Career Opportunity at Crystal Bridges’ THE MOMENTARY: Director of Operations

A satellite organization of Crystal Bridges, the Momentary is a dynamic platform for great art, food, and music of the moment; a catalyst for creativity and regional economic vitality; and a conduit for global culture and fresh local perspectives.

The Director of Operations will serve as a senior member of the management team, with oversight and management of all operations of the Momentary with a focus on quality, guest experiences, and efficiency.

The role will support planning and implementation of all activities in support of the mission and will work in conjunction with the Director to advance the institutional mission, leading our teams that engage most directly with guests as well as those who maintain our facilities.

The Director of Operations is a key budgetary and planning advisor to the director, helping to build and maintain a sustainable financial footing and productive, efficient, operations.

The ideal Director of Operations is detail-oriented, organized and collaborative, with a passion for elevating the guest experience and a knack for engaging colleagues to excel in their work. Excellent communication skills, strong team building, and disciplined fiscal management is essential.

Principal Responsibilities

The Director of Operations is charged with the overall organizational, calendar and budgetary planning, in a collaborative process with the director and programmers. The key areas of this work include:

• Building annual and project schedules and budgets

• Building and managing an event planning system.

• Together with front-of-house managers, maintain and operate an accurate box office ticketing system for both gallery and performing arts operations, including festivals

• Together with front-of-house managers, oversee and grow profitable retail operations.

• Provide guidance, leadership and accountability for all departments to ensure successful operation as well as superior product and service delivery.

• Identify and grow revenue opportunities through venue rental and culinary activities (special events, retail, bars, and restaurants).

• Assist in HR and financial management across relevant departments, both at the Momentary and Crystal Bridges (which provides many shared services to the Momentary).

• Work with fellow staff to ensure high standards of care and protection for all artists and works of art.

• Together with other teams, assist in exhibition- and program- related fundraising by providing necessary project information to the development team, and hosting donors and potential donors.

• Supervise and support staff, contractors, volunteers and interns.

• On occasion, represent the director and the Momentary in internal or external meetings.

• Liaise with other cultural and academic institutions in the wider region.

• Perform additional duties as assigned.

Desired Qualifications

Experience, Education, Training, and Traits

• Knowledge of Visual Art, Performing Arts and culinary venues and practices

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, including public speaking and business-like writing

• Excellent working relationships within complex institutions and communities

• Experience and success in managing diverse teams

• Self-directed and motivated, working with rigor and precision in a fast-paced environment.

• Minimum of five (5) to seven (7) years prior leadership experience in an organizational or planning role with budgetary responsibility.

• Bachelors degree or equivalent

Licenses and Certifications:

• Valid driving license

Skills and Abilities:

• Proficiency with standard office equipment including basic computer literacy (word processing, spread sheets, e-mail, etc.) telephone, fax and copy machines

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills

• Strong planning and budgeting skills

• Ability to meet deadlines and handle multiple tasks simultaneously

• Demonstrated project management and negotiation skills

• Ability to interact respectfully, collegially, and professionally with all employees and volunteers at all levels of responsibility

• Ability and willingness to be a team player both within the department, and throughout the entire organization

• High ethical standards, impeccable manners and public behavior, and the ability to maintain strict confidentiality.

• Skilled at and passion for leadership development.

• Experience with contemporary visual and performing arts and collaborative projects

• Experience with construction management, working with building trades, and bid negotiations

• Experience with culinary activities and special events

• Experience in bilingual English/Spanish work environment, proficiency in Spanish

• Audiovisual and media skills

Physical Demands and Work Environment:

The physical demands and work environment characteristics described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Physical demands: The position requires effective verbal and written communication with others.

• Work Environment: Work will be performed in an office environment, museum and performance spaces, and within public settings, both on site and within communities served. The noise level in the work environment is usually low to moderate. Position may require some independent overnight travel professional meetings, national and international co-productions and other travel as necessary to fulfill responsibilities of the position.

• The Momentary presents many shows and special events during evening and weekend hours, and the Director of Operations is expected to attend those events as required for effective oversight and management.

About the Momentarys Mission

The Momentary is a dynamic platform for great art, food, and music of the moment; a catalyst for creativity and economic vitality; and a conduit for global culture and fresh local perspectives.

By art, we mean the full expanse of creative expression today: sculpture, video, painting, film, performance, and digital formats that augment and supplant reality as we know it. But perhaps even more, we mean complex, immersive installations that are engaging of mind and body, and are as stimulating to experience in the moment — and with others present by your side — as they are difficult to describe, or upload. In that sense, The Momentary is a place of disintermediation, a place for getting lost in the moment, and the exact opposite of experiencing the world as screened through social media.

By food, we mean innovative dishes to savor with friends within our campus restaurants, or on picnic tables in one of our many outdoor courtyards. But we also mean savoring the best coffee in the nation, lingering over original cocktails served in the regions most refined bar, and snacking on delicious local from food trucks within our factory campus, or from fast-growing neighborhood, right next door. Indeed, at the Momentary, food is treated on the same plane as art, dance, or theater, with a year-round series of curated events to train our palettes and increase our culinary skills through formal dinners, cookouts, and festivals that are part party, part epicurean adventure.

By music, we mean all kinds: indie rock, hip hop, salsa, jazz, alt-country, experimental electronica, progressive folk, and exciting new forms of music that defy easy categorization. Without exception, and across every genre, you can expect music that is of the moment, infused with new ideas, performed by the most important talents of our day, some already famous, and many soon to be.

And finally, by you, we mean quite simply, everybody. We hope your participation will be active, not passive. We hope you will belong not only as a patron of the arts, but also as a user of our galleries, performance venues, bars, cafes, courtyards and grounds. Weddings, private parties, corporate retreats and sales conferences, health and wellness convocations: these and other special events are part of a matrix of social activity that defines The Momentary as a powerful catalyst for regional economic vitality, and hub for gathering a diversity people and ideas from far and wide. You belong here: make the most of the moment.