Director of Programs - Houston, United States - Young Audiences of Houston

Description

Job Title: Program Director

Full-Time, Exempt

Reports To: Executive Director

Job Description: Young Audiences of Houston seeks a motivated and highly organized individual that appreciates and enjoys supporting K-12 school, community venue leadership, and visual and performing artists of all disciplines. The Program Director leads, assists, and supports all aspects of community partnerships, scheduling, producing invoices, artist paperwork, and maintaining detailed reports. This position is responsible for exceeding annual programming income goals and growing the footprint, impact, and reach of the organization through program and service delivery. This position works and interfaces with the entire staff at Young Audiences of Houston, while holding high responsibility for keeping the Executive Director informed and abreast of all service issues, questions, concerns, and accomplishments on a continual basis. This position provides high aptitude for collaborative leadership and communication with their supervisor. Candidates must demonstrate an understanding of their own responsibilities and are able to take a project from start to finish while keeping all team members informed. This person is dynamic, energetic, brings new ideas to the forefront, and is an effective and strong communicator who is trustworthy and has a great sense of humor.

The responsibilities of this position include:

Community Engagement:

• Oversee Education Committee and Teaching Artist Collective meetings, agendas, minutes, and keep members abreast of organizational information and needs, including the Executive Director for board reports;

• Grow attendance and active participation of the volunteer Education Committee annually;

• Build key and effective relationships with educational leaders across the region to support YAH goals;

• Represent YAH at all education meetings, conferences, events, and activities related to programs and services;

• Identify new opportunities, networks, and areas to grow the organization's footprint and presence;

• Update the Executive Director of all upcoming educational changes, relationships with volunteers, and important information affecting the organization;

• Engage various area Family Festivals, Fun Days, Youth Days, and other Public Youth-Centered Events to provide volunteer opportunities to the YAH network and build new relationships for the organization;

• And recruit and direct volunteers in supporting educational initiatives.

Artist Support/Arts in Education Development:

• Meet with artists that receive low performance evaluation scores to implement program changes and document evaluations and reports weekly;

• Administer and revise artist evaluations as needed with assistance from volunteer education committee members;

• Design, schedule and implement new performances, workshops and residency programs in close partnership with artists and scheduling coordinator;

• Maintain and oversee accurate and high-quality lesson plans for residency and arts-integration artists;

• Develop, implement and support the growth of professional development training for Educators and Teaching Artists;

• Oversee background and fingerprint checks of artists according to YAH policy and school district/site policies;

• Maintain and collect annual program descriptions, lesson outlines, program pictures, and all other associated materials and assist with creation of materials as needed by new artists;

• Plan and arrange all new artist auditions and solicit experts from the education committee to act as consultants for auditioning process;

• And implement and maintain annual handbook of policies and procedures for artists to ensure efficiency and quality.

Client Support/New Business Development:

• Follow up with online scheduling requests or customized program needs; schedule and implement programs in a timely manner to ensure client satisfaction;

• Create and implement special project proposals for schools or community venues as needed to meet annual goals;

• Cultivate new revenue opportunities for the organization to support annual department goals;

• Evaluate existing programs on an ongoing basis to ensure artistic and educational standards are met;

• Create proposals, invoices, budgets, and program schedules, and evaluate the effectiveness of scheduled programs;

• Maintain RFP status and vendor status across all regional school districts, as needed;

• Provide ongoing information and contacts to the Executive Director;

• Monitor and provide strategic support in ensuring timely invoice payment from all site partners;

• And attending special events and provide support to Executive Director as needed.

Administrative

• Maintain accurate reporting on all arts in education projects and provide timely reports;

• Respond to clients within 48 hours of communication and inquiries to ensure high YAH standards are maintained;

• Review and administer all artist contracts and required paperwork to renewing artists annually;

• Design and finalize the annual PDF catalog of programs for publication on the YAH website and email distribution;

• Bi-weekly Artist Verification Form review and preparation to ensure accuracy of artist payment;

• Bi-weekly Client Invoice review preparation and accuracy to ensure timely processing and payment;

• Keep updated files on all artists to ensure high-quality standards and efficiency, including Program Evaluations from clients and Education Committee members;

• Maintain and update and accurate mailing and contact list for the education and program departments;

• And provide monthly e-newsletter content, testimonials, and program results.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree/Master's degree in the arts, education, business, communications or a related field;

• Ability to develop and oversee new organizational initiatives, with over 5 years of work experience;

• Ability to handle a high volume of telephone and email interactions;

• Experience with scheduling, correspondence, and customer service;

• Ability to multi-task, organize and prioritize;

• Superior written and verbal communication skills, attention to detail, and a pro-active mindset;

• Person with strong leadership and communication skills;

• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Systems;

• Experience with Adobe Creative Cloud Suite is a plus;

• Ability to sit for long periods of time and lift and/or move at least 30+ pounds;

• Must have a valid driver's license and regular access to reliable transportation for site visits, evaluations, and meetings;

• And the ability to work some weekends and evenings for special events.

Business Office Hours: M-F 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. plus occasional evenings and weekends, as needed (flex time allowed for special events with Executive Director approval). Full health, dental, and eye benefits. Medical, Dental, and Eye Coverage. 100% employer contribution on Medical Insurance benefits.

Paid time off - 33 Days (13 ITO and 10 Vacation and 10 Holidays)