Assistant Dean and Executive Artistic Director

Assistant Dean and Executive Artistic Director

Location

Evanston, Illinois

Job Summary:

This role is for an innovative and collaborative artistic and administrative leader to become the Assistant Dean and Executive Artistic Director for the school. Reporting to the Associate Dean of External Affairs and Chief of Staff with a dotted line to the Dean of the School of Communication (SoC), the Assistant Dean will implement and develop the school’s performing and visual arts strategy.  The incumbent will work in partnership with school leadership, departments, units, faculty, and staff. The Assistant Dean and Executive Artistic Director will be responsible for the overall direction of the arts.  The Assistant Dean will serve as a resource across the school to advance academic engagement in the arts, advising the deans, department chairs, and other leaders on curricular strategies and faculty development. The Assistant Dean will be responsible for the curation of programs at the Virginia Wadsworth Wirtz Center for the Performing Arts on the Evanston campus, the Wirtz Center for Performing and Media Arts on the Chicago campus, our television and sound studios in Evanston, and other venues in the School.  The Assistant Dean will also work closely with SoC development staff to develop priorities and strategies for fundraising to support the arts. Where appropriate, the Assistant Dean will also help to communicate the importance of the arts as part of broader philanthropic initiatives.

Specific Responsibilities: 

• Provide overall direction of the arts in the School of Communication, working collaboratively with faculty, administrators, staff, and students. 
• Serve as a resource across the school to advance academic engagement in the arts; advising the deans, department chairs, and other leaders on curricular strategies and faculty development.   The Managing Director of the Wirtz Center will report to the Assistant Dean who will also serve as the SoC liaison with university administration and support the curation of campus-wide visual and performing arts initiatives where appropriate.
• Be responsible for the curation of programs at the Virginia Wadsworth Wirtz Center for the Performing Arts on the Evanston campus and Wirtz Center for Performing and Media Arts on the Chicago campus, our television and sound studios in Evanston, and other venues in the School.  The Assistant Dean will work in partnership with Wirtz staff, departmental faculty and staff, and SoC leadership.
• Work closely with SoC development staff to develop priorities and strategies for fundraising to support the arts. Where appropriate, the Assistant Dean will also help to communicate the importance of the arts as part of broader philanthropic initiatives.
• Work closely with SoC development staff to develop priorities and strategies for fundraising to support the arts. Where appropriate, the Assistant Dean will also help to communicate the importance of the arts as part of broader philanthropic initiatives.
• Lead the development of a comprehensive marketing and communications plan and facilitate communication of arts performances, activities, as well as opportunities to students, faculty, staff, and the broader community.

Miscellaneous

• Performs other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications: 

• A minimum of 8-10 years of progressively more responsible experience in the arts and creative management fields, experience planning and implementing outstanding and distinctive seasons of creative performing and media arts, including managing overall season budgets. 
• A graduate degree in a relevant arts field

Minimum Competencies: (Skills, knowledge, and abilities.)

• A deep understanding of the educational and cultural value of making the arts accessible to a diverse community including students, faculty, staff, and the external community;
• An ability to be an effective advocate for the arts and work with administrators, 
  faculty, staff, students, community stakeholders, and others to creatively incorporate the arts into the School of Communication experience;
• Experience or the ability to assess needs, priorities, and resources and make decisions fairly and transparently to maintain the trust and respect of the many constituencies engaged in the arts at the School of Communication;
• The ability to serve as a strong advocate for the School of Communication, the Wirtz Centers, the school’s priorities, and its teaching, research, and service mission;
• The ability to serve as an energetic and conscientious administrator broadly familiar with issues in higher education as they relate to both the undergraduate and graduate student experience;
• Possess professional contacts that can broaden and deepen the School of Communication’s local, regional, national, and international arts engagement.

Preferred Qualifications:

• MFA Degree or PhD degree in a related field

The Northwestern campus sits on the traditional homelands of the people of the Council of Three Fires, the Ojibwe, Potawatomi, and Odawa as well as the Menominee, Miami and Ho-Chunk nations. We acknowledge and honor the original people of the land upon which Northwestern University stands, and the Native people who remain on this land today.

Northwestern University is an Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action Employer of all protected classes, including veterans and individuals with disabilities. Women, racial and ethnic minorities, individuals with disabilities, and veterans are encouraged to apply. Click for information on EEO is the Law.