Director of Programming and Community Engagement

Director of Programming and Community Engagement

Dubuque Museum Of Art

1 Positions

ID: 97391

Posted On 10/30/2026

Job Overview

OVERVIEW

The Dubuque Museum of Art (DuMA) seeks an ambitious and forward-thinking Director of Programming and Community Engagement as it prepares to open a new campus in 2028. DuMA seeks an organizational leader who combines strategic vision with creative energy—someone motivated by experimentation, thoughtful risk-taking, collaboration, and the opportunity to expand how an art museum serves its community. The Director is expected to pilot programs during the Museum’s residency at DuMA in the Millwork District that can be scaled when the new campus opens.

The Director will shape a dynamic, inclusive, and financially sustainable portfolio of educational experiences and public programs that amplifies the Museum’s mission, deepens community engagement, attracts participants, generates earned revenue, and cultivates lasting relationships with visitors, members, and donors.

The Role

The Director of Programming & Community Engagement reports directly to the Executive Director and is a member of DuMA’s leadership team. The Director is responsible for building a compelling, financially sustainable portfolio of learning, programming, and community-engagement experiences that:

• increases participation and repeat attendance;

• strengthens membership and audience development;

• generates earned revenue;

• deepens relationships with schools, families, artists, members, and community partners; and

• builds audiences and engagement leading into DuMA’s new campus.

This is both a strategic and hands-on role. The successful candidate will be an educator, relationship-builder, and collaborative leader who will understand what audiences value, manage program economics, create meaningful and memorable experiences, and lead work from idea through execution and evaluation.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and manage a profitable portfolio of annual programs that both

• helps attract new audiences, brings the mission and exhibitions to life, drives urgency; and

• strengthens relationships with existing audiences by creating reasons for repeat visitation and deepened learning and engagement.

• Develop and manage programs for children, families, educators, students, members, corporate members, and other audiences.

• Supervise, coach, and develop DuMA’s Volunteer Coordinator and other Learning & Engagement staff or contractors as assigned, and recommend future staffing needs.

• Within approved plans and budgets, build community partnerships and use evidence to guide program design, pricing, enrollment, and staffing to expand access, meet revenue targets, and determine which programs to grow, adapt, or discontinue.

• Collaborate with Advancement, Communications & Marketing, Curatorial & Collections, and Business Operations within clearly defined areas of ownership.

• Ensure programs reflect appropriate youth protection, participant safety, accessibility, privacy, and data-quality practices.

• Collaborate with Advancement to understand which programs drive membership revenue.

• Participate actively in DuMA’s leadership team and contribute to a workplace culture of trust, accountability, collaboration, clear communication, and reliable follow-through.

What Success Looks Like

Success will be assessed against annually approved targets including:

• participation, repeat engagement, audience growth, membership growth, capacity utilization, and participant satisfaction;

• program revenue, contribution margin, access, and performance against approved financial objectives;

• learning outcomes and deeper member and community connection;

• strong, sustained school, artist, volunteer, and community partnerships;

• accurate reporting and evidence-based portfolio decisions;

• effective staff leadership and cross-departmental collaboration; and

• achievement of approved audience-building and opening-readiness milestones for the new museum campus.

Qualifications

Strong candidates may come from museum, education, membership organizations, nonprofit leadership, or related fields.

We are especially interested in candidates with:

• experience managing educational, public, and member programs;

• experience developing programs that attract and retain participants;

• comfort managing budgets, pricing, earned revenue, and program economics;

• strong community and relationship-building skills;

• experience managing staff, volunteers, teaching artists, contractors, and collaborative teams;

• excellent communication, organizational, and project-management skills;

• sound judgment, adaptability, and reliable follow-through; and

• experience in an organization undergoing meaningful growth and change.

Work Schedule

This is a full-time position based in Dubuque, Iowa. The role requires periodic evening and weekend work for programs, exhibition openings, community events, donor events, and other public-facing activities.

The Candidate We’re Looking For

The strongest candidate will be both an educator and a builder—someone who asks:

Is it meaningful and relevant to our mission?

Do people want it?

Is it financially sustainable?

This is an opportunity to help build, not simply maintain, DuMA’s programming and community engagement function while helping shape the future visitor and community experience of a new museum campus.

Compensation and Benefits

Annual salary of up to $70,000, commensurate with experience, with eligibility for an annual performance bonus based on mutually agreed-upon metrics. Benefits include health insurance, paid vacation, an employer-matched IRA, and generous flextime.

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS

Submit a cover letter, CV/résumé, and three professional references to [email protected]. References will be contacted only with prior consent. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled. No phone calls, please. All offers of employment are conditioned upon a background check and 90-day probationary employment period.

About the Dubuque Museum of Art

DuMA is Iowa’s first cultural institution and is undertaking the most ambitious capital expansion in its 152-year history. The 2028 campus, designed by Schulhof Rashidi Architects, will connect Washington Park, gardens, STEAM education, performance and screening spaces, childcare, and museum galleries into a dynamic cultural hub. Our vision is that our community will be a thriving cultural hub where people of diverse backgrounds and perspectives together achieve a deep understanding of the past, an empathetic view of the present, and an inspired outlook for the future. Our mission is to create engaging art experiences that excite, inspire, and connect our community. DuMA is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to equal treatment of all employees without regard to race, national origin, religion, gender, age, sexual orientation, veteran status, physical or mental disability, or other basis protected by law.

Primary Contact

1656594327744

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Fax

[email protected]

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Job Details

Categories

Arts and Entertainment

Location

Dubuque, IA

Job Type

Employee

Full/Part

Full Time

Pay/Salary

up to $70,000

Benefits

Health Insurance

Dental Insurance

Vision Insurance

Retirement Plan

Paid Vacation

Paid Sick Leave

PTO (Paid Time Off)

Paid Holidays

Company ID

979

Job REQ #

# Positions

1

Start Date

20261030

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Dubuque Museum Of Art

About the Company

The mission of the Dubuque Museum of Art (DuMA) is to create engaging art experiences that excite, inspire, and connect our community. DuMA’s vision is that our community will be a thriving cultural hub where people of diverse backgrounds and perspectives together achieve a deep understanding of the past, an empathetic view of the present, and an inspired outlook for the future.

Established in 1874, the DuMA is among Iowa' oldest cultural organizations. Since opening an award-winning, remodeled facility in downtown Dubuque in 1999, the DuMA has expanded its permanent collections to include nearly 2,500 objects, including internationally-recognized works by Grant Wood and Edward S. Curtis. In addition, the DuMA regularly hosts and presents juried, curated, and traveling exhibitions, featuring locally, regionally, and nationally-recognized artists, and offers a diverse array of youth and adult art education programs, outreach activities, and special events.

Accredited by the American Alliance of Museums since 2004, the DuMA is a Smithsonian Affiliate and a member of the Midwest and Iowa Museums Associations.

To learn more about our history, mission, vision and values, visit https://dbqart.org/about/ .