Executive Director

Full time / $42,000 - $52,000 / Newport Symphony Orchestra / Newport, OR

The Organization
Now in its 35th season, the Newport Symphony Orchestra is a professional orchestral organization located in a vibrant city on the beautiful Oregon coast. Its mission is to enhance the quality of life in Oregon’s coastal communities with diverse, inspiring performances and engaging educational activities. The NSO annually presents five pairs of orchestral concerts and three evenings of chamber music, regularly hosts national and international guest artists, and employs an orchestra of 60 musicians. The NSO’s primary performance home is the Alice Silverman Theater at the Newport Performing Arts Center, with occasional performances in nearby western and coastal Oregon communities. The NSO has an active youth education program with an introductory strings program, two youth orchestras, and a music mentorship program.

The NSO has a strong relationship with the Lincoln County School District, sharing resources for NSO and youth orchestra rehearsals and classes, presenting guest artists for in-school classroom visits, and offering an annual free concert for the community at a local school on Independence Day.

The NSO is guided artistically by Music Director Adam Flatt, conductor of the orchestra since 2007. In addition to his work in Newport, Maestro Flatt is also Music Director of Colorado Ballet in Denver and the Tuscaloosa Symphony in Alabama.

The Newport Symphony Orchestra is guided by its strategic plan which provides goals in artistry, community engagement, financial security, equity/diversity/inclusion, and strong organizational structure. It operates on an annual budget of $450,000 and has endowment funds currently valued at more than $400,000 invested at the Oregon Community Foundation.

The City
Newport is a small coastal community of approximately 10,000 with a lively arts scene, an internationally recognized marine science center, great schools, and extraordinary outdoor recreation opportunities. It is located in largely rural Lincoln County (population 50,000) and is nestled between the Pacific Ocean and Oregon’s breathtaking Coast Range.

The Newport Performing Arts Center serves as the home of the Newport Symphony as well as four theater groups and two dance ensembles. The 328-seat Alice Silverman Theater is an intimate space with sound enhanced by a state-of-the art Meyer Constellation system.

The Position
The Executive Director is responsible for managing the NSO’s annual operations and implementing policies set by its Board of Directors. Specific duties include administering fundraising and marketing campaigns, securing grants, developing community partnerships, and overseeing human and financial resources. The Executive Director reports to the Board through the Board President and works in partnership with the Music Director.

Requirements

Candidate Profile
The successful candidate will be capable of balancing the many facets of an arts non-profit organization, including developing individual donor and corporate sponsor relationships, managing organizational expenses, and maintaining an active, constructive collaboration with Board members and volunteers. The ideal candidate will be a self-starter with high energy and deep integrity, and will welcome the opportunity to be an active participant in the life of Newport and Oregon’s central coast community.

A competitive candidate will have a minimum of three years’ experience in a fundraising context, including experience managing donation campaigns, overseeing events, and organizing an annual calendar of grant applications and reporting deadlines. A familiarity with marketing and advertising principles is desired, as is facility with creating effective social media content, as well as providing confident direction to operations personnel to achieve artistic success. The NSO uses Salesforce for cataloging donor data and QuickBooks for processing accounting data. Proficiency in these applications as well as Microsoft Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, and Zoom is preferred.

The Executive Director is required to work on select nights and weekends during concert production weeks. This position requires the ability to sit or stand for extended periods of time, as well as the ability to lift approximately 20 pounds.

The NSO values diversity, equity, and inclusion and candidates should have a track record of advancing this work, or a desire to build capacity in this area, to ensure an inclusive environment.