GENOVESE, VANDERHOOF & ASSOCIATES
Job Opportunity
Columbus, Georgia
RiverCenter for the Performing Arts invites applications for the position of Executive Director.
We seek a Performing Arts Facility professional with a grounding in all aspects of performing arts facility management: community partnerships, fund-raising, marketing, concessions, front of house, ticketing, rentals, board development, backstage/technical operations, and programming. This person will become the “face” of RiverCenter in the community and will have the managerial skills and facility experience to take RiverCenter to its next level of achievement. Experience in the management of capital projects and capital/endowment campaigns would be an asset, as well as a background in working closely with universities and community user groups.
The Position:
Reporting to the Board of Trustees, the Executive Director is the chief executive and operating officer for the corporation and oversees all aspects of RiverCenter for the Performing Arts, ensuring an efficient, effective, and fiscally sound operation. The Executive Director is charged with working closely with RiverCenter’s constituencies and stakeholders to provide mission-driven, community-serving programming with a healthy balance of at-risk and rental events and activities. The Executive Director is also responsible for overseeing and steering the cooperative association and interaction of the Center and Columbus State University (CSU), working with the appropriate CSU officials.
Areas of overall oversight include: production, education, operations, finance, marketing, human resources, development, and programming. The new Executive Director must be willing to work closely with the development staff to raise money and to be out in the community.
RiverCenter’s annual budget is approximately $4.2 million and has a staff complement of 18 full-time and 10 part-time people. Fifteen per cent of the annual budget comes from contributed income at this time.
Background:
Located in the heart of historic Uptown Columbus, RiverCenter for the Performing Arts is the centerpiece of the city’s arts and entertainment district. With its three state-of-the-art theatres and educational facilities, RiverCenter is the largest arts center in the region. It is home to the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, Columbus State University’s Schwob School of Music, and regularly partners with the Youth Orchestra of Greater Columbus, Columbus Ballet, and the Miss Georgia Scholarship Pageant.
Conceived as a vital cultural hub, the Center was designed by Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer and Associates to enrich the Chattahoochee Valley region artistically. The construction was funded in part by $87.1 million of the over $100 million raised by the Columbus Challenge, an unprecedented public-private fund-raising effort that also revitalized other key local cultural organizations. The remainder of the funding came from a $17 million state appropriation and a $35 million matching gift from the Bradley-Turner Foundation.
A property of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, the 245,000 square foot RiverCenter is a visually stunning blend of the past and present, mixing the brick and ironwork of the area’s historic buildings with a modern multi-level glass and steel facade.
RiverCenter includes the 2,000-seat Bill Heard Theatre, as well as Legacy Hall, a 450-seat concert hall with the Jordan Concert Organ, and the 150-seat black box Studio Theater. Legacy Hall and the Studio Theater provide rehearsal and performance space for the Columbus State University’s Schwob School of Music. The Music School’s classrooms, rehearsal spaces, studios, and practice rooms are also located at RiverCenter; oversight of these spaces is provided by CSU faculty and staff.
Now nearly twenty-five years old, RiverCenter is due for some investment in its physical plant. The new Executive Director will be a key player in the planning, funding, and implementation of addressing these capital needs.
The mission of RiverCenter is “to bring together a variety of artists and audiences for entertainment, education, and enrichment of the cultural life of our region.” It is a major component of the successful revitalization of Uptown Columbus, receiving annual funds through the city’s hotel taxes.
Responsibilities:
In accordance with the mission and vision of the organization, the Executive Director provides full operational and financial oversight of RiverCenter within the policies set by the Board of Trustees.
The Executive Director facilitates organizational collaboration and integration; and ensures that RiverCenter is a forum for wide-ranging artistic expression, serving many audiences, and spearheading outreach and education initiatives. Overall responsibilities include fund-raising, strategic planning, board relations, financial stability, community engagement, programming oversight, capital needs, and staff management.
Direct reports to the Executive Director include the Associate Executive Director, and the Directors of Production, Facility & Event Operations, Patron and Customer Services, Development, and Finance & Administration.
Desired Qualifications:
- A minimum of seven years as either a chief executive officer or in a senior leadership role of ever increasing responsibility in performing arts facilities.
- Comprehensive knowledge of many performing arts forms and all aspects of arts venue management. An industry professional with existing networks within the cultural sector and a personal vision of how the arts and arts education play a role within the life of a community.
- A graduate degree in arts, arts management, or not-for-profit administration is preferred.
- Experience with capital projects is very much desirable.
- A track record of excellent relations with resident companies and other key stakeholders; the ability to build and nurture excellent management teams; and
the strategic thinking, personal leadership qualities, political acumen, tact, and patience required to negotiate and manage change successfully. - Demonstrated leadership in annual and capital/endowment fund drives and being a good community partner. Experience in working with development staff and boards of trustees to plan and implement fund-raising goals, objectives, and policies.
- An articulate champion for the performing arts with advanced oral and written communications skills and the ability to represent RiverCenter to a variety of audiences and in myriad settings.
- Other important attributes would be a collaborative leadership style with the ability to delegate, a high degree of integrity, a sense of humor, and a thorough grounding in performing arts facility operations.
The City of Columbus:
Once Georgia’s last frontier outpost and now the state’s second largest city, Columbus is a true destination for history, theatre, arts, and sports. It was the first in the state to form a consolidated city/county government and redefined the way public-private partnerships come together. Columbus, Georgia is a city unafraid of change—yet careful to uphold its heritage.
Columbus is a mid-sized city (population 207,000) with big city amenities (but without big city hassles) and southern heritage and charm. It has been ranked #4 of Top Places to Raise a Family and made the Top 100 Places to Live in America list. With excellent public schools, a vibrant downtown, a diversified economy, and such attractions as the Chattahoochee RiverWalk, the Coca-Cola Space Science Center, the National Infantry Museum, the Columbus Museum, and the historic Springer Opera House, Columbus is considered a “city of choice.”
Other Information and Application Process:
Salary range: $150,000 to $166,000, plus benefits. Excellent benefits package plus relocation.
Start Date:
Norman Easterbrook, the current Executive Director, is retiring at the end of October 2025. We anticipate that there will be some planned transition meetings over the summer months with an official start date sometime in October.
Deadline for applications: Monday, April 14, 2025.
Interested candidates are invited to submit a cover letter and resume with a list of references in confidence to:
Margaret Genovese
gvamargaret@aol.com
Genovese, Vanderhoof & Associates
For additional information: www.rivercenter.org, www.genovesevanderhoof.com, www.columbusga.com
