Director, Public Programs

Director, Public Programs

The Museum of the City of New York fosters understanding of the distinctive nature of urban life in the world’s most influential metropolis. It engages visitors by celebrating, documenting, and interpreting the city’s past, present, and future. Founded in 1923, the Museum of the City of New York (MCNY) showcases the city’s unique stories and cultural treasures. The country’s first and largest city museum, MCNY presents immersive exhibitions and programs at the intersection of history, popular culture, and art to 200,000 people annually, including 30,000 students and educators, fostering shared identity, civic pride and engagement, and social cohesion for New Yorkers. MCNY has been recognized as one of the leading museums in New York City by publications such as Condé Nast Traveler and the New York Times, with Time Out New York awarding MCNY “Best Museum” in New York in 2021.

The Museum of the City of New York seeks a visionary Director of Public Programs to lead a bold, new chapter for the Museum’s programming. This is a rare opportunity for an innovative and intellectually curious leader to reimagine what public engagement at an urban history and culture museum can look like, building ambitious, resonant programs that connect diverse audiences to New York City’s past, present, and future. The Director will join MCNY at a moment of institutional momentum, with new exhibitions, growing visitorship, and high brand awareness.

The ideal candidate brings fresh, enthusiastic vision and exceptional organizational acumen: the ability to steward a multi-disciplinary department with creativity, clarity, and rigor. Successful candidates will demonstrate a commitment to:

imagining a broad range of activities, from discussion series and gallery tours to cultural festivals, film, artmaking, performances and more, that drive visitation and elevate the Museum’s profile;

multi-generational programming that reflects and attracts New Yorkers of different backgrounds and interests;

building the Museum’s brand as a go-to destination for content connected with New York’s art, history, popular culture, and civic life; and,

engaging high-profile partners who extend the Museum’s networks.

Reporting to the Chief Curator and Deputy Director, the Director of Public Programs manages a staff of two, as well as volunteers, interns, and consultants. This role works in close collaboration with curatorial, development, marketing, and external affairs colleagues. This role requires a high degree of flexibility and comfort working in a fast-paced and dynamic environment.

This is an events-based job. Regular evening and weekend work is required.

Roles and Responsibilities:

Strategic Leadership

Develop and steward a multiyear public programs vision aligned with MCNY's curatorial priorities and institutional mission.
Position MCNY as both a leading civic forum for substantive conversation about New York City and a destination for ambitious public experiences that draw New Yorkers and visitors at scale.
Identify and cultivate relationships with thought leaders, scholars, artists, activists, community figures, and public intellectuals whose work intersects with the Museum's programs.

Event Programming

Collaborate with curatorial staff to develop programming connected to exhibitions, collections, and research initiatives.
Evaluate program performance and audience engagement; use data to refine programming strategy.
Lead the planning and execution of MCNY's public festivals and signature events, including multi-day and multi-partner productions, with an explicit ambition to grow attendance and broaden the Museum's public audience.
Oversee logistics, vendor relationships, permitting, and production timelines in coordination with the Associate Director and Coordinator.
Develop and manage event budgets, ensuring responsible stewardship of resources.
Identify opportunities for civic and community partnerships that expand the Museum's reach and deepen audience relationships.

Team Leadership

Supervise, mentor, and develop the Associate Director of Public Programs and Program Coordinator.
With the Chief Curator, represent the public programs perspective in institutional planning conversations
Contribute to grant proposals, funder reports, and donor cultivation efforts in partnership with the Chief Curator and Development team.
Represent MCNY externally at professional conferences, civic forums, and partner convenings.
And other duties as assigned.

A successful candidate will have:

7+ years of experience as a cultural programmer who has shaped the identity and direction of a public-facing program, series, or institution; someone equally comfortable curating substantive conversations and producing large-scale public experiences designed to draw broad audiences.
A body of work that reflects sustained engagement with ideas: a coherent programmatic vision, a record of curating conversations that matter, or a track record of bringing substantive cultural or civic content to broad public audiences.
Demonstrated experience managing complex event production, including festivals, large public convenings, and multi-partner programming.
Track record of building and maintaining operational systems including, but not limited to budgets, timelines, vendor management, staffing logistics, in a cultural or civic setting.
Experience managing staff and leading cross-departmental collaborations.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills; comfort presenting publicly and representing an institution externally.
Familiarity with New York City history, culture, and civic life, or a clear and demonstrable commitment to developing that fluency.
Experience developing original public programming with a distinct intellectual or curatorial point of view.
Demonstrated success growing attendance for festivals, signature events, or other large-scale public programming.
Established network within New York City's cultural, academic, and civic communities.
Experience working with development and fundraising teams to support grant writing and donor engagement.
Fluency in Spanish is valued, but not required
A commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion and a passion for advancing equity and addressing structural racism within nonprofit organizations.

Physical Requirements & Work Environment:

While performing the essential functions of the job, this role primarily works on Monday-Friday with occasional weekend or evening work required. This position entails occasional weekend work, with schedules determined by operational needs. Work is primarily onsite at the Museum, in an open office plan setting. The Museum environment is fast-paced and workspaces include the Museum’s galleries and classroom spaces. Must be able to remain in a stationary position 50% of the time and able to traverse through office and museum gallery environment. Requires the ability to operate standard office equipment including computers and keyboards for extended periods of time. Exerting up to 25 pounds of force occasionally and/or negligible amount of force frequently or constantly to lift, carry, push, pull or otherwise move objects. Repetitive motion. Substantial movements (motions) of the wrists, hands, and/or fingers. The worker is required to have close visual acuity to perform an activity such as: preparing and analyzing data and figures; transcribing; viewing a computer terminal; extensive reading. Specific vision abilities required by the job include close vision, distance vision, color and peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus. On occasion, the employee may be required to work outside events with weather conditions including heat and cold.

Benefits:

The annual salary for this position is $100,000. The position offers a competitive benefits package including medical, dental, vision, FSA, HSA, life insurance, 401K and a defined benefit pension plan, short and long-term disability, and an Employee Assistance Program, with options for critical illness insurance, accident insurance, legal services, and pet insurance. The Museum provides a paid time off policy that includes 10 days of annual leave, rising to 15 days in year 2, and to 20 days in year 3, plus 12 sick days per year and 12 holidays. Your employment relationship with the Museum qualifies you for free or discounted admissions to other participating cultural institutions.

The Museum of the City of New York is committed to fostering a collaborative and respectful work environment with staff as diverse as New York City and the audiences who are curious about learning more about its history and engaging in contemporary urban issues. Our staff members are dedicated to working towards a common goal: creating the most dynamic and inspiring city museum in the world.

The Museum of the City of New York is an equal opportunity employer. As such, the museum provides equal employment opportunity for all employees and applicants without unlawful discrimination with respect to age, citizenship status, color, creed, disability, ethnicity, gender identification or expression, marital status, military status or veteran, national origin, political association, political/personal convictions, predisposing genetic characteristics, race (including traits historically associated with race, such as hair texture and style), religion (including attire, clothing or facial hair worn in accordance with religious requirements), sex (including pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions and transgender status), sexual orientation, socio-economic status, geographic location, philosophies, or any other classification protected by federal, state or local laws, in all employment decisions, including but not limited to recruitment, hiring, training, compensation, promotion, demotion, transfer, lay-off, and termination, and all other terms and conditions of employment. The Museum complies with applicable state and local law governing nondiscrimination in employment which prohibits discrimination and harassment against any employees, applicants for employment or interns, as well as contractors, subcontractors, vendors, consultants, other individuals providing services in the workplace or their employees in every location in which the Museum has facilities.

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