Skagit Tourism Bureau is Hiring! - Visit Skagit Valley - North Cascades National Park to Farmlands to Salish Sea

Skagit Tourism Bureau is Hiring!

The Skagit Tourism Bureau represents Skagit County’s tourism industry and is governed by its Board of Directors. The CEO will run the organization, formed in 2021, while working closely with the Tourism Promotion Area Advisory Board that was established in 2020 to promote Skagit County tourism.

At the onset, the CEO will research the region and develop relationships in order to gain a deep understanding of the many strengths that each community offers and what they do to generate demand for travel and tourism. The position is then anticipated to evolve as the organization and its partners put the strategic plan into action to achieve its established mission.

While leading the organization, the CEO must demonstrate the ability to generate tourism demand in and for Skagit County. The position will require strong leadership, operations management, marketing, advertising, maintaining relationships and funding, while working to evolve the goals and objectives in collaboration with the Board of Directors. The CEO must represent the tourism/destination marketing sector within Skagit County and represent Skagit County as well externally.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

  • Possess strong leadership, management, presentation, public speaking and general ambassadorial qualities that befit a CEO in a high-profile community role.
  • Demonstrate the ability to develop and maintain relationships with formal and informal leaders and tourism stakeholders across state lines, within the State of Washington, and to a higher degree within the region and Skagit County, its four cities and four towns.
  • Effectively manage with strong business acumen the non-profit organization, its employees and operating budget in a professional, productive, legal, ethical manner as required by the Board of Directors and in compliance with any particular sources of funds.
  • Able to coordinate, organize, chair and/or effectively participate in various board and committee meetings of non- profit organizations.
  • Able to identify risk and opportunity in financial, legal and other business documents, agreements, and situations.
  • Produce and present regular reports to the Skagit Tourism Bureau Board and the Tourism Promotion Area Advisory Board, at the frequency requested by that entity. Work with multiple stakeholders to retain and renew annually the contract with Skagit County to deploy Tourism Promotion Area (TPA) assessed funds.
  • Develop and maintain the positive and professional reputation of the Skagit Tourism Bureau. Function as the Bureau’s and tourism industry’s spokesperson to various media, at functions, tradeshows, meetings and other events.
  • Able to independently or with hired professionals conduct and oversee organized market research to identify and measure opportunity, conduct competitive analyses, develop marketing strategies, design and launch advertising campaigns, and to manage and measure the success of such campaigns while continuing to build the Skagit brand and increase awareness.
  • Able to listen and absorb to understand multiple points of view, find consensus and common ground between stakeholders and work effectively toward agreeable solutions.
  • Able to identify the strengths and capacities of others to perform, and to delegate work appropriately.
  • Able to quickly develop and implement strategies that maximize the capture of specific market segment demand, such as convention and sports tournament business, by coordinating with multiple parties (i.e. hospitality operators, retailers, cities and towns, tournament organizers).
  • Good working knowledge of website and social media management, collateral development, e-commerce, public relations, group/meeting and sports sales solicitation, partnerships and research.
  • Able to attend and participate in activities in person, occasionally before or after “regular” work hours. Travel out of office may range from 20% to 50% per month, or as necessitated by the organization’s goals and objectives. Overnight travel will likely be required, from time to time. At least during the first couple of years, the CEO is expected to focus considerable effort on promoting the value of tourism and helping develop and support tourism assets around Skagit County.
  • Able to use Microsoft Office and destination marketing software.
  • A valid WA State driver’s license. Personal and readily available transportation.
  • This CEO position is full time exempt.
  • Candidates must be able to lift 25lbs.

EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE

  • A Bachelor’s degree from a four-year college or university in Business Administration, Marketing, Public Relations, Communications, Tourism or related fields is highly preferred.
  • A minimum of five (5) years of tourism or related industry experience and previous DMO leadership experience is preferred.

KEY CHARACTERISTICS

  • Consensus builder
  • Listener
  • Strong communicator
  • Confident yet humble
  • Adaptable and resilient
  • Strategic yet tactical
  • Politically savvy
  • Diplomatic yet clear
  • Creative
  • Strong business acumen
  • Relationship builder
  • Outgoing and positive

TOP PRIORITIES

  1. Learn and immerse self in Skagit County, meet and begin building relationships with stakeholders, city and county officials.
  2. Work with the Board of Directors to execute the strategic plan for Skagit Tourism Bureau.
  3. Work with outside agency to execute marketing plan and strategy, including brand, website and digital presence.
  4. Represent and operate the Skagit Tourism Bureau with the utmost integrity and effectiveness.
  5. Promote the “cause” and value of tourism throughout Skagit County to all stakeholders.

COMPENSATION

This position is a full-time exempt position with a salary range of $75,000 to $125,000 annually.

APPLICATION PROCESS

Interested candidates should submit their resume and cover letter to john@skagit.org for consideration. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.