying and lifting (up to 25 lbs.), some local travel.

Work Environment: Office environment. Work is performed primarily indoors, with some outdoors or off-site activity for public events.

Equipment: General office equipment, digital camera, tablets, scanner.

Schedule: Position may require occasional weekend or evening hours.

The expected hiring range for this position is annualized at $60,000-$66,000 based on experience that will be evaluated during the candidate selection process. We believe in the importance of pay equity and consider the internal equity of our current team members as a part of the final offer.

Our benefits include:

Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance

401(k) with generous match

Generous vacation, floating holidays, and sick days

And more! For a complete list of benefits, please view our competitive benefits package.

For full consideration, please submit a resume and cover letter.

The Morton Arboretum is a champion for diversity, supporting a culture of inclusion that attracts, inspires, and engages people to achieve success. The Arboretum is committed to hire and develop employees based on job-related qualifications irrespective of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, or veteran status. The Morton Arboretum is dedicated to complying with our obligations as an equal opportunity employer. All applicants are guaranteed equal consideration for employment.

Marketing Specialist

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