Operations and internal administration

• Works closely across all departments including a total staff of 20 full-time and 15 part-time employees to ensure effective communication and prioritization.

• Supports the museum’s HR activities with the Director of Finance and HR including personnel-related functions, such as hiring, training and development, benefits planning and administration, compliance, and termination actions, performance reviews, employment contracts, administration of personnel files, compliance with Texas Labor Code.

• Analyzes operations to evaluate efficiency and performance of the museum and its staff in meeting objectives and determining areas of program improvement, or policy change.

• Recommends and implements systems to improve museum operations and provide for successful integration of museum-wide activities. Works with the Director of Finance and HR to formulate policies to ensure best practices, non-profit integrity and ethics in accordance with legal statutes and current standards of the field.

• Participates in annual operating and capital budget planning.

• Develops schedules and agendas for internal meetings such as department-head, all-staff, one-on-one, and project-specific meetings.

• Manages and maintains the institution’s major activities calendar.

• Leads meetings and serves as the primary point of contact for peer organizations, contractors, vendors, and other external partners as needed.

• Oversees museum rentals with the support of the Visitor Services Manager, Director of Development, and Director of Finance and HR.

Strategic planning, leadership, and management

• Provides leadership and oversight of direct reports including some director-level staff members.

• Serves as a partner to the Executive Director supporting their vision of the strategic plan in collaboration with leadership, and developing clear short- and long-term work plans that balance strategic objectives and financial outcomes.

• Assumes primary responsibility for coordinating strategic-planning efforts for the museum with the Executive Director; works with department heads to establish museum-wide long-range goals and plans; ensures that day-to-day functioning of the museum meets and furthers short- and long-range plans.

Board liaison and development support

• Serves as the administrative board liaison, coordinating meetings of Chinati’s Board of Trustees and committees, organizing agendas and meeting materials, taking minutes, maintaining board files, and supporting the Executive Director and Director of Development in managing board relationships.

• Represents the museum at public, social, and fundraising events, occasionally standing in for the Executive Director and/or Director of Development during events and meetings with supporters.

• Periodically hosts VIP guests and gives tours.

• Performs other duties as assigned by the Executive Director.

Public Programs Oversight

• Oversees Chinati’s public-facing programs and ensures implementation of the Executive Director’s artistic and programmatic vision.

• Manages education, programs, communications, and visitor services staff and oversees departmental operations, including the front desk, guided tour program, special events, bookstore, private tours, and rentals.

• Works with programmatic staff to assess the quality of programs with an eye toward refining and improving sustainability.

• Ensures visitor services staff work closely with communications and development staff to keep public visitor and member information up to date and to capture visitor and member data in accordance with development workflows.

Traits and characteristics:

The COO will be a collaborative and relationship-oriented professional who is receptive to new ideas and innovative approaches while respecting the investment of human and fiscal resources and unique characteristics of Chinati as an artist-founded, artist-centered institution. Proficient in setting, pursuing, and achieving goals in a timely manner, the COO will be driven to support others while ensuring that organizational goals are met. They will be a results-oriented relationship-builder who maintains an engaged professional profile. They will value community commitments and work internally and externally to ensure those are met. The COO will be based in Marfa, Texas, and situated within Chinati’s community of local friends, neighbors, and supporters. An appreciation of the particularities of the region, the community in Marfa, and Donald Judd’s legacy in Marfa and his vision for Chinati are crucial.

Other key competencies include:

• Time, priority, and project management: The ability to prioritize and complete tasks and to oversee all resources and people to achieve desired results within allotted time frames.

• Planning and organizing: The ability to set and prioritize relevant, realistic, and attainable goals and objectives; to anticipate effects, outcomes, and risks; to manage resources according to set priorities; assess and reflect on successes and failures, and meaningfully incorporate feedback, both personally and institutionally.

• Leadership and diplomacy: The ability to organize and motivate others to set, pursue, and accomplish goals and resolve obstacles, with the capacity to tactfully handle difficult situations and treat others fairly, regardless of differences, while maintaining positive relationships. The COO models a collegial, solution-oriented approach to collaborative tasks and projects and a proactively transparent and communicative approach to self-directed work.

• Personal and professional accountability: The ability to self-evaluate, take responsibility for personal actions and decisions, accept setbacks, look for ways to progress, and understand how obstacles impact results.

• Flexibility: The ingenuity to respond promptly to shifts in direction, priorities, and schedules while maintaining productivity during transitions.