Senior Director of Engagement and Experience

Louisville, KY

American Printing House for the Blind

Date Posted: 10/2/2024

We know that access to the right tools and information at the right time can change lives. At APH, our job is to break down barriers and empower students, families, adults, and educators, creating a future that belongs to everyone.

Located in Louisville KY, we manufacture and distribute products and services for people who are blind or low vision, including braille large type books and educational aids.

We’re not just looking forward to an accessible future - we’re making it happen every day.  And, with the latest technology, we think the future has never been brighter for people who are blind or have vision loss.  Come join us.

“We embrace and value access, belonging, inclusion, diversity, and equity.  Women and Minorities, along with Veterans and others who are members of a protected class, or who may need a workplace accommodation, are encouraged to apply.” 

Senior Director of Engagement and Experience

This role assures strategic and efficient deployment in how we communicate with our customers, stakeholders, and partners and respond to their needs.  Reporting to the Vice-President of Innovation and Strategy, this key leader supports Dot 6, our internal marketing/creative/sales services agency.  Key to our goals is the agency’s ability to provide active listening and responses to our customers who are babies, students, and adults who are blind or low vision, and the professionals who support them, collecting and analyzing their information continually to produce better products and services.

This position requires a professional with the right mix of relevant experience and skills, an ability to flex between strategic, business, and mission-focused decisions, the ability to negotiate and find win-win compromises, and a high level of energy to get things done in a fast-paced, high-growth, cross-team development environment.  They should exhibit the APH core values of respect, growth, and innovation in all aspects of work.

Location:

This position is based in Louisville, Kentucky and allows for a hybrid work schedule.

Compensation and Benefits

 $119,000.00 – $148,000.00 | Salary is negotiable depending on experience.

Benefits:

• Health Insurance covered at 80% for employees – plans include family planning benefits

• HSA Plan and FSA Plan – both include company contribution!

• Competitive Dental and Vision Plans

• Health and Well-being initiatives

• 4 weeks PTO

• 11 Paid Holidays

• 401(k) Plans with company match and immediate vesting

• Company provided Short Term Disability

• Basic Life Insurance at no cost to employees

• Voluntary Life Insurance with Accidental Death and Disability

• Educational Assistance and Professional Development Opportunities

• Optional Hybrid Work Schedule for approved positions only

• Public Service Loan Forgiveness Employer

Essential Duties and Tasks

• Be the keeper and the guardian of the APH brand and its house of brands, including the Dot Experience (museum), APH Connect Center (website and information/referral), Hive (LMS), APH Press (publishing), and more.  Keep brand standards updated, have a plan for brand evolution, and ensure brand discipline across the organization.  Ensure all external and internal messaging is consistent, aspirational, accessible, and appropriate for our audiences.  Develop and maintain a comprehensive marketing strategy for the organization.

• Oversee department, project, process, and data intake governance and procedures.  Use science to measure how effective processes are at communicating information accurately to ensure efficiency, quality, customer satisfaction, and mission impacts.  This includes internal processes to submit creative and marketing projects; the response, collection, and analysis of customer feedback through appropriate channels; the collection and analysis of digital metrics; measurements of employee efficiency, and more.  Communicate and drive adoption and alignment of these standards and policies across the organization.

• Provide direct supervision and performance evaluation to the Director of Creative Services, Director of Communications and Engagement, and Director of Social Enterprise (sales).

• Broker cooperation across departments internally at APH to build teamwork and expertise necessary to assure that projects are completed on time, on budget, and to high standards of quality.

• Be the source of business intelligence for the Engagement and Experience departments by monitoring financials to ensure that revenue goals are being met, expenses are meeting budgeted expectations, grant-funded projects are meeting financial requirements, and partner projects are falling in line according to contractual agreements.  Prepare and submit the annual budget working with department directors and the Finance department.

• Oversee the development of contracts and agreements with partners, consultants, and vendors assuring productive and respectful business relationships.  Lead and monitor RFP processes to assure they follow guidelines for fairness and transparency.

• Oversee a professional development program for staff as their roles evolve to meet APH’s changing structures.  Provide sufficient learning opportunities, coaching, training, and knowledge transfer to ensure success with new job responsibilities.  Develop an onboarding training plan for new employees and measure effectiveness.

• Take ownership responsibility and be the manager and point of contact for all decisions concerning front-end content, processes, user experience, and philosophy for the APH website.  Keep the site accessible, cohesive, manageable, and user-friendly, managing growth sufficiently so that it is always relevant and fresh, but never unwieldy.  Establish clear hierarchies for content decisions, customer communication, and goals for user growth.  Protect brand integrity.  Manage cross-department collaborative decision-making as needed.

• Support the strategic plan goals of core and partnership development by nurturing and maintaining strong, key relationships with EOTs, field influencers, vendors, top customers, international distributors, parents, teachers, and professionals.  Act as a positive APH representative in these relationships and at public events, moving our “welcome everyone” philosophy through actions, words, and deeds.

Minimum Qualifications – Experience – Training

• Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Public Relations, Communications, Business, or related field.  Master’s preferred.

• 8+ years’ relevant work experience in Sales, Business, Marketing, or Communications.

• 5+ years’ experience in a supervisory role.

• 3+ years’ work experience in the field of blindness and low vision or a related social sector field.

A combination of education, training, and experience may be substituted when competency in the role is demonstrated.  Reasonable accommodation may be provided for those who are able to perform the essential duties of the job.

Specialized Skills and Knowledge:

• Solid general management capability with skills in the following areas: strategy, operational management, supervision, collaboration, and marketing/sales.

• Strong leadership qualities and organizational skills.

• Independent judgment and mature decision-making skills to deal with situations that have significant financial, mission, and compliance impacts.

• Knowledge of nonprofit marketing/communications/social impacts.

• Understanding of the nuances of communicating mission objectives nationally and internationally.

• Solid understanding of project management techniques, methodologies, and best practices.

• Excellent verbal, written, and presentation skills and able to communicate technical, business, and mission issues in support of strategic goals.

How to Apply

If you have trouble accessing the application through Paycom, please contact Ryan Ward at rward@aph.org.