Job: Director of Programming and Advocacy

The Director of Programming and Advocacy works with Team NEMA to lead the professional development and advocacy strategy through planning, creation and implementation of equity-aligned initiatives, programs and resources.

ABOUT NEMA:

The New England Museum Association connects a community engaged in learning, collaboration, and action to cultivate a better museum world. NEMA membership encompasses museums, institutions, people, and businesses that work with and for the field. Team NEMA is currently made up of three staff members and fourteen board members. Will you be our newest Team member?!

Team NEMA values and respects transparency, inclusion, diversity, equity, accessibility, flexibility, creativity, and fun! We are in a continual learning process as individuals and as an association, and through our recent work with Arts Consulting International we re-imagined and re-focused the organization on a new set of values and mission statement. Check out the new Mission and Values here, nemanet.org/mission, and if you think you might be a great fit for the association read the job description below:

ABOUT THE JOB:

On a given day, the Director of Programming & Advocacy will spend time:

  • Working collaboratively with Team NEMA to support and extend NEMA’s mission and values
  • Developing and overseeing programming, including workshops, conference, and advocacy efforts
  • Coordinate with the NEMA Professional Affinity Gathering Chairs to co-create programming and provide support, guidance, and coordination for their activities
  • Track and plan conference sessions and hotel coordination; maintaining contact with session speakers and conference event management to ensure deadlines are kept and needs are promptly met
  • Advocate for the museum field and connect with partners at federal, state, and local levels on initiatives, creating infographics and evaluating data

WHAT YOU WILL DO:

  • Lead equity-aligned programming strategy to ensure the program offerings meet the needs of NEMA members and the broader museum community stakeholders, incorporating NEMA’s Arts Consulting International recommendations, feedback from member surveys, and general museum field trends.
  • Brainstorm, build, and maintain partnerships with equity focused-organizations, parallel associations, and nonprofits to develop and implement professional development events to grow the membership and diversify the broader museum community.
  • Manage conference planning, scheduling, and implementation including: Development and management of conference sessions, keynote session(s) in consultation with the Executive Director and staff, offsite programming, onsite events, and special programming.
  • Collaborate with the Director of Administration to produce NEMA publications including New England Museums Now, white papers, and benchmarking studies.
  • Serve as the primary hotel and venue liaison, signing contracts, negotiating, reviewing and confirming conference BEOs; coordinate site bidding and contract negotiations working with ConferenceDirect.
  • Coordinate and manage conference event management and coordination, including: A/V, transportation, bookstore, and serves as the primary contact for all sessions and speakers, responsible for speaker and session logistics and communicating requests; Providing  conference best practices to session presenters and off-site locations; Providing resources and evaluations to speakers and off-site locations; Uploading to the website and organizing any speaker session handouts and materials; Creates room signage for sessions and conference volunteers; Center on values-driven partner decision making practices.
  • Serve as the primary point of contact for the public regarding concerns and inquiries on ADA issues. Prioritize public inquiries, complaints and accommodation requests.
  • Coordinate NEMA advocacy initiatives at federal, state, and local levels; providing research, communications, infographics, and educational resources to New England museums on relevant advocacy topics .

QUALIFICATIONS:

  • Program management and/or event planning experiences to ensure effective time management skills.
  • Project management of multiple projects with keen attention to detail.
  • Excellent organizational and communication skills for working collaboratively and independently.
  • Knowledge and/or breadth of museum experience to recognize what kinds of professional development opportunities would be helpful, useful, or interesting, across a variety of museum disciplines and professional roles.
  • Strong writing and communication skills ranging from simple (generating text social media or copyediting emails and other communications) to complex (writing articles for New England Museums Now; resource guides for advocacy; developing, analyzing and writing benchmarking surveys and whitepapers).
  • Experience presenting to external groups in an outward facing capacity  for outreach and advocacy efforts.
  • Passion for museums and community engagement to  cultivate a better museum world.
  • Open to learning, change, and growth as an individual and part of a larger community.
  • Creative thinking to re-imagine programs and evaluate existing offerings.
  • Experience with Microsoft office suite, Zoom, Canva, Adobe, and other computer programs.

WORK SCHEDULE:

  • Hybrid position (Schedule is negotiable)
  • Dedicated in-office time during conference season at the NEMA office (Arlington, MA)
  • Flexible work schedule, with core hours coordinated with Team NEMA
  • Full-time (37.5 hours) position for a multi-state organization
  • 10% travel expected (NEMA Conference, workshops, and outreach)

BENEFITS:

This is a full-time position with outstanding benefits including health/dental/life/disability insurance, and employer-matched retirement program.

SALARY:

$55,000-$60,000

INTERVIEW PROCESS:

Our process for identifying the next member of Team NEMA is:

  • Round 1: Initial screening of submitted applications
  • Round 2 Interview with Staff from Team NEMA using a standardized list of questions
  • Round 3: Interview with Staff and Board Members (references will be contacted after this stage)

DEADLINE:

Applications will be reviewed as they are received, and we encourage interested candidates to apply prior to the March 31 deadline. Applications received after the deadline may not be reviewed if the existing candidate pool is deemed sufficient. Requests for initial Zoom interviews will go out approximately one week after the application deadline. Preferred start date mid-May 2023.

HOW TO APPLY:

Submit a letter of interest and resume to: resumes@nemanet.org. As a measure to minimize internal hiring biases, all candidates submitting application materials will be asked to respond in writing to three short questions. NEMA will use these responses as its initial filter for all applicants. Failure to submit a response to the questions will result in a candidate being removed from further consideration.

For more information visit: https://nemanet.org/about-us/dpa/