Senior Director, Programs (Internships)

Studio in a School seeks a Senior Director, Programs (the Senior Director), who leads the overall strategy, operations, and outcomes of Studio’s Internship Programs. The Senior Director reports to the Chief Program Officer and serves as a member of senior leadership. The role leads the internship department, ensuring the sustainability and fiscal responsibility of all related programs. The Senior Director partners with leadership and the program team at-large to conceive and implement new initiatives, while ensuring existing programs continue to thrive.

Equipped with a wide range of experience in the field, the ideal candidate will have an intimate knowledge of education, workforce preparedness, and a deep understanding of professional development needs. They are expected to be experienced in creating and providing high-quality professional development, including curriculum development, coaching, and building partnerships and systems with internal and external partners. In addition, experience working with multi-year grants preferred.

This position is an exempt, full-time, non-union position, and may directly supervise Directors, Managers, Coordinators, and/or other staff as assigned.

About Studio in a School

Studio in a School fosters the creative and intellectual development of young people through quality visual arts programs, directed by professional Artist Instructors, arts and cultural internships, and apprentice-based learning in the arts. The organization also collaborates with and develops the capacity of classroom teachers, school leadership, and others who provide or support arts programming and creative development for young people both in and outside of schools.

About Internship Programs

Studio’s Internship Programs provide internships in arts and culture organizations, as well as apprenticeship-based learning opportunities in partnership with arts and educational communities nationwide. Programs include Teen Apprenticeship Program (high school), Bloomberg Arts Internship (high school), Arts Intern Program (college), and Bloomberg Arts Internship (college). Studio currently works with partners in Boston, Baltimore, Cleveland, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit: https://studioinaschool.org/programs-internships/

Primary Duties and Responsibilities

Leadership and Learning

• Cultivate a positive learning culture at Studio in a School.
• Stay updated on education policies, initiatives, and best practices, including gathering and sharing curriculum and resources.
• Lead new programmatic initiatives, including planned scaling of Bloomberg Arts Intern (college).
• Support and lead program staff development, learning initiatives, and training.
• Represent Studio through conference presentations and teaching.

Program and Team Management

• Collaborate with leadership and senior program directors to assess needs, evaluate programs, and develop new initiatives.
• Supervise internship staff, ensuring adherence to HR policies and grant covenants, as well as providing strategic leadership and day-to-day support.
• Manage contracts, budgets, and documentation related to programs.
• Actively participate in performance evaluations.

Grant Writing and Reporting

• Serve as the primary internal owner of grant compliance for internship programs, ensuring program design and delivery meet funder-defined deliverables, metrics, and timelines across all sites.
• Aggregate and validate program data across multiple sites and partner organizations to support accurate, timely funder reporting.
• Maintain a reporting calendar and proactively manage deadlines for interim and final reports across all internship grants.
• Serve as a primary point of contact with funder program officers for internship-related grants.
• Lead grant writing and reporting in partnership with the Development team, coordinating data inputs, narrative content, and budget reconciliation.
• Write internal and external reports, including board- and funder-facing summaries.
• Support Development with proposals and reports as needed.

Other assigned projects, tasks, and supervision as needed.

Desired Skills and Background

Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field, Master’s degree in Arts Administration, Non-profit or Public Administration, Education Leadership, or Youth/Workforce Development preferred.
• Minimum 7-10 years of experience in grants management and funder compliance reporting, ideally including national or institutional foundation funding. Experience with youth development or workforce preparedness programs preferred. Supervisory and fiscal/budget management experience required.
• Prior experience working with young people, curriculum development, supervision, outcomes-based program design, management and reporting.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• High proficiency in using Microsoft Suites.

Personal Qualities and Habits of Work

• Commitment to the mission of Studio in a School.
• Ability to collaborate within a team environment and interact with diverse staff members and populations.
• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively as needed. Adaptive and thoughtful in a fast-paced environment.
• Ability to delegate and prioritize departmental objectives and goals.
• Excellent organizational skills, including the ability to set priorities and manage projects simultaneously, oversee and track work details, and respond flexibly to changes.
• Strong problem-solving and strategic-thinking skills, ethical decision-making and sound discretionary judgment.
• Able to complete NYC Department of Education Fingerprint and Background Check Clearance upon employment.

Location

We are currently working on a hybrid schedule. The Senior Director will be asked to work at least 2 days per week in our office at 75 West End Avenue, New York, NY, or in the field, though this schedule may shift and evolve.

Generous paid time off, Medical/Dental/Vision/Life Insurance/Disability Insurance, Pre-tax Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) and Commuter Benefits, 403b Retirement Plan, Aflac supplemental benefits, and Employee Assistance Program (EAP).