Earl R. Merrill: Executive Director - Ann Arbor Summer Festival

The Festival is seeking an Executive Director who is a visionary and innovative leader, capable of creatively advancing an established Festival in a vibrant University community with strong interests and engagement in arts and culture.

The Executive Director duties encompass:

Being the” face” and the chief executive officer of the Festival, reporting to the Board, with responsibility for all aspects of the Festival's operations;
Vigorously represent the Festival to the region's artistic, political, business, university, and social communities and maintain active community-based constituencies in support of the Festival; Execute annual promotional campaigns and maintain high level engagement with the media in support of the ticketed series.

The Executive Director must be an effective manager:

Oversee preparation and management of annual operating and capital budgets while maintaining appropriate information systems.
Provide creative and innovative leadership for the continued development, long-term sustainability, and improved operations of the Festival and its programs while working closely with the Board to develop, revise, implement, and maintain long-range and strategic plans.

The Executive Director should be an innovative and compelling programmer:

Execute the booking and programming of the Festival in a manner that appeals to broad popular community interests, with varied entertainment and educational activities in a financially responsible and successful manner while highlighting the unique offerings of the Festival distinguishing it from neighboring events.
Work with both community organizations and university-based groups for ‘win-win’ collaborations that serve the Festival’s goals and further expand the Festival’s audiences.
The Executive Director must be an energetic fundraiser.
Take the leadership role and support the development officer’s execution of annual fundraising campaigns including:
Act as the lead for federal, state, city, university, and other grants.
Sponsorship acquisition and cultivation for major cash, in-kind, and trade support.
Advance solicitation of foundations, individual gifts, and annual campaigns while cultivating major donors and bequests.

QUALIFICATIONS

Preferred qualifications include:

Significant progressive leadership experience in arts and/or arts management with a substantial annual budget, supervision of professional staff and volunteers, work with a board of trustees.
A degree and senior experience in the presentation of the performing arts.
Artistic knowledge, interest and experience in the performing arts industry and production and the ability to work with a broad cross-section of genres, artists, businesses, media, promotional partners and the public to enhance interest in and support for the Festival.
The ability to make sound business decisions regarding artistic and programing options. Experience using industry metrics to assess the financial ‘value’ of a particular performance and sales history and an understanding of basic deal structures, production costs, ticket pricing, and market interest.
Working knowledge of fiscal management, including fund accounting, accrual accounting, deferred revenue, multi-year agreements, grant reporting, and budgeting.
Highly effective public speaker, exceptional written and oral communication, and organizational-growth oriented interpersonal skills.
Experience in fundraising, including major gift cultivation, donor stewardship, sponsor cultivation, and successful grant authoring.
Maturity, discretion, exemplary integrity, a high level of day-to-day energy, flexibility, resiliency, personable nature with the ability to ‘shift-gears’ to connect with a variety of constituents, positive leadership demeanor in high-pressure public environments, and the willingness to be accessible and to pro-actively engage key members of the community, staff, board, and other relevant constituencies that may further the organization's goals.

Send resumes to Board Chair Wendy Lawrence at wwlawrence1@yahoo.com