Chief Executive Officer

Status: Full-time, exempt employee

Salary: $140,000-$160,000

Location: Rockville, MD

Deadline: Best consideration by February 14, 2025. Resume reviews begin immediately.

About VisArts

VisArts, a nonprofit arts hub and incubator in Rockville, Maryland, seeks a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to bring an entrepreneurial approach to the business of running its nonprofit center.

VisArts is the only organization in the region focused exclusively on the visual arts and the largest employer of visual artists in Montgomery County. Through art classes, camps, four contemporary art galleries, artist residencies and fellowships, a supported studio program for artists with disabilities, and community outreach initiatives, VisArts provides children, teens, and adults with opportunities to express themselves, develop their skills, connect with others, and enrich their lives. Learn more at www.visartscenter.org.

Leadership Opportunity

The incoming CEO will be an experienced senior leader, able to navigate a competitive funding landscape, balance the needs of internal and external stakeholders, and create challenging and responsive public programs. They will understand the unique value VisArts brings to the community and bring new vision to its potential. The incoming CEO will be an effective spokesperson, conveying enthusiasm for art and arts education to audiences across the region.

The next CEO will inherit an organization with a stable immediate financial position, with a need to build additional financial reserves. To secure VisArts’ long-term financial foundation, they will be an agile and eager fundraiser with an eye toward growing our base of donors, partners, and students. The CEO will have experience serving in a senior-level leadership role, including managing people and teams, advancing organizational culture, holding accountability, and an understanding of nonprofit business models.

Strategy, Vision, and Leadership

• Enthusiastically set strategic direction for VisArts’ mission, vision, and goals in collaboration with the Board of Directors, staff, and stakeholders.
• Implement the organization’s current strategic plan, including setting annual goals for revenue generation and aligning staff capacity to strategic goals.
• Lead a collaborative strategic planning process that looks past 2025, exploring scenarios for organizational and programmatic growth.
• Foster a culture of care, mentorship, transparency, and effective internal communication.
• Work with program directors to oversee the development and implementation of programs and services that align with the organization’s mission and goals; evaluate and monitor the effectiveness of programs and services, ensuring they meet the needs of the community.
• Advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility throughout programmatic initiatives, policies, operations, and organizational culture.
• Collaborate with the Board on good governance, including recruiting and onboarding new board members.

Fundraising, Community Engagement, and Partnerships

• In partnership with the Vice President of Development, lead a comprehensive fundraising strategy that includes annual and long-term plans to expand fundraising and earned revenue activities that support existing and new programs, general operations, and long-term financial goals.
• Serve as the primary spokesperson for VisArts.
• Energetically cultivate relationships with individual, corporate, and institutional funders, including identifying new prospects, engaging lapsed donors, and creating stewardship systems to recognize donors at all levels.
• In partnership with the Vice President of Development, solicit support from major institutional, corporate, and individual donors; engage the Board in fundraising.
• With the Vice President of Marketing and Communications, advance a messaging and marketing plan that integrates fundraising and programmatic goals.
• Lead the organization to develop relationships and community partnerships that represent the diverse communities in Rockville and Montgomery County.
• Actively engage and energize VisArts’ volunteers, donors, board members, and partners.

Organizational Development and Management

• Oversee day-to-day organizational operations, including finances, human resources, facilities management, and legal compliance.
• Provide strategic leadership in maintaining, diversifying, and growing revenue.
• Oversee budget preparation, manage income including grants and fee-for-service revenue, monitor expenditures, and support long-range budget planning and analysis.
• Advance an internal culture responsive to diverse perspectives; develop programs and policies to support VisArts’ diversity, equity, inclusions, and accessibility goals.
• Lead and develop a team of professionals with the skills and expertise to administer programs with a high degree of autonomy, creativity, professionalism, and sustainability.
• Facilitate strong working relationships, clear communications, and effective decision-making.

Experience, Skills, and Qualities

The most competitive applicants will likely have many, if not all, of the following attributes:

• 7+ years of progressive leadership in nonprofit, public sector, or social enterprise settings, preferably in the arts and including a history of effectively managing a team.
• Passion for VisArts’ mission of transforming individuals and communities through visual arts.
• Skilled fundraiser, with an emphasis on developing long-term relationships with individual donors, cultivating major gifts, and securing corporate contributions.
• Accomplished manager with a gift for fostering a culture of accountability, high performance, and effective internal communication among staff, volunteers, and the board of directors.
• Successful record of setting vision for, managing, and implementing strategies that scale programs, initiatives, or organizations to a new phase of growth.
• Polished and persuasive written and verbal communication skills.
• Comfortable engaging a wide variety of stakeholders in many different settings.
• Demonstrated experience working effectively with a board of directors, including engaging members in fundraising opportunities, participating in board recruitment, and orienting members to organizational culture, programs, and communities.
• Commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in all aspects of work.
• Proven track record of business acumen, including a working understanding of nonprofit business models, contract negotiations, nonprofit finance, budgeting, marketing, and HR.
• Knowledge of and networks in Montgomery County, MD, and the greater D.C. region.

Compensation & Benefits

The budgeted salary for this role is between $140,000-$160,000, with a generous benefits package including health insurance, retirement contributions, and paid time off.

Application Process

VisArts has retained Good Insight, a national executive search firm serving nonprofits, to conduct this search. See the full executive profile and application information at www.good-insight.org/careers. Resume reviews begin immediately. For best consideration, please apply by February 14, 2025. Early applications are encouraged due to the pace of the search.

Location

VisArts is located in Rockville, MD. Work is in-person at the office and at venues throughout the region, with some events during evening and weekend hours.

Equal Employment Opportunity

VisArts is an equal-opportunity employer, and we evaluate applicants regardless of their race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability status, veteran status, or family status.