Employment Opportunities

THE ORGANIZATION

The mission of the Newark School of the Arts (NSA) is to provide private and group instruction in the performing (music, dance, and drama) and visual arts for people of all ages, regardless of their financial need or artistic ability. Through training and performances, the School enhances the lives of individuals, families, and the community.

NSA provides high-level training in the performing and visual arts. Since 1968, the School has offered instruction for everyone with an interest in the arts regardless of age, talent, and financial resources. NSA is a family and community oriented school that has served 38,000 individuals since its inception, and provides education for approximately 500 students each week of all ages and abilities from Newark and a nine-county area in northern New Jersey. Nearly a quarter of the student body is comprised of adults. NSA sponsors over 50 performances, exhibitions, and events each year at the School and in the community.

NSA serves children from age four to senior citizens through long-term sequential training that often contributesto life-long learning and professional careers in the arts. Many students have benefited from individualized instruction and become successful in other fields of endeavor. Through the emphasis on comprehensive arts education, all students are given opportunities to perform and exhibit in formal and informal settings.

Specialized instruction is offered on certain musical instruments, voice, music, dance (ballet, tap, jazz, modern, hip-hop, and social dance), drama, and the visual arts (drawing and painting, acrylic painting, clay handbuilding, cartooning, jewelry design, digital photography, and portfolio development). Ensemble training opportunities include dance workshops, string, wind, guitar, and percussion groups. Special programs are available for talented students and children of pre-school age. Individuals with special needs and senior citizens are integrated into NSA programs. The School also serves area pre-schools, public, charter, and private schools and other organizations through special arrangement. The international faculty with degrees and advanced degrees from leading conservatories is chosen with a view toward professional competence and ability to work effectively with children and adults. Teachers strongly identify with the mission of the School. Some have remained with NSA for many years.

The school is housed in a 100-year-old, four-story structure. The first floor of the 36-room building, which faces Lincoln Park, has been extensively renovated in the past year to add dance and visual arts training space, an art gallery, and performing space.

To ensure access to its programs, the School's tuition rates are modest, and there is an extensive financial aid program based on documented need. Scholarships are available for students who demonstrate talent. Using City Development Block Grants funds, there is currently a special introductory program at very low tuition rates for Newark residents.

With an annual operating budget of approximately $1 million, NSA has been financially responsible and is in sound financial condition with balanced budgets in most recent years. It is supported by a combination of foundation, business, individual, and government funds. It has been widely recognized for its work, including multiple Citations of Excellence, including 2013, from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.

THE COMMUNITY

Founded in 1666, Newark enjoys a rich cultural legacy fueled by waves of immigration. Spanish, Portuguese, French, and Italian can all be heard in thriving communities throughout the city's five wards. The financial, commercial, and transportation nucleus of the Garden State and its largest city, Newark is a cosmopolitan community boasting a wide selection of exceptional dining, shopping, entertainment, and sports venues.

Newark is also a thriving cultural hub, filled with events and attractions for visitors from near and far. The state's premier center for the performing and visual arts, Newark offers a rich variety of theater, dance, and music, as well as an array of museums and galleries showcasing art and history. According to Arts and Economic Prosperity III, a study conducted by Americans for the Arts, the nonprofit arts and culture are a $178 million industry in the City of Newark.

Newark is home to five major centers of higher education, each distinguished as one of the best in its specialized area of study, including the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), the state's leading technological institution; one of the largest law schools in the United States, Seton Hall University School of Law; and the Newark campus of Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey.

Newark also offers access to many regional attractions including 61 State Parks and Forests, 130 Miles of Beaches, 297 Ski Runs, and four Pro Sports Teams, including the New Jersey Devils hockey, the New York Giants and Jets football, and the New York Bulls soccer.

Sources: http://bcdcnewark.org, http://www.ci.newark.nj.us

POSITION SUMMARY

Reporting to the Board of Directors, the Executive Director provides leadership and managerial direction to the Newark School of the Arts. Overall responsibilities include maximizing earned and contributed revenue, cultivating community relationships to expand enrollment, continuing to build the School's reputation as a cultural and educational leader in the City and region, and overseeing all administrative, operational, and financial goals to ensure the continued success of NSA. The Executive Director works collaboratively with the faculty and staff to achieve best business practices and fiscal accountability and communicates an institutional vision that embraces NSA's values of life-long learning and appreciation of the arts, artistic excellence, diversity, and community.

DUTIES AND REPONSIBILITIES

• Serves as a primary spokesperson to the community in articulating and advocating for the mission and impact of NSA.
• Coordinates public external communication strategies and institutional branding efforts.
• Provides leadership in NSA's fundraising efforts, working closely with the Board of Directors to energize its participation in these efforts.
• Creates and implements a comprehensive annual fundraising plan, including the identification, cultivation, and stewardship of appropriate funding opportunities from individuals, foundations, government, and corporations working with development staff.
• Establishes marketing and public relations plans and promotional materials as needed.
• Oversees effective registration campaigns with the goal of increasing enrollment.

• Drives efforts for long-term strategic planning and institutional brand building, working in partnership with the faculty, staff, and Board of Directors.
• Ensures that the appropriate business plan is in place to support the overall strategic mission, vision, values, and goals of NSA.
• Engages Board members to maximize their participation in NSA and their contribution toward its success and growth.
• Works with Board leadership to identify, cultivate, and recruit new Board members.
• Plays an active role in the orientation and engagement of new and existing Board members.
• Develops strategies with the Board for effective evaluation, rotation, and celebration of Board and institutional successes.
• Supports the work of Board committees by allocating staff and administrative resources accordingly.
• Prepares written and oral reports for presentation to the Board and its committees.

• Provides fiscal and organizational leadership, including guidance to all administrative staff to maximize effectiveness and productivity.
• Works with Finance Committee to develop accurate annual budgets and cash-flow projections.
• Monitors NSA's financial position and makes recommendations to the Board and/or takes action as appropriate.
• Hires, trains, and supervises faculty and administrative staff, mobilizes volunteers, and oversees the effective use of financial and technological resources needed to achieve the organization's goals and objectives.
• Creates human resource policies, practices, and procedures with appropriate Board input to ensure that they comply with state and federal employment laws and regulations.
• Establishes an administrative environment and decision-making process that promotes a positive working atmosphere and collegial staff relations.

• Works closely with faculty to identify areas of possible expansion of programs and ventures, consistent with adequate funding sources.
• Oversees negotiation of all contracts and agreements.
• Provides administrative oversight to assure NSA's employees, facilities, and systems are functioning at the highest level and supporting the educational goals of students and parents.

TRAITS AND CHARACTERISTICS

The Executive Director will bring energy and a well-rounded array of competencies to leading an effective management team and organizational structure that best serves NSA's mission, vision, and goals. An inclusive and sensitive leader with respect to students, parents, the community, and supporters, the selected individual will have a proven track record and possess exceptional organizational and communication skills. He/she will exhibit a strong passion for the arts/arts education, and serve as a hands-on manager who sets and maintains a collaborative leadership model that strengthens the organization by creating positive relationships between the artistic and administrative sides of the School.

The selected candidate will also demonstrate the following competencies:

• Diplomacy & Tact: Maintains positive relationships with others through demonstrating fair treatment and respect for others, embracing diversity, and valuing differences.
• Interpersonal Skills & Leadership: Develops relationships in positive ways and works effectively with a wide range of people at varying levels of the organization to achieve results.
• Personal Accountability: Embraces his/her own capacity to be answerable for personal actions and professional decisions.
• Customer Focus: Consistently places a high value on children, parents, donors, community partners, volunteers, Board members, and staff. Objectively listens to, understands, and represents stakeholder feedback, anticipates community needs, and develops appropriate solutions.

EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATION

Qualified applicants must have a bachelor's degree, with a master's degree preferred, plus a minimum of 5 years of progressively responsible senior management expertise in the arts, arts education, or a related field. This includes, but is not limited to, leadership in fundraising, advocacy, board governance, fiscal management, public relations, resource development, personnel management, and community collaboration. He/she will also possess strong written and verbal communication skills with a demonstrated capacity to lead, tempered by adeptness in building consensus among a diverse set of stakeholders.

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

Competitive salary commensurate with experience and a generous benefits package including paid holiday, vacation, and sick days, medical, dental, life, and short-term disability insurance plans, as well as 403(b) retirement matching, flexible spending account, parking, cell phone, and other employee benefits as available.

APPLICATION AND INQUIRIES

Send letter and resume specifying verifiable professional accomplishments to:
Daniel Zanella, Senior Consultant
Arts Consulting Group, Inc.
1040 First Avenue, Suite 352
New York, NY 10022-2991
Tel (888) 234-4236 ext 11
Fax (888) 284-6651
Email NSA@ArtsConsulting.com
Newark School of the Arts is an Equal Opportunity Employer