Executive Director

Austin Area Arts—an independent, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization—applauds and advances all arts by welcoming diverse, creative individuals to share their unique talents to inspire our community.

With a small staff and hundreds of volunteers, Austin Area Arts serves thousands of people every year through programming at the Historic Paramount Theatre, Austin ArtWorks Festival and Austin ArtWorks Center. We value honesty, integrity and respect and are committed to ending systemic oppression.

The Executive Director leads the organization as the key liaison between the board and the staff. Strong leadership, robust relationship building, excellent communication skills, and experience with non profit management are required. 

The position is salaried and full time starting at $65,000 annually, higher salary negotiable based on experience. Paid time off and sick and safe time is provided. The work schedule is extremely flexible allowing for excellent work-life balance. Some evening and weekend work is required. 

Manage the Mission

Culture: Envision and lead a culture of integrity, honesty and inclusion which assumes positive intent of all and focuses on strong relationships. Reinforce the culture with words and actions. Align funding opportunities and programming with culture. 

Programming: Lead the creation and execution of a schedule of high quality arts and culture programming. Address barriers to participation and seek to serve everyone in the community. 

Communication: Share the story of the organization with stakeholders and the general public. Invite participation in all organizational programming. Serve as the public face of the organization including working with the media and speaking in public. 

Community: Build and maintain ties in the community on a personal and organizational level. Participate in community life and respond to requests from partners. Work to serve all members of the community including many different diverse populations. 

Managing the Resources

People: Attract and retain people to serve the organization including paid staff, board members and volunteers. Recruit and train board members. Recruit, hire, supervise and provide annual performance reviews for paid staff (currently 9 people, 5.0 FTEs). Ensure compensation allows the organization to attract and retain top talent. Provide resources for people to gain new skills and knowledge. Manage conflict.

Finance: Seek and maintain diverse revenue streams including charitable gambling, government and private grants, individual donors, earned income, endowment and other revenue. Develop new revenue streams. Monitor expenses and review operations for inefficiencies. Understand the organization’s big financial picture and share with stakeholders as appropriate. Create and lead fundraising strategy for the organization. 

Sites: Manage the physical maintenance and upkeep of the Historic Paramount Theatre, Austin ArtWorks Center, and Boardwalk rental property. Ensure buildings are welcoming and accessible. Oversee organization’s technology and procure tools and training needed for efficient operations.

Administration: Ensure compliance with all applicable laws and regulations and supervise charitable gambling operations in partnership with State authorities. Maintain adequate insurance coverage. Track and analyze data for long-term planning and benchmarking. Track and implement non profit best practices. Prepare an annual budget. Support the work of a third-party accountant by approving invoices, recording deposits, signing checks and tracking all elements of finances. 

An ideal candidate will have the following qualities: 

Arts Interest: A passion for the arts and the positive impact they have on the quality of life in a community.

Leadership: Positive, clear, ethical leadership expressed to internal and external stakeholders in ways that foster participation, optimism and understanding.

Justice: A commitment to ending system oppression and engaging with all members of the community; a vision for using the arts to bridge differences. 

Communication: Interpersonal, written and public speaking that is clear, persuasive and articulate.

Visionary: Ability to envision the future and articulate the vision for stakeholders

Strategic Thinking: A strategist who is adept at planning, prioritizing, organizing and following through while remaining highly energetic and focused. 

Flexibility: Ability to multi-task and set priorities in order to meet deadlines. Can tolerate ambiguity and answering to many stakeholders. 

Required:

• Post secondary degree 
• Experience with non profit boards, at least 2 years
• Demonstrated commitment to issues of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility
• Comfortable with financial reporting including budgets, profit and loss evaluation, statement of cash flows, etc. 

Preferred:

• Experience as a non profit executive director or equivalent, 3-5 years
• Experience supervising 2-4 staff members, 3-5 years
• History of community involvement 
• Experience in grant writing, at least 2 years