Head of Tourism and Marketing

Why Join the History Trust of South Australia?

The History Trust connects people with the stories that shape our state. We put history to work, helping South Australians understand the past and inform decisions about the future. Through our collections, museums, events and education programs, we use history as a training ground for thinking about the impacts of the choices we make.

Joining the History Trust means contributing to work that strengthens learning, civic life and community understanding across South Australia.

The History Trust of South Australia operates three museums – the Migration Museum, the National Motor Museum and the South Australian Maritime Museum. It also manages the Centre of Democracy, delivers South Australia’s History Festival and the RAA Bay to Birdwood, and supports history organisations and communities through the State History Network.

The Opportunity

The History Trust of South Australia is taking a more deliberate and coordinated approach to how it reaches, attracts and engages audiences. As a significant civic institution and custodian of South Australia’s social history, the Trust is seeking to amplify its public profile, strengthen its contribution to the visitor economy, increase attendance and participation, and grow revenue‑generating activity through sharper market positioning and more intentional audience development.

The Trust’s major public platforms are central to this ambition. South Australia’s History Festival and Bay to Birdwood are distinctive cultural assets with significant public recognition, deep community connection and growing potential as nationally recognised visitor experiences. They are also among the Trust’s most powerful and trusted mechanisms for reaching new audiences, building partnerships, generating visitation and revenue, and shaping high‑impact public narratives about the Trust’s purpose, relevance and contribution.

The Head of Tourism and Marketing role has been created to bring together two complementary drivers of this work: the Marketing unit, which leads positioning, campaigns, audience insight, communications reach, and visitor conversion; and the Major Events team, which delivers flagship platforms capable of expanding the Trust’s audience, influence, and market presence at scale. The role will provide the strategic cohesion between these functions, ensuring that tourism, marketing and major events work in concert to build demand, extend public conversation, strengthen the Trust’s visitor profile, and support its broader organisational priorities.

While the role will work closely across the Trust’s museums, programs and portfolios, its focus is not on museum operations. Rather, it is responsible for leading the organisation’s outward‑facing growth agenda: increasing visibility, attendance and engagement; developing high‑value tourism and industry partnerships; improving the effectiveness and return of marketing activity; and positioning the Trust’s public platforms as compelling cultural and visitor economy assets.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Lead the planning, development, delivery and oversee the implementation of a clear tourism, marketing and audience growth strategy and program of work, ensuring alignment with the Trust’s purpose, strategic priorities, and ambition to increase attendance, participation, and public impact.
• Build strong recognition of the History Trust as a connected public portfolio, with clearer positioning of its major events, public offer, and cultural assets in ways that improve audience understanding, strengthen brand coherence and support cross‑engagement.
• Oversee the management and positioning of our major events, South Australia’s History Festival and Bay to Birdwood, as flagship audience and profile‑building platforms and strengthen them as trusted vehicles for reaching new audiences, shaping public narratives that drive attendance and elevating the Trust’s relevance and reach.
• Establish a curated Trust presence within its major events, using both South Australia’s History Festival and Bay to Birdwood to communicate the Trust’s purpose, connect audiences with its broader public offer, and strengthen its cultural visibility, tourism relevance and destination appeal.
• Lead and deliver intentional audience growth, including clearer pathways to attract priority audiences, re‑engage lapsed participants, increase repeat attendance, and strengthen the Trust’s appeal to younger adults, families, cultural audiences and visitors.
• Improve the discoverability and conversion processes across the audience journey, from awareness and search through to planning, booking, attendance and return engagement, supported by stronger digital pathways, event discovery channels, reviews, listings and cross‑promotion.
• Embed and implement audience insight and evidence‑led decision‑making, with stronger data capture, evaluation and performance analysis used to understand who engages, who is missing, what prompts attendance, and how to increase repeat participation, audience relevance and long‑term reach.
• Manage allocated budgets, resources and contracts associated with marketing, tourism, audience development and major event activities to support effective service delivery and achievement of strategic objectives.
• Lead a high‑performing team and develop staff capability through effective performance management, coaching and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Provide expert consultancy, strategic advice to executive leadership, internal stakeholders and external partners on tourism, marketing, audience engagement and public profile initiatives.

Qualifications

• Tertiary qualifications in marketing, tourism, communications, business, events, cultural management or a related discipline, or equivalent demonstrated senior professional experience.
• Qualifications or formal training in leadership, supervision, or people management.
• Financial or business administration training, including budgeting, procurement, or contract management.
• First aid certification.

Special Conditions

• A satisfactory Department of Human Services Working with Children Check. A renewal will be required every 5 years.
• Out of hours work may be required, interstate travel may be required, and intrastate travel will be required.
• This role is based in the Adelaide CBD, at the HTSA administrative headquarters. Depending on work requirements the incumbent may be transferred to other locations across the History Trust to perform work appropriate to classification, skills and capabilities either on a permanent or temporary basis subject to relevant provisions of the Public Sector Act 2009 for Public Sector employees.

Enquiries to

Chief Executive Officer

[email protected]

Classification

ASO8 - Administration Services Officer

Salary Range

Duration

Up to 12 months

This position is offered on an initial 12‑month contract, with potential for extension as the role and program continue to develop, in line with organisational priorities.

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