Membership and Retention Manager

The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) is an international conservation charity, driven by science, working to protect and restore wildlife in the UK and around the world. Our vision is a world where wildlife thrives and every role, every person in every corner of ZSL has one thing in common - we are all conservationists, and passionate about restoring wildlife.

We have nearly 150,000 ZSL Zoo Members, who made over 680,000 visits to our conservation zoos - London and Whipsnade Zoo, last year, bringing us over £10 million of income; so they play a key role in supporting ZSL's important conservation work.

The Membership and Retention Manager leads the growth and engagement of the organisation's Zoo membership base, developing and delivering strategies that drive acquisition, retention, and long-term value. Working collaboratively across teams, the role ensures seamless, insight-led journeys that convert visitors into loyal members and supporters, underpinned by effective CRM communications and data-driven campaign delivery to maximise income and lifetime value.

This is a 12-month maternity cover role. The position offers hybrid working, with at least one day per week spent in the office to connect with the team.

Interviews will be held on 28th November, in person at our head office in Regent's Park, London Zoo.

Key responsibilities:

• Strategy and Growth: Lead the development and delivery of a data-driven membership marketing strategy to grow acquisition, retention, and member value across all channels.
• Collaboration and Partnerships: Build strong cross-team and supplier partnerships to enhance supporter experiences, operational efficiency, and member value.
• Performance and Insights: Monitor and report on membership performance, providing insights and leadership to drive continuous improvement and team success.
• Fundraising Alignment: Collaborate with Fundraising to nurture member-to-donor pathways through targeted segmentation and coordinated communications.
• CRM and Retention: Drive personalised, insight-led CRM and retention strategies that deepen engagement and foster long-term supporter loyalty.

• Digital and Systems Optimisation: Partner with digital and operational teams to optimise online journeys, systems, and data structures for seamless supporter experiences and retention growth.

• Successfully managed a membership scheme, running both acquisition campaigns and retention programmes.

• Proven experience of developing and implementing marketing campaigns across of variety of media.
• Knowledge of ticketing/CRM platforms (e.g. Spektrix, Tessitura, or Salesforce).
• Confident using performance and customer data to develop actionable marketing plans.
• Familiar with customer databases and developing membership customer journeys.
• Understanding of customer lifecycle management, with a focus on email marketing.
• Experience of developing and implementing a retention strategy.
• Strong interpersonal skills and demonstrable experience of sourcing, managing, negotiating and liaising with suppliers.

This role is subject to standard pre-employment checks, including the candidate's right to work in the UK.

We strongly encourage applications from all backgrounds and celebrate the value of having a team of employees with diverse skills, experiences, and heritage. We are committed to ensuring our teams can bring their authentic selves to work without fear of discrimination. ZSL has active equality networks for our staff with lived experience and those who provide active allyship in Race and Culture, Team Pride, Disability Network, and Menopause Network, complemented by our strategic EDI Steering Group.

We're ZSL, an international conservation charity. Through our unrivalled animal experts in our two zoos (London Zoo and Whipsnade Zoo), the work of our pioneering scientists, our dedicated conservationists, our purpose is to inspire, inform and empower people to stop wild animals going extinct. Our vision is a world where wildlife thrives and we're working every day to achieve this. From investigating the health threats facing animals, to helping people and wildlife live alongside each other, we are committed to bringing wildlife back from the brink of extinction.

What do we offer?
At ZSL, we are proud of our approach to employee benefits. Our benefits include:

• Our vision and purpose - you'll work alongside colleagues who are passionate about science-led conservation, knowing that you will help us to inspire, inform and empower people to stop wildlife going extinct
• Pension scheme - we offer a generous pension scheme with up to 12% contributory pension
• Flexible working - talk to us about your flexible working requirements and we will do everything we can to make sure you work in a way that suits you
• Holidays - 25 days annual leave allowance, plus UK bank holidays
• Wellbeing - access to a blended programme of wellbeing initiatives, including confidential access to our 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme
• Life assurance - eligible employees will be enrolled in ZSL's life assurance scheme from their first day
• Complimentary tickets - annual allocation of Whipsnade Zoo and London Zoo tickets, with a 30% discount in online and retail shops
• Cycle2Work - our cycle to work scheme enables you to lease a bicycle
• Season ticket loan - we offer an interest free loan for eligibly London-based employees to buy a season ticket for travel between home and work
• Family friendly policies - we offer enhanced maternity, paternity, and adoption packages

NB: We reserve the right to close our advertisement early or extend the advertising date until a suitable candidate has been found.