Head of Membership Communities

Location: Predominantly home based, with attendance at the Harpenden, Hertfordshire office approximately twice per month

Permanent, Full Time

Membership Bespoke is recruiting for a Head of Membership Communities on behalf of a leading professional membership organisation.

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced membership professional with a strong track record of creating, developing and growing member communities. The organisation has recently introduced a new member platform with community functionality, and a major priority for this role will be turning this into active, engaged and valuable professional communities.

The Role

Working closely with the Managing Director and as part of the Senior Leadership Team, you will take ownership of membership engagement, communities, experience, retention and growth. A key focus will be developing the organisation's member communities, creating opportunities for members to connect, collaborate, network, share knowledge and become more actively involved.

Key Responsibilities

• Create, develop and grow active member communities
• Lead the rollout and growth of communities through the new member platform
• Increase member participation, interaction and engagement
• Develop communities across different member groups, career stages and professional interests
• Create opportunities for members to network, collaborate and share knowledge
• Develop mentoring, events, roundtables and other community-led initiatives
• Recruit and engage volunteers, ambassadors and community champions
• Drive membership engagement, retention, renewals and growth
• Improve the overall member journey, proposition and experience
• Use member feedback, CRM/AMS data and insights to improve engagement
• Lead and develop a small Membership Services team

About You

We are particularly keen to hear from established membership professionals who have hands-on experience of building and managing member or professional communities. Community management experience is essential for this appointment.

You will ideally bring:

• Proven experience creating, developing and growing member communities
• Experience driving participation and engagement within professional or membership communities
• Strong membership and engagement experience within a professional body, trade association, institute or similar organisation
• Experience using online member/community platforms to increase engagement
• Evidence of improving member engagement, retention, growth or value
• Experience developing initiatives such as mentoring, networking, member groups or ambassador programmes
• Confidence taking ownership, introducing new ideas and turning them into action
• Strong relationship-building skills with members, volunteers and senior stakeholders

This role would suit someone who understands that successful membership is about more than communications and renewals - it is about building thriving communities that members actively want to be part of.