Posted: 5/22/2026
Salary: $51,000-$56,000/yr; Commensurate with Experience
Ready to tell stories about animal births, conservation wins, and Brew at the Zoo, all in the same week? As our Marketing and Communications Manager, you'll lead social media strategy, manage PR and media relations, and supervise a growing communications team at one of the Southeast's premier wildlife attractions. This role blends creative marketing leadership with real-time guest engagement, agency coordination, and cross-departmental collaboration. You'll shape how thousands of people experience Riverbanks, from the first Instagram post that inspires a visit to the press release that celebrates a major milestone. If you want your marketing career to have meaning, mission, and the occasional otter cameo, keep reading.
The Marketing and Communications Manager leads Riverbanks Zoo and Garden's social media strategy and daily execution, grant application and reporting processes, vendor and agency coordination, and the development of public-facing marketing content. This role is responsible for maintaining a consistent and engaging digital presence, supporting revenue and visibility goals through effective communications, and managing key administrative functions that support departmental operations. A successful candidate will be a strong writer, highly organized, and comfortable working independently in a small team environment with shifting priorities.
Essential Functions:
Strategy & Digital Marketing
- Lead the organization's day-to-day social media presence across all primary platforms, including planning, writing, scheduling, posting, and monitoring content.
- Develop and maintain content calendars aligned with organizational priorities, events, campaigns, conservation milestones, and seasonal programming.
- Monitor performance metrics and audience engagement; adjust strategy and content based on insights and trends.
- Manage community engagement across social platforms and ensure brand consistency and alignment with organizational voice.
- Coordinate with internal teams to gather content, confirm operational details, and ensure timely, accurate storytelling.
Writing and Content Development
- Serve as a content developer for marketing and communications materials, including social media copy, web updates, promotional messaging, grant narratives, and other public-facing communications.
- Support development of talking points, internal messaging, and campaign content as needed.
- Ensure consistency, accuracy, and quality across written materials.
Grant Applications and Reporting
- Research, prepare, write, and submit grant applications in support of programs, initiatives, and organizational priorities.
- Coordinate with Finance and departmental teams to gather information, supporting documents, and follow-up materials for grant submissions and reports.
- Track grant deadlines, reporting requirements, payments, and outcomes.
Agency, Vendor, and Administrative Coordination
- Serve as primary point of contact for external agency relationships, including meeting coordination, approvals, creative review, project follow-up, and payment processing.
- Manage vendor coordination related to marketing services, music licensing, digital tools, and other assigned contracts.
- Process invoices, track budgets, maintain records, and support timely payments for departmental expenses.
- Coordinate administrative details that support execution of marketing and communications projects.
Event Promotion and Cross-Department Coordination
- Support promotion of events, seasonal campaigns, and organizational initiatives through digital channels and related communications.
- Manage content and scheduling for digital displays and other assigned promotional platforms.
- Coordinate with internal departments to support photo requests, messaging needs, timelines, and campaign execution.
- Serve as a liaison with external partners such as visitor centers, community organizations, and other stakeholders as assigned.
Education and Experience: Bachelor's degree in marketing, communications, public relations, journalism, or English, with 3-5 years of experience in marketing, communications, digital content, or any equivalent combination of training and experience which provides the required knowledge, skills and abilities is desired. Demonstrated experience managing social media content and strategy for an organization or brand. Strong writing, editing, and proofreading skills with the ability to adapt tone for different audiences and platforms. Experience managing multiple projects, deadlines, and priorities with a high level of organization and attention to detail. Ability to work independently, take initiative, and adapt in a small team environment.
The ideal candidate will have experience working for a nonprofit, attractions, hospitality, or mission-driven organization holding a role within public relations, media relations, or crisis communication. Familiarity with digital signage systems, grant writing, and agency coordination is preferred. Comes with collaborative, proactive, and solution-oriented approach to problem-solving. Strong analytical skills and ability to use data to inform decisions and optimize performance. Has the ability to supervise, delegate, and provide constructive feedback to team members.
This is a full-time position with standard business hours, and flexibility required for events, weekends, or after-hours coverage as needed. Work is performed in an office environment with occasional on-site event support.
We’re not just looking for someone to fill a role. We’re looking for someone who is passionate about telling stories that inspire, who thrives on collaboration and complex challenges, and who is eager to contribute to an organization that makes a meaningful impact in the community. If you’re ready to take the next step in your project management career and be part of a team that values excellence, innovation, and sustainability, we would love to hear from you!
