Chief Development and Marketing Officer

Details

Posted: 08-Jul-26

Location: New York, New York

Type: Full Time

Categories: Development/Fund Raising

Lincoln Center Plaza | New York, New York

The School of American Ballet (SAB), the official yet independent academy of New York City Ballet (NYCB), is widely recognized as the premier ballet school in the United States. The mission of the School of American Ballet is to train, develop, and nurture talented young dancers from diverse backgrounds for careers in classical ballet with New York City Ballet and companies around the world.

Choreographer George Balanchine and arts patron Lincoln Kirstein founded SAB in 1934 in New York City to provide the comprehensive ballet training required to develop an American ballet heritage and company. The founders launched NYCB 14 years later with dancers trained at the School. SAB has shaped ballet training and performance in the U.S. by producing generations of dancers, choreographers, and artistic leaders for schools and companies nationally and internationally, while addressing industry challenges such as the need for greater diversity among dancers.

SAB has approximately 85 part- and full-time employees and a 50-member Board of Directors. Its operating budget is $20 million and endowment is $95 million.

Lincoln Kirstein and George Balanchine founded SAB with the belief that a distinctly American ballet tradition could only be realized by investing in students. From the inaugural class of 32 dancers in 1934 to the more than 900 young artists who fill its studios today, this commitment to the next generation continues to animate the School. SAB is known for its exceptional classical training and deep artistic heritage.

SAB's artistic program balances fidelity to the Balanchine aesthetic - with its emphasis on musicality, precision, speed, and expansiveness - with a spirit of innovation that continues to influence ballet artistry worldwide. Jonathan Stafford, Zita Ezpeleta Artistic Director and Chair of Faculty, and Carrie W. Hinrichs, Executive Director, lead the School, working in close partnership with the artistic division directors and the senior administrative team.

SAB trains 900+ students annually from the New York City metropolitan area, 35+ states, and 14+ countries.

SAB's scholarships ensure that talent – and not financial means – remains the criterion for access to SAB's world-class training programs. In , the School expects to meet more than $2.4 million in student need, supporting nearly one-third of students. Winter Term scholarships are awarded to students whose families qualify for need-based aid, subsidizing or covering tuition, room and board, academic fees, travel, and supplies.

Summer scholarships include both merit- and need-based aid and reduce/cover tuition, room and board, and travel.

The Chief Development and Marketing Officer (CDMO) provides strategic and operational leadership for SAB fundraising and marketing in support of SAB's mission and long-term financial vitality in an exciting period of growth for the School. The CDMO reports to the Executive Director and is a member of the senior leadership team. The position oversees a 9-person Development team (individual giving, institutional giving, philanthropic events and partnerships, planned giving, capital campaign, operations) and a three-person Marketing team, with five direct reports.

The CDMO, in collaboration with the Executive Director, works closely with the School's 50-member Board of Directors to fulfill the School's annual, capital, and endowment fundraising, as well as school-wide brand and marketing goals. Annual fundraising goals have been approximately $6-7 million in recent years and, as the importance of growing contributed revenue has come into focus, the School seeks to soon surpass $8 million.

A capital/endowment campaign in a strongly successful quiet phase has a working goal of $20 million. The CDMO's arrival is expected to coincide with the campaign's public phase, with successful…