Common Staff Positions

What is unique about arts organizations that you don't find in other sectors is the presence of "two headed" leadership. Many arts organizations have both an Artistic Director and Managing Director who both report to the board of directors and work together as a team. This is common in theaters, music organizations, and dance companies.

Leadership positions:

»	Artistic Director - The chief staff person responsible for the artistic decisions of an arts organization, including overall artistic vision and programming choices. Generally members of the artistic staff, such as choreographers, stage directors, music directors, etc, report to this person, not to the executive director or general manager.
»	Executive Director - An employee of an organization who is assigned the principle responsibility for administering the organization; sometimes termed "president" or "executive vice president"; this may be an officer position. In performing arts organizations, this person is also referred to as the "general manager".

It is common for small organizations to have just an artistic director who must wear both hats until the organization has sufficient resources to hire a managing director to handle administrative matters. In other types of nonprofit organizations, these two functions are merged into a single position, Executive Director or President/CEO, who oversees both programmatic and administrative functions.

Other positions that might be found in smaller organizations:

»	Development Director – Responsible for fundraising activities, including grantwriting, individual donor solicitation, and special events
»	Program Director – Responsible for the planning and implementation of programs related to the organization’s mission
»	Audience Development/Marketing Director – Responsible for promotion, advertising and public relations related to the organization and specific activities
»	Business/Office Manager – Responsible for ongoing administrative tasks. This can be, in a smaller organization, a “catch-all” position in which the person might handle the books, do some grantwriting, and write the press releases. Tasks and responsibilities are very much dependent on the size of the organization and duties of other personnel.

The specifics of these positions vary from organization to organization. Because of limited resources, small organizations often put more value into hiring individuals with specific skill sets that address specific significant tasks before hiring support or clerical staff.