Executive Director [Tudor Place Historic House and Garden]

Tudor Place Historic House and Garden, the extraordinary single remaining example of an early 19th century pastoral estate in the District of Columbia, seeks a creative and enthusiastic leader to succeed its retiring Executive Director. Tudor Place’s new leader will play a critical role in every aspect of the organization’s future direction, including shaping its programs, achieving its preservation goals, and advancing Tudor Place’s reputation as one of the most important historic houses and collections in the country.

The handsome National Historic Landmark house, completed in 1816, sits on five and a half acres of idyllic formal gardens in its original site in the heart of the Georgetown Historic District.
Tudor Place’s 15,000-plus objects represent a more than two?century history of fine and decorative arts and include one of the largest collections of items owned by Martha and George Washington.
Rare among historic estates, the Tudor Place staff is classifying and accessioning over 400 old-growth trees into its collection, serving as a model for preservation, scholarship, and sustainability of heirloom plantings and enabling Tudor Place to offer a unique learning experience about the area’s changing natural environment from the early19th century to the present.
This rich landmark of human and natural history provides material for wide-ranging and diverse educational programming for all ages in the residence, gardens, and outbuildings. The 350,000 linear foot archive of documents and photographs offers scholars a significant resource for research. In addition to the mansion and the recently restored original smokehouse, the property has a 1914 garage with a 1966 addition, an 1867 house, mower house, and numerous garden structures.
As Tudor Place’s 200th anniversary approaches, the Board, staff and other stakeholders have worked with preservation and planning specialists to craft an ambitious Master Preservation Plan to secure the historic site’s future. The first phase of a $20 million-plus Capital Campaign will begin in 2015.
Tudor Place operates with a 19-person staff (two of them part-time), an annual operating budget of approximately $1.3 million and a committed 19-person Board of Trustees. For more information about Tudor place: http://www.tudorplace.org/

THE POSITION
Reporting Relationships/Primary Responsibilities
The Executive Director reports to the President of the Board of Trustees and works in tandem with the Executive Committee and serves on all ad hoc and permanent committees of the Board.
The Executive Director’s primary responsibilities are to provide Tudor Place with strategic leadership, oversight and management of its staff and operations; lead and implement the Capital Campaign; lead the Board and staff in fundraising and outreach activities; and build productive working relationships internally and externally, including with City Council members, neighbors and the Georgetown community as well as other cultural and historical institutions locally and nationally.

Immediate Priorities
The Executive Director will learn about Tudor Place’s programs, finances, collection, structures, and staff; and with the Board’s assistance, become familiar with the organization’s stakeholders, including patrons, volunteers, and city officials. She/he will work closely with the Board of Trustees and the Capital Campaign Committee and lead the 2016 Bicentennial Celebration.Following this period, the Executive Director will offer the Board recommendations for how operations might be improved or changed. She/he will suggest future initiatives to build on Tudor Place’s strengths and reputation to increase its visibility, visitation, and contributed- and earned-income opportunities. She/he will, with the input of Board and staff, begin updating the organization’s institutional long-range plan.

Ongoing Responsibilities

• Financial Development
  Together with the Director of Development, the Development Committee and the Board, lead fundraising strategies and activities to expand the regional and national philanthropic community’s awareness of Tudor Place; cultivate and solicit new funding opportunities, including individual, corporate, government and foundation sources; establish and maintain productive relationships with existing donors; and provide direction to the Board and staff for all aspects of major gift cultivation and solicitation.Work with appropriate staff to develop earned income opportunities and devise marketing efforts that increase earned income from memberships/donor circles, and facility rentals.
• Program Development and Collections
  Work closely with the Collections Manager, Curator of Collections, Director of Education and Visitor Services, Director of Preservation, Archivist, Director of Gardens and Grounds, and Communications Director to provide strategic oversight and direction for the development of programs to interest and engage audiences and enhance scholarly research capability.Work closely with the Communications Officer to ensure that education, facility rentals, museum shop and exhibition programs are marketed properly.Direct the collaborative efforts of those responsible for the preservation, display, interpretation and care of the collections in accordance with the highest professional and ethical standards.
• Operations/Administration
  Oversee Tudor Place’s fiscal soundness; work closely with the Museum Administrator in the preparation of annual operating budgets; monitor income and expenses; and oversee monthly financial reports for Board review.Mentor and manage staff to assure optimal performance and ensure a positive and successful staff structure; conduct staff evaluations annually or more often, as needed.Serve as key contact between the Board and staff.
• Communications and Public Relations
  Actively participate at community functions and appropriate regional activities related to the mission of Tudor Place. Serve on appropriate community, regional and national Boards, as feasible.Work closely with the Communications Director to develop marketing and communications strategies, including branding initiatives to strengthen the Tudor Place identity regionally and nationally.
• Governance Support
  Provide guidance to Board officers, members and committees; encourage their involvement in the direction and governance of Tudor Place to ensure fiscal health and effective policy setting.Work with the Governance Committee to recruit Trustees and cultivate new candidates for the Board.

Qualifications and Personal Characteristics

The successful candidate will have a minimum of seven years of senior level experience gained in a historic house, American history or art museum or related institution. A master’s degree is required. Among the most important qualities the successful candidate will have are leadership, the ability to see the big picture, fundraising experience and strategic planning skills. In addition, significant interest in and/or knowledge of American history is required. The Executive Director must have the ability and ambition to seize the opportunity to shape Tudor Place’s future growth.

In addition, the following qualifications and characteristics are highly desired:

• Passion and enthusiasm for the job at hand
• Experience with capital campaigns; demonstrated success in fundraising, donor cultivation and solicitations
• Demonstrated ability to think strategically; experience with long term planning and goals; dedication, discipline and ambition to translate vision into concrete action
• Ability to review and analyze complex issues, evaluate solutions and adopt an effective course of action
• Strong community awareness and the ability to work with multiple stakeholders; evidence of successful leadership through strong interpersonal skills with staff, Board, patrons and community; talent for building trust and confidence
• A management style marked by a team-oriented approach and proactive planning to achieve institutional goals
• Experience in development of institutional budgets, exhibitions, educational programs, academic pursuits and management of collections and archives.
• Proficiency with appropriate administrative technology
• Exceptional listening skills, comfortable receiving input from many sources, a collaborative spirit and equally at ease as a leader or team member.
• A positive outlook and good sense of humor

Address all inquiries and recommendations in confidence,
to the retained search consultants (e-mails are preferred):

Freda Mindlin or Nancy Kaufman
Opportunity Resources Inc.
196 East 75th Street, Suite 14H
New York, NY 10021
(212) 744-4409
search@opportunityresources.net
Opportunity Resources has specialized for over twenty-five years
in providing search services to non-profit cultural institutions nationwide.