Senior Director, Partner Engagement

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Position Title: Senior Director, Partner Engagement

Reporting to: Chief Executive Officer

Location: Bentonville, AR

Salary Range: $150K-$225K

Art Bridges Foundation is the vision of philanthropist and arts patron Alice Walton. The mission of Art Bridges is to expand access to American art in all regions across the nation. Since 2017, Art Bridges has been creating and supporting programs that bring outstanding works of American art out of storage and into communities. Art Bridges partners with a growing network of nearly 220 museums of all sizes and locations to provide financial and strategic support for exhibition development, loans from the Art Bridges Collection, and programs designed to educate, inspire, and deepen engagement with local audiences. The Art Bridges Collection represents an expanding vision of American art from the 19th century to present day and encompasses multiple media and voices.

The Senior Director of Partner Engagement will join a dynamic and growing team who are focused on serving Art Bridges partner institutions across the country. This role will report to the CEO and work closely with other senior staff to help expand awareness of the foundation and build new programmatic museum partnerships consistent with Art Bridges strategic vision. In support of museum partnership growth, the Senior Director will lead outreach and engagement with prospective and existing partners, support developing prospects into active projects, and coordinate with core program teams to increase throughput. The successful candidate will be an engaging collaborator to partner museums and proactively work with the internal senior team to create a data driven strategic roadmap for growth on a quarterly and annual basis.

• Steward expanding portfolio of existing and prospective museum partners, serving as primary point of contact for new and ongoing partnerships.
• Conduct research, as subject matter expert, to identify addressable market, develop partnership go to market plans, and expand museum field awareness of the foundation’s programs.
• Collaborate with Senior Director of Partner Development to build workflows and pipeline efficiency to increase partnership growth and overall engagement with museum field.
• Actively seek out new partnership opportunities through outreach, networking, and referrals.
• Prepare and deliver presentations on programs and award opportunities and support potential partner engagement with the best aligned foundation program areas.
• Coordinate new museum partner prospect conversion into active projects and enhance relationships with existing partners by supporting cross-program engagement and awards.
• Maintain an in-depth understanding of prospective museum partners and the sector as a whole to help drive partnership strategy development.
• 40%+ travel including weekend overnights, otherwise based in Bentonville Arkansas.

• Experience in a museum and/or nonprofit related setting.
• Eagerness to join a new and growing organization and the dynamism that involves.
• Ability and interest in working with people from diverse backgrounds including age, race, ethnicity, gender identity, and lived experiences.
• Positive attitude, collaborative spirit, and sense of humor.
• High degrees of initiative and discretion.
• Tech savvy with familiarity across platforms such as Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Salesforce, Slack, and others.

• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in relevant field.
• 15+ years’ experience in museum/art sales and/or curatorial roles.
• Significant experience in partnership development and/or philanthropy across the arts sector.
• Deep understanding of the museum field and how philanthropic support can drive mission-oriented impact.
• Supervisory experience of teams with 5+ direct reports.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Attention to detail with a high degree of accuracy.

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: This position requires using a computer and telephone for prolonged periods of time, good eye/hand coordination, verbal and written conversation with others, and lifting/carrying up to 30-40lbs. Vision abilities required of the job include close vision.

Work environment: Work will be performed in an office environment full-time (Monday-Friday, 8am-5pm.) The noise level in the work environment is usually low to moderate.

At Art Bridges, diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion are central to all work and decisions made within our organization. We support our colleagues and partners in learning and growing together to make this important work part of our daily lives.

Art Bridges is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to building and maintaining a culturally diverse workplace that is free of discrimination and harassment of any kind. We encourage all qualified applicants including women, minorities, individuals with disabilities, and veterans to apply. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, veteran status, or any other status protected by the laws or regulations in the locations where we operate.

All offers of employment are contingent on your successful completion (where permitted by state law) of a confidentiality agreement, background check, and verification of being fully vaccinated for COVID-19. In addition, you will need to provide proper identification verifying your eligibility to work in the United States on your first day of work.