Director of Membership Development & Engagement

Chicago Yacht Club; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 100,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual incentive

Medical, dental, retirement plan/match

Paid time off

Club dining or meal benefit

Professional development

Parking/transit

Job summary

Chicago Yacht Club seeks a Director of Membership Development & Engagement to drive membership growth, onboarding, retention, and ongoing engagement. This role serves as a visible ambassador, building meaningful member connections while protecting confidentiality and managing the full membership lifecycle.

The position collaborates across departments to create engaging programs, tours, communications, and experiences that reinforce value of membership, with reporting to the General Manager and a

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in hospitality, marketing, business, or a related field.
• Five+ years in private clubs or hospitality with membership experience.
• Proven success in relationship-building, recruitment, retention, and engagement.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, diplomacy, and discretion.
• Experience using CRM, membership-management, and event-registration platforms.

Responsibilities

• Develop annual strategies for recruitment, retention, and engagement.
• Guide prospective members through inquiry, tours, sponsorship, interview, and onboarding.
• Conduct personalized tours and presentations communicating the club’s value.
• Maintain confidential membership records and pipelines.
• Prepare reports for the Membership Committee and leadership.
• Collaborate with departments to create engagement opportunities.
• Monitor metrics and manage the membership budget.

Skills

Relationship-building

Membership recruitment

Retention strategies

Customer experience

Communication skills

Organization

Project management

Diplomacy

Education

Bachelor’s degree preferred

Tools

CRM software

Membership-management systems

Event registration platforms

Communication platforms

Job description

Chicago Yacht Club seeks an engaging, relationship-driven Director of Membership Development & Engagement to lead membership growth, retention, onboarding, and member-engagement initiatives. The successful candidate will be a visible ambassador for the Club, skilled at creating meaningful member connections while managing the full membership lifecycle with professionalism, confidentiality, and exceptional attention to detail.

Founded in 1875, Chicago Yacht Club is one of the oldest and most respected yacht clubs in the world. Its mission is to lead among Yacht Clubs in the United States and attain worldwide recognition for our leadership. To achieve this, the Club encourages, promotes, and develops knowledge of, participation in, and enjoyment of all aspects of boating. The Club hosts many world-class competitions, including its signature Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac and numerous North American and World Championships. The Club is also recognized as a leader in sailing education, with one of the largest junior sailing programs in the United States. The Club is home to more than 1,300 members, including Olympic medalists and hopefuls, and outstanding boaters of all types and ages. The Club offers year-round activities for its diverse membership at two locations on the city’s shoreline, at Monroe and Belmont Harbors.

Position Summary

The Director of Membership Development & Engagement leads the Club’s membership strategy from prospect cultivation through onboarding, retention, and long-term engagement. Reporting to the General Manager, this individual develops meaningful relationships with members and prospective members; oversees membership processes, records, and communications; identifies opportunities to improve participation and satisfaction; and helps ensure that Club programming, services, and experiences reinforce the value of membership.

Membership Development

• Develop and implement annual strategies for membership recruitment, referral cultivation, retention, and engagement.
• Serve as the primary Club contact for prospective members, guiding them through the inquiry, tour, application, sponsorship, interview, approval, and onboarding process.
• Conduct personalized Club tours and membership presentations that communicate the Club’s history, culture, amenities, programs, and value proposition.
• Build and maintain a qualified prospect pipeline through member referrals, community relationships, sailing and boating networks, events, and other appropriate outreach.
• Maintain accurate, confidential membership and prospect records in the Club’s database or CRM system.
• Prepare membership applications, candidate materials, reports, and correspondence for the Membership Committee, Board, and General Manager.
• Monitor membership composition, attrition, transfers, resignations, waitlists, and category utilization; recommend initiatives that support the Club’s long-term membership objectives.
• Assist with membership forecasting, dues and initiation-fee analysis, budgeting, and annual membership plans.

Member Engagement and Retention

• Serve as a highly visible and accessible ambassador for the Club, fostering relationships across membership categories, generations, and areas of member interest.
• Develop and oversee new-member welcome, orientation, and integration programs that help members quickly establish meaningful connections within the Club.
• Collaborate with Club departments to create engagement opportunities that encourage participation in sailing, boating, dining, social events, youth and family programming, committees, and member traditions.
• Develop initiatives that recognize member milestones, accomplishments, life events, and contributions to the Club community.
• Identify members who may be disengaged or at risk of resigning and implement appropriate outreach and retention efforts.
• Gather, document, and evaluate member feedback through personal interaction, surveys, focus groups, event feedback, and other channels.
• Serve as a liaison between members and Club management, ensuring concerns, suggestions, and service-recovery opportunities are handled with discretion, professionalism, and follow-through.
• Partner with the Events, Food & Beverage, Sailing, On the Water, Communications, and Facilities teams to ensure member feedback informs programming and service improvements.

Communications and Administration

• Lead membership-related communications, including candidate correspondence, welcome materials, renewal communications, member notices, newsletters, directories, and digital content, in coordination with Club leadership and communications staff.
• Maintain accurate member profiles, contact information, household details, membership category information, committee participation, and engagement history.
• Ensure membership files, applications, agreements, and related records are handled confidentially and in accordance with Club policy and applicable requirements.
• Support the development and ongoing improvement of the member directory, Club app, website membership content, and other member‑facing platforms.
• Prepare monthly and quarterly reports on membership activity, prospect pipeline, conversions, retention, participation, feedback trends, and other key performance indicators.
• Develop and manage the departmental budget, including membership marketing, orientation, engagement programming, printing, database tools, and related expenses.
• Attend appropriate Board, Membership Committee, and other Club committee meetings; provide staff support, reports, and recommendations as requested.

Private-club membership roles commonly include membership applications and onboarding, communications, database management, member feedback, program development, and reporting to Club leadership.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree preferred, with concentration in hospitality management, communications, marketing, business, or a related field.
• Five or more years of progressively responsible experience in private-club membership, hospitality, member relations, business development, sales, events, or customer experience.
• Private-club, yacht-club, country-club, hospitality, luxury service, or membership-organization experience strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated success in relationship‑building, membership recruitment, retention, service recovery, and member engagement.
• Excellent written, verbal, presentation, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Strong judgment, discretion, diplomacy, and ability to manage sensitive member matters confidentially.
• Experience using CRM, membership-management, event-registration, and communication platforms.
• Strong organizational, analytical, and project-management skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and comfort preparing reports, presentations, correspondence, and data analysis.
• Availability to work a flexible schedule, including selected evenings, weekends, holidays, and Club events.

Performance Measures

Success in this role may be evaluated through

• New-member inquiries, applications, conversions, and referral activity.
• Membership growth, retention, renewal, and attrition trends.
• Completion and quality of new-member onboarding and orientation.
• Member participation across Club programs, events, committees, sailing activities, and dining.
• Member satisfaction, feedback response time, and resolution of concerns.
• Accuracy and timeliness of membership records, reporting, and committee materials.
• Progress against approved membership-development and engagement goals.
• Budget management and effective use of membership‑program resources.

Compensation

Annual incentive target: 20%-25% of base salary

Total Compensation: $100,000-$120,000

• Medical,
• dental,
• retirement plan/match,
• paid time off,
• Club dining or meal benefit,
• professional development,
• parking/transit as applicable.