Program Director

Mission: To bring joy to older adults and those living in isolating circumstances and enhance their well-being through creative engagement with the arts.

Introduction:

Tidewater Arts Outreach (TAO) leverages the healing power of arts to bring joy, enhance well-being, and facilitate lifelong learning for older and isolated adults. Since its founding in 2004, TAO has produced over 7,800 hours of arts outreach programs with over 280 partner agencies throughout the Hampton Roads MSA. These programs served over 187,000 participants. TAO retains an artist roster of over 90 individuals/groups at any given time representing the music, visual arts, performing arts, and literary arts disciplines. 

Supervisor: Program Director

Hours: Full Time - Exempt

Overview and Responsibilities:

The Program Director is responsible for the execution of approximately 1,350-1,500 arts outreach program hours per year and the stewardship of all Programming relationships with Partners, Artists, and Volunteers.

Main responsibilities include:

• Program Development: Stewards current and prospects new Program Partner organizations/locations, creatively designing new program offerings, and communicating needs of partners and artists to the Executive Director. Liaises with Task Forces on Aging and other community and professional organizations to expand programming reach.
• Program Administration: Designs programs to meet partner needs, recruits and trains Artists, procures photos and other program collateral, and administrates staff/participant/artist/volunteer post-program surveys.
• Database Administration: Adds and updates partner, artist, and program information in Bloomerang to facilitate organizational efficiency.
• Direct Report: Supervises the Program Manager, who serves as the main logistical contact (scheduling, supplies, etc.) for all programming activities.
• Volunteer Management: Onboards and schedules Volunteers in coordination with the Program Manager.

Secondary responsibilities include:

• Financial: Invoices and collect payments from Partner agencies in a timely manner. Assists Development with mail retrieval, gift entry, bank deposits, and acknowledgement letters as needed.
• Marketing: Creates program-related content for social media, e-mail newsletters, direct mail, etc. and coordinates campaigns with Marketing. Comfort with social media platforms, copywriting, and messaging required.
• Development: Coordinates artist/participant thank you videos for donors at the request of Development. Assists with special event logistics.

Working Conditions:

The Program Director works in-office every Monday with the rest of the staff to assist with financial responsibilities, staff meetings, and other office-related tasks. Additional in-office hours may be necessary to accomplish certain projects. Occasional weekends and evenings required to attend programs or special events. The Program Director is outfitted with a company laptop and may do their work outside of the required office hours in the setting of their choosing provided it is a safe and confidential environment (including secure internet access – a VPN is provided). Travel to programs and other local trips (e.g. supply purchasing) is required on at least a 1-2 occurrence per week basis. Occasional out-of-town travel (i.e., Richmond) because of the organization’s geographic expansion will also be required. Mileage is reimbursed by the Company at the current federal reimbursement rate and is applicable to trips not considered commuting to/from main office or home office. 

Professional Development:

Tidewater Arts Outreach highly values investing in its employees at its own expense. The Program Director is expected to seek out at least two (2) professional development opportunities per year and bring these to the Executive Director for approval. Approved opportunities will be paid for at TAO’s expense and will be done on company time.

Skills and Qualifications:

• Mastery of programming science: Demonstrated with an earned degree in social work, human services, creative arts therapy, therapeutic recreation/activities, or related field plus at least two (2) years of work experience in the social work, human services, creative arts therapy, adult activities, or related field plus at least one (1) credential related to programming/social work (e.g. QMHP, ACC, etc.)
• Excellent and precise written and verbal communication skills
• Professional demeanor
• Organized and detail-oriented
• Proficient with database management - at least one year of data entry/notetaking experience required
• Ability to build community contacts on behalf of the organization
• Volunteer management experience preferred
• Appreciation for the arts and its healing power

Compensation and Benefits:

• $52,000/year salary (full-time, exempt)
• 25 Days of Paid Time Off
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• SimpleIRA Retirement Plan
• Paid Family/Medical Leave (after 6-months of contiguous employment)
• Company-sponsored professional development

Please remit resume and optional cover letter to:

tao@tidewaterartsoutreach.org

Subject Line: “Program Director Application – INSERT YOUR LAST NAME”

*Timeline for hire is May-June 2026*