Current Opportunities

COMPANY DESCRIPTION

Founded by philanthropist and filmmaker George Lucas and his wife, Mellody Hobson, Co-CEO and President of Ariel Investments, the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art (Lucas Museum) will inspire current and future generations through the universal art of visual storytelling.

The Lucas Museum will present permanent collection and rotating exhibitions for diverse public audiences which will feature illustrations, paintings, comic art, photography, and an in-depth exploration of the art of filmmaking (including storyboards, costumes, animation, visual effects, and more). Extensive education programming designed for all ages will explore innovative ways for visitors to engage with narrative art.

Designed by renowned architect Ma Yansong and under construction in Los Angeles’ Exposition Park, the museum will feature new public green space, state-of-the-art cinematic theaters, numerous spaces for onsite education, restaurants, retail, and event spaces. The Lucas Museum will be a barrier-free museum where artificial divisions between “high” art and “popular” art are absent, allowing you to explore a wide array of compelling visual storytelling. Visitors who might be less inclined to visit a traditional fine art museum will be invited to engage with and relate to art forms they recognize and love.

The Lucas Museum will celebrate the power of visual storytelling in a setting focused on narrative painting, illustration, photography, film, animation, and digital art. Narrative art is all about stories, and the moments in those stories captured by the artists. We invite you to experience those stories with us. One visit may change not only the way you think about museums, but what you think art is. You’re already familiar with narrative art because it’s the art that tells the stories you love.

Our collection features the original, artist-made creations, from sketches to storyboards to sets and costumes from movies. And we showcase narrative art in paintings, illustrations, comic art, photography, and many other media. We’re asking you to take another look at that art with us, and appreciate it for the artistry in the storytelling. The museum also invites you to explore the lineage of narrative art, so you can see what art inspired today’s work and artists. Cinema is the most visible narrative art form of the 20th and 21st centuries. The museum will present daily screenings of films ranging from legendary historic features to the latest and most innovative projects today. We will also present a lecture series featuring the most inventive and intriguing filmmakers of our time.

The programming and education will make pioneering use of the museum’s one-of-a-kind collection. The museum will provide multiple opportunities for hands-on engaging educational experiences for all ages and curriculum-based learning for students. You will be able to experiment in many artistic processes, from painting to pre-professional cinema techniques. Providing free and affordable access and engaging educational opportunities to youth is central to our mission. Special tours, talks, workshops and screenings will be tailored to serve the curriculum of students from elementary school to college age.

SCOPE AND RESPONSIBILITIES

At this time of exciting growth and development, the Lucas Museum seeks a dynamic and inspired leader for its Chief Strategy and Administration Officer (CSAO). The role reports to the Director/CEO, is a member of the Executive Management Team and works with Trustees, other senior leadership and varied teams across the museum to develop and implement strategy, DEIAB (diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, belonging), and people-centered policies and practices. This position will play a critical role in imagining and realizing the museum as a strategic, equitable and people-first work community. They will provide leadership, strategic direction, stewardship, administrative and managerial oversight for various areas including strategic planning, DEAIB, human resources, professional development, and the Director/CEO’s office. It is an opportune time to join a vibrant team that is building an institution from the ground up with a unique mission that will define the future of what a museum can become for its constituents and the field.

Among the many exciting opportunities and responsibilities for the CSAO, include:

• The CSAO assists with developing, communicating, executing, and sustaining strategic initiatives. They will focus on accelerating organization performance through cohesive strategy planning and execution, knowledge management and the implementation of an organizational dashboard for impact and organizational effectiveness.
• The CSAO is responsible for formalizing the strategic-planning processes, and leading the development of the strategy, translating it for people across functions and business units, and drive organizational change forging new working relationships and synergies across the organization, and establishing greater transparency and accountability for those people carrying out the institution’s strategy. In addition, the CSAO is responsible for assessing whether strategic initiatives, at all levels of the organization, are in line with the institution’s standards and objectives.
• The CSAO will lead and implement the institution’s first strategic plan in support of its mission, vision, and values as it builds a new museum and a viable institution for the future.
• The CSAO will direct and oversee a comprehensive strategic planning process and manage its internal implementation with a commitment to public service and long-term viability.
• The CSAO plays a leadership role in guiding and supporting all departments toward integrated execution of strategies, while also leading the critical investment the museum will make in shaping a “people-first” culture. As such, this role will create an organization’s strategy for recruitment.
• The CSAO will guide the realization of the evolving vision and establish the practices and work ethic to build the museum’s institutional ethos. Dedicated to actively living its values as an anti-racist institution, the museum commits to investing in people through effective management of talent, time, and financial resources.
• The CSAO will provide cross-departmental leadership toward a sustained culture of inclusion during organizational growth toward the launch of the new museum.

QUALIFICATIONS / REQUIREMENTS

Strategic Leadership and Management Acumen

• With previous senior-level experience expected, the CSAO is skilled at building and leading high-performing, diverse teams of the highest degree of professionalism and guiding team members’ growth and development.
• The successful candidate must have the ability to lead not only a team, but a new/evolving field of practice. The ideal candidate will provide a productive work environment that matches the skill set and abilities of staff members as well as professional growth opportunities that result in team cohesion and camaraderie.
• The CSAO will foster a culture of collaboration, mutual respect, and teamwork within the division and throughout the institution. The successful candidate will be an open-door, inclusive leader and manager of the highest integrity, with the ability to motivate, inspire, and unite staff around a shared vision.
• This leader will encourage and celebrate the talents of the team while also holding them accountable to mutually agreed-upon goals. Additionally, they will approach the operations and finances of their portfolio with focus and balance and will make decisions based on a clear understanding of the strategic objectives of the museum.
• The CSAO will have excellent interpersonal skills, be systematic, detail oriented, patient, a self-starter, and works well under pressure.
• This individual manages time efficiently, analyzes and solves problems collaboratively, and at times independently in a timely manner. The CSAO will exude an ability to embrace change and adapt easily to changing priorities.

Building Relationships and Using Influence

• The successful candidate must establish rapport and cultivate relationships across all levels of the museum, including serving as a consultative thought-leader and partner to the Director/CEO.
• The CSAO will have a demonstrated ability to connect with and build bridges with members, visitors, community leaders, and donors.
• As a senior executive, the CSAO must be able to foster trust and will possess the ability to manage through change with flexibility and poise.
• The CSAO will be a strong leader, communicator, and collaborator who is skilled at listening to and learning from leadership, staff, and volunteers.
• This leader will embrace the culture of the museum, while always having an eye on opportunities to foster best-in-class practices in a productive manner with colleagues.
• The CSAO will inspire fellow leaders, staff, and volunteers to develop deeper relationships, leading the charge by example.

Strategic Planning

• Leads the development of the strategic plan/framework for the organization, and the detailed current year operating plan, while adhering to direction set by the Director/CEO and Board of Directors. This includes formalizing and leading the strategic planning process, focusing on long term trends and outlook, and competitive intelligence.
• Facilitates the execution of the strategy by working collaboratively with the other Executive Team members and ensuring that the strategy is communicated and easily understood by all throughout the organization. Ensures that strategic actions are completed at various levels to achieve desired results.
• Ensures that appropriate metrics are in place to measure performance and progress towards strategic goals.
• Leads the development and implementation of consistent practices and strategic frameworks across the organization.
• Oversees the development and implementation of a knowledge management infrastructure and leads in the management of organizational knowledge as a strategic asset to further the organization’s goals.
• Leads the organization’s approach to measurement and evaluation with a focus on the creation of an organizational dashboard for impact and organizational effectiveness.
• Support the Director/CEO in enhancing and implementing the organizational vision and values through its strategic priorities and alignment of all programmatic offerings.
• Provide leadership of cross-departmental communication and cohesiveness to ensure effective use of time and resources to achieve strategies and initiatives.
• Reinforce, sustain, and by example lead the values of the museum and support the staff as the organization evolves to achieve its strategies through the cycles leading up to, throughout, and post-opening.
• In partnership with the Director/CEO and Chief of Staff, enhance organizational excellence by establishing operational benchmarks, timelines, and resources needed to achieve strategic goals, proactively recommending and driving improvements as necessary; set standards for accountability and measures of success.
• Support the program and operations teams in the important and ongoing steps of creating processes and conditions for excellent, interdependence, and execution of these strategies.
• Harness opportunities for internal and external collaboration, nurturing key relationships and identifying and lifting up critical learnings.
• Foreground programming in tandem with audience engagement as the bedrock of all critical strategic business drivers.
• Ensure critical analysis of research and analytics to guide strategic decision-making to help departments optimize outcomes with finite resources and through collective-impact thinking and decision-making.
• Evaluate and recommend resource allocations that systematically advance the ability to achieve the strategic direction of the museum.

Project Planning

• Intersect with the Director/CEO’s Office on all special projects and strategic initiatives under consideration to ensure centralized coordination and unified management of all ongoing projects and those in Research and Development.
• Oversee special projects initiated by the Director/CEO; foremost, in partnership with the Director/CEO and key staff to integrate the strategic planning outcomes with the evolving decision-making for the building project which reflects the ultimate manifestation of the museum’s mission and vision.

People Strategy

• Lead, design, implement, and manage DEIAB as the bedrock of all internal and external relations undergirding the Human Resource functions, training, customer and visitor services, community engagement, government affairs, board development and governance.
• Establish a DEIAB-forward ethos and institution-wide commitment to defining and shaping actionable, policies, procedures and practices across programming and operational functions.
• Establish a centralized museum-wide training methodology from the lens of DEIAB for customer service and box office, security, visitor experiences, volunteer, docent, fellows and interns, and board development. Commit to helping all staff achieve strategic outcomes and professional and personal goals through consistent management training and professional development opportunities. Acknowledging that training is often content-specific; develop consistent methodological practice with DEIAB at the core to realize a systemic embedded commitment to our values.
• Work in collaboration with the Human Resources Director to drive the strategy and lead the Human Resources initiatives.
• Oversee and guide the implementation of Board development and governance practices, working closely with the Chief of Staff, General Counsel, and management of the Board Assistant.

Departmental

• Manage the General Counsel, strategically shaping and responding to all legal matters in support of non-profit best practice related to fiduciary and board governance, compliance, vendor and business contracts, partnership negotiations, and human resources.
• Strategically recommend business portfolio frameworks and financial modeling applied across the museum against quarterly metrics toward achievement of the strategic plan.
• Provide strategic input to the techniques and approach to data samples, to anchor strategic decisions guided by empirical evidence and strong analytics.
• Cross-pollinate with External Affairs to recommend strategic approaches to marketing and audience development, rooted in analytics and metrics.
• Cross-pollinate with the Chief Operating Officer to consistently evaluate financial landscape and short- and long-term financial planning.
• Cross-pollinate with Deputy Director of Curatorial + Collections/Chief Curator and Deputy Director of Public Programs and Social Impact to continually support and advance strategic programmatic decisions integrated with audience use, public engagement, informed by data.
• Develop an interdependent structure, methodology, meeting protocols for the Executive Management Team to advance the strategic plan, manage institutional risk, evolve and calibrate as internal and external forces dictate.
• Manage departmental budget.
• Act as staff liaison on designated Board Committees.
• Developing, managing, and supporting data-based diversity and inclusion strategies.

KEY SELECTION CRITERIA

• BA/BS plus 15 years of professional experience in non-profit cultural management at the intersection of strategy and relationship management.
• Mission-driven social impact practitioner.
• Institution-builder, dedicated to actualizing a vision, through systematic integration of all elements that make the whole greater than the sum of its parts.
• Experience working with, supporting, engaging and motivating non-profit Boards.
• Creative problem-solver able to operate and build trust at the nexus of programming and operations .
• Highly organized and ability to wear multiple hats in an ambiguous, fast-moving environment; a driving force who manages toward clarity and solutions with a dedication to supporting the success of others.
• A successful track record in setting priorities, shaping processes, guiding investment in people and systems, and developing an infrastructure that creates a stronger and more efficient organization.
• Exceptional leadership presence, internally and externally.
• High emotional intelligence with strategic and analytic expertise.
• Skilled at aggregating and synthesizing complex data and concept.
• Exceptional interpersonal skills and has a knack for tuning into the needs and assessing the morale of a network of teams.
• Equally comfortable in being in the “forest and the trees” and able to ignite, convene and support cross-departmental thinking and decision-making toward strategic outcomes.
• Superior manager and leader.
• Demonstrated ability to be a productive member of a community of people at work, respecting differences while working towards common goals; comfort with periods of ambiguity, constructive participation in ongoing organizational development.
• Additionally, The CSAO will have an ability to maintain a flexible work and travel schedule, including some evenings and weekends. Performs additional duties, either incidental or implied, consistent with the employee’s background or training, or which may be reasonably delegated as being in the best interest of the museum.