Chief Membership Development Officer

This position requires relocating to be able to work at Shriners International Headquarters: 2900 North Rocky Point Drive, Tampa, FL 33607.

Success Profile

A.                  Broad Goals and Attributes

A successful Chief Membership Development Officer (CMDO) will be able to:

1. Translate broad organizational goals into an actionable, field-informed membership roadmap.
2. Build trust quickly with both volunteer and staff leaders.
3. Lead with diplomacy, credibility, and consistency in a culture where influence matters as much as formal authority.
4. Improve clarity around membership roles, systems, and accountability per generally accepted nonprofit membership and association management practices.
5. Balance strategic thinking with visible, practical support for implementation.

B.                  Required Qualifications

1. Bachelor’s degree in communications, business, nonprofit management, or a related field; equivalent relevant experience may be considered in lieu of a degree.
2. A minimum of 5 years’ experience of demonstrated leadership experience with progressively broader responsibility in membership development, constituent engagement, association management, nonprofit operations, or a related area.
3. Experience developing and implementing strategic plans, managing multiple priorities, and leading complex initiatives across departments or stakeholder
4. Experience working effectively with volunteers, boards, committees, or other shared-leadership
5. Background in association management with direct responsibility for chapter/component relations or field operations.
6. Strong written, verbal, presentation, project management, and relationship-management skills.
7. Ability to use data, technology platforms, and common productivity tools to support planning, communication, and performance management.
8. This is the senior membership position with the Shrine fraternity. Accordingly, the candidate should be eligible for membership in Shriners International.  The successful candidate is, or will become, a member of Shriners International within one year of the date of hire as a condition of employment.

C.                  Preferred Qualifications

1. Experience leading membership growth, retention, or engagement strategy in a nonprofit, association, fraternal, or mission-driven organization.
2. Certification or professional development in membership, association, or nonprofit management, such as ASAE’s Certified Association Executive
3. Knowledge of Masonic, Shrine, or similarly structured volunteer organizations and their governance culture.

Position Overview

The CMDO is the senior staff leader responsible for shaping and advancing Shriners International’s membership strategy, systems, and field support model. This role leads enterprise-wide efforts to strengthen member acquisition, retention, engagement, leadership development, and membership value while helping align membership best practices, strategy, accountability, and execution across headquarters, volunteers, regions, temples, associations, and clubs.

The CMDO must combine a thorough knowledge of the American Society of Association Executives’ (ASAE’s) core knowledge domains, strategic discipline with strong relationship-building, cultural awareness, and high emotional intelligence. Success in this position depends on the ability to work effectively within a volunteer-led environment while creating clear expectations, practical systems, useful data, and productive relationships that improve membership outcomes over time.

A.                  Reporting Relationship

The CMDO reports to the Executive Vice President/COO.

B.                  Collaborative Relationships

The CMDO works in close partnership with senior staff, the Shriners International Board of Directors, Executive Membership Committee, other designated volunteer leaders, and cross- functional headquarters teams.

Key Responsibilities

A.                  Strategic Leadership

1. Develop, lead, and continuously refine a comprehensive membership development strategy based on Association best practices that supports growth, retention, re-engagement, and long-term membership vitality in alignment with the SI Strategic Plan.
2. Create and evaluate practical short- and long-range membership plans, priorities, goals, and performance measures aligned with organizational direction and constituent needs.
3. Recommend strategies, initiatives, and investments that strengthen the value, relevance, and experience of membership across the fraternity.
4. Use Association best practices, data, field insight, and stakeholder feedback to assess program effectiveness and guide decision-making, while recognizing the need for trust and relationship-based leadership.
5. Encourage adoption of goals, plans, and tasks through relationship building and shared vision.
6. Ensure that membership strategies, tools, and communications reinforce the desired image, brand, and positioning of Shriners International with internal and external audiences.

B.                  Membership Systems and Execution

1. Oversee the design, implementation, and evaluation of membership acquisition, retention, engagement, and recovery initiatives across the organization in leading a multi-disciplinary team.
2. Strengthen the systems, processes, tools, training, and follow-up mechanisms that support membership work at the headquarters, regional, and local levels.
3. Develop membership-related resources, programs, and services that can be effectively used by temples, associations, and other volunteer leaders.
4. Establish consistent methods for gathering feedback on membership programs, services, and communications from key constituencies.
5. Monitor trends, identify opportunities for innovation, and bring forward practical ideas grounded in nonprofit membership and association management practices.

C.                  Partnership With Volunteers and Staff

1. Build strong, credible relationships with volunteer leaders, regional membership leaders, senior staff, temples and other internal partners to support effective execution and shared ownership.
2. Clarify roles, expectations, and working relationships among staff and volunteers involved in membership development, and evaluate the effectiveness of the same with a focus on continual improvement.
3. Embrace membership operations that identify and transform volunteer culture to be consistent with membership best practices, recognizing that accountability structures must be realistic, explicit, and consistently reinforced.
4. Serve as a visible and knowledgeable resource through purposeful engagement, encouragement, listening, coaching, and relationship-building.
5. Collaborate across departments and functions to ensure membership strategy is integrated with communications, leadership development, operations, and other enterprise priorities.

D.                  Team Leadership and Management

1. Lead, coach, and develop membership staff while fostering a culture of professional practices, accountability, collaboration, responsiveness, and continuous improvement.
2. Recruit, supervise, support, and evaluate staff in ways that strengthen performance, succession readiness, and professional growth.
3. Create management systems and operating practices that enable smooth, consistent, and transparent work within the Office of Membership Development.
4. Equip staff and volunteers with clear information, shared goals and understanding of professional practices, appropriate training, and practical resources needed for successful membership
5. Anticipate tensions, navigate conflict constructively, and help maintain productive working relationships across a complex governance environment.

E.                   Planning, Metrics, and Accountability

1. Develop, evaluate, and manage annual and multi-year plans, budgets, and priorities for membership development programs and activities.
2. Define, track, and report meaningful performance indicators related to strategy execution, systems effectiveness, engagement, training, follow-through, and organizational alignment.
3. Provide regular progress updates, analysis, and recommendations to the Executive Vice President/COO, senior staff, and appropriate volunteer leadership groups.
4. Ensure that performance expectations for this role are aligned with actual authority, available resources, and the realities of a distributed volunteer structure.

F.                   Leadership Competencies

1. Strategic thinking and execution.
2. Emotional intelligence and relationship-building.
3. Influence without overreliance on formal authority.
4. Volunteer engagement and collaboration.
5. Change leadership and organizational alignment.
6. Communication, facilitation, and presentation effectiveness.
7. Sound judgment, integrity, and accountability.
8. Conflict navigation and problem-solving.

G.                  Work Environment and Travel

This position requires work from Shriners International Headquarters in Tampa, Florida.  It is not a remote position.  Some team members from the Membership Department work remotely.  Therefore, supervision and management of remote employees is required.

This position requires substantial regional, national, and international travel, including air travel, and the ability to obtain and maintain a valid passport. The role includes regular engagement with leaders and members across the field and may require extended periods of travel depending on organizational priorities and event schedules.

This description is intended to describe the general scope and primary responsibilities of the position and is not an exhaustive list of duties. Responsibilities may evolve as the organization continues to refine its membership strategy, structure, and support model.

Shriners International has solicited the support of Raybourn Group International for the search for its new Chief Membership Development Officer. Therefore, the right candidate for this role would be employed by Shriners International, not Raybourn Group International.

Use the link below to apply.