Vice President of Membership

Smithbucklin, a 675-person, employee-owned professional services company with more than 75 years of success serving the association market, and primary offices in Chicago and Washington, D.C., is looking for a Vice President of Membership to join our Chicago or Washington, D.C. office. The Vice President of Membership is responsible for driving membership growth and engagement across Smithbucklin’s association management client base.

About Smithbucklin

Smithbucklin empowers associations, societies, and communities to enrich and move industries, fields, and professions forward. Working together in a network-based organizational structure, we help organizations operate efficiently and effectively, through the right combination of talent, expertise and technology, which enables growth and mission impact.

At Smithbucklin we embody a culture driven by optimism, ambition, expertise, and thoughtfulness, where every team member is empowered to exceed expectations and deliver exceptional results for our clients. Join us in shaping the future of association management, where our values serve as the cornerstone of our success.

This role might be a great fit if…

You are a membership guru

You believe that associations are a key enabler in today’s business world

You are data-driven and performance-focused

You like digging in and getting your hands dirty

You thrive on leading innovation and implementing best practices

You enjoy having a wide array of working relationships

In this role, you can expect to…

The VP Membership is responsible for four areas: (1) work on individual clients to positively impact membership, (2) improving processes and developing new tools and systems for membership across clients, (3) membership thought leadership, and (4) designing Smithbucklin’s membership practice of the future.

Client Work

Dig in with a select group of current clients to drive membership growth & engagement

Facilitate definition and enhancement of membership value propositions

Analyze data to refine membership metrics & leading indicators

Understand the unique community (or communities) and how to foster increased connectivity

Collaborate on development of member-focused marketing & communications

Identify specific strategies to drive growth & increase engagement

Participate in new business opportunities that require deep membership expertise

Process Work

Own the development and refinement of a proprietary Smithbucklin membership playbook, containing best practices for membership growth & engagement across a wide variety of organization types

Champion the use of data and critical thinking to understand and drive membership decision making. Including:

Understanding data sources

Working with membership, operations, marketing and technology teams to improve member data access, reporting, and integration (e.g., marketing automation)

Making use of data as a key performance indicator and decision-making tool

Analyze membership data for Smithbucklin’s clients in aggregate to understand broad trends and identify areas for improvement

Identify, develop, and deploy strategies that will drive membership growth and increase engagement for Smithbucklin’s client organizations

Add to Smithbucklin's library of standards for membership practices:

Evaluate or develop tools for understanding and analyzing membership

Develop standards and consistent approaches for membership success

Thought Leadership

Research and develop membership thought leadership that is published through a variety of channels, for example:

How to define and measure membership engagement

Innovation in membership models

Perspectives on membership perceptions and trends

Approaches to understanding member and potential member needs

Curate industry trends and benchmarks for membership. Initiate original research when needed

Organization Design & Development

Lead the design and development of the membership “practice” at Smithbucklin

Required Experience

10+ years of experience in the association industry

5+ years of experience in a leadership role for membership

Experience with multiple membership models: individual, corporate, student, etc.

Experience in different types of membership organizations: trade, professional, healthcare, chapters, SIGs, etc.

Desired Experience

Active Certified Association Executive (CAE) designation

Experience in the professional services industry

Research & innovation experience

Experience with organizational design & development

Thought leader (active publisher of content with following, speaker)

More about Smithbucklin

Our hybrid environment offers you the option of working from home two days per week. All employees come to the office on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, and have the flexibility to work elsewhere on Wednesday and Friday.

The salary for this role is $160,000-$200,000. in addition to base salary, performance-based bonuses and a comprehensive benefits package are available.

Employment is contingent upon successful completion of reference and background investigation based on position.

Where Do You Fit?

Whether you are just beginning your career or are a mid- or senior-level professional, working at Smithbucklin will offer you opportunities to develop transferable skills, acquire meaningful knowledge and gain rich experiences at an accelerated pace. By working collaboratively with smart, ambitious, multi-talented, genuine and hardworking colleagues, you will build meaningful, deep and enduring relationships that will serve you well throughout your career, regardless of your chosen path. In addition, as a 100 percent employee-owned company, Smithbucklin offers all of our people – regardless of position or compensation – an equal chance to experience fulfilment and reap the benefits of ownership. As owners, our employees control the destiny of Smithbucklin and are unified in the goal of building a great, enduring company.

Equal Employment Opportunity

At Smithbucklin, Equal Employment Opportunity is our commitment and goal. All qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, national origin, gender, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, marital status, or any other protected status designated by federal, state or local law. Applicants are encouraged to confidentially self-identify when applying.

Smithbucklin will not sponsor applicants for work visas and as a precondition of employment, you must be authorized to work in the United States without limitation.