Strategic Grants & Initiatives Director-Arts

Salary: $80,810.37 – $97,139.27 Annually

Location : Nashville, TN

Job Type: Full-Time Civil Service

Job Number: 24018E

Department: Arts Commission

Opening Date: 07/17/2023

Closing Date: 8/15/2023 11:59 PM Central

Position Description
This Strategic Grants & Initiatives Director leads the strategic funding programs and initiatives of the Metro Nashville Arts Commission. They directly oversee the administration and evaluation of public grants and individual artist funding. They collaborate on equity initiatives and programs, especially as they relate to funding, and oversee additional community programs and initiatives that expand the mission of Metro Arts.

Metro Arts is the city of Nashville’s office of arts + culture. Our mission is to drive a vibrant and equitable community through the arts. Our work encompasses a wide range of public programs, grant funding and the management of the public art program and collection for the city. We believe that all Nashvillians should have access to a creative life. Our values statement and strategic plan can be found at and our equity statement can be found
Typical Duties

• Develops policies and cultivates new programs and initiatives that drive equity and inclusion for artists and arts organizations across the ecosystem in Nashville.
• Proactively considers how the impact of the funding serves all communities to engage in the arts with specific attention to previously underserved communities in Nashville.
• Supports artists and arts organizations through development of funding programs, professional development, and training opportunities.
• Develops, and assesses funding priorities, criteria, guidelines, and processes.
• Designs and oversees evaluation efforts to measure impact of public investment in the arts.
• Seeks, develops, and administers external funding opportunities through partnerships and re-granting opportunities.
• Administers the Grants and Funding Committee of the Board of Commissioners.
• Manages funding processes for all grants and funding programs, including overseeing the administration of funding review panels and the training and recruitment of panelists.
• Provides financial oversight of all grants and strategic funding awards with Director of Finance.
• Supports a thriving climate and culture of shared accountability and collaboration.
• Seeks continuous process improvements for the entire agency, through facilitating clear and open feedback, employee evaluations, and documentation of work performance.
• Supports the Metro Arts Commissioners’ vision, Metro Nashville Diversity Officer’s guidelines, and the agency’s work in developing and sustaining equitable practices across programs and policies, furthering the team commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and access.

Minimum Qualifications
Employees would typically have a Bachelor’s Degree plus five (5) years of professional experience in an administrative, arts program management or funding, technical, or related field.

*Substitution for education and/or experience (1:1 ratio) may be considered*

LICENSES REQUIRED
None

Candidates with accreditations earned in a foreign institute are encouraged to apply.

Note: Per Metro Ordinance No. SO94-1078. All employees of the Metropolitan Government shall be residents of the State of Tennessee or become residents of the state within six (6) months of employment as a prerequisite to employment with the Metropolitan Government.
Preferred Experience, Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Experience setting up and achieving specific accomplishments within arts, racial equity or restorative justice fields
• Experience navigating structured organizations, such as governments, universities, or large organizations and obtaining buy-in on potentially challenging ideas
• Project management skills, including the ability to produce, track and manage multiple deliverables with overlapping deadlines
• Experience building collaborative and productive relationships with community members, institutions, and organizations, particularly with communities of color, immigrant and refugee communities and other historically marginalized communities
• Experience using online proposal systems such as Submittable

We are an equal opportunity employer that values diversity at all levels. All individuals, regardless of personal characteristics, are encouraged to apply.

Metro Nashville Government respects the religious beliefs and practices of all employees and will make, on request, an accommodation for such observances when a reasonable accommodation is available that does not create an undue hardship on business operations.

Requests for ADA accommodation for the recruitment process should be directed to Human Resources at 615-862-6640.

Full-time, Civil Service positions –
10 Vacation Days per year (increasing after 5 years of service)
1 Sick Day per month
12 Paid Holidays per year