National Director - Cultural Projects

Turner & Townsend Heery is seeking a Cultural Projects Director with extensive knowledge of cultural facility design construction and operations; understanding of owner representation and requirements for cultural institutions; mastery of scheduling cost control and project control techniques specific to cultural venues; must have excellent written verbal and analytic skills; understands the dynamic and enjoys working in collaborative team project environments. The purpose of this position is to monitor design and construction projects for cultural clients with direct accountability for project delivery.

The ideal candidate will have significant experience working with museums performing arts centers cultural heritage sites or other cultural institutions delivering capital improvement programs and projects. Leadership experience with cultural organizations educational institutions or governmental entities managing cultural facilities is required. This individual should be a selfstarter and able to take initiative and drive activities with limited oversight while having extensive experience leading multidisciplinary teams.

We are seeking a candidate that has experience in P&L responsibility/management leading work streams strong client relationship acumen and has the desire to support the business development and growth of our cultural portfolio within our fastpaced environment. This role will be expected to support leadership and take the lead role when delivering scope with some of our major cultural clients.

Furthermore the Cultural Director must be experienced in the coordination of Cultural Projects and Programs and previously held executive point of contact positions between the Client the Architect the Contractor and other Consultants. This position establishes positive client relationships and is responsible for ensuring all aspects of services are delivered at the highest level to ensure the Clients needs are addressed. The Cultural Director is responsible for total management of Turner & Townsend Heery cultural programs including the complete financial management of projects and the achievement of a profitable outcome. The successful applicant will have a proven track record dealing with new groundup cultural construction as well as additions and interior renovations of existing cultural facilities.

Responsibilities

• Lead the cultural operations team to achieve strategic objectives and business growth in the cultural sector.
• Oversee client relationships contractual arrangements and serve as the executive point of contact for cultural programs.
• Conduct operational assessments of existing venues to evaluate staffing programming facility use and financial performance.
• Develop and implement efficient data management systems for cultural project benchmarking and performance tracking.
• Drive business development through proposal creation fee development and client presentations for cultural institutions.
• Lead and manage RFP processes for clients including drafting scopes of work reviewing submissions serving as advisor and supporting selection.
• Manage the complete project lifecycle from setup through closeout ensuring adherence to scope schedule budget and quality standards.
• Guide clients through programming and predesign phases to align project goals with operational needs.
• Create comprehensive project plans with detailed budgeting and resource allocation for all project phases.
• Develop operational readiness plans and risk mitigation strategies to support successful facility openings including staffing plans and launch timelines.
• Identify crossdivisional opportunities that add value for cultural clients and enhance service delivery.
• Facilitate early stakeholder meetings workshops and client planning sessions.
• Lead earlyphase project planning efforts including operational modeling market analysis and feasibility studies.
• Deliver progress reports requirements documentation and presentations to project teams and key stakeholders.
• Support the transition from planning phases into Owners Representation (OR) and Project Management (PM) delivery.
• Lead project teams by clearly communicating objectives motivating performance and maintaining accountability.
• Cultivate collaborative relationships with owners consultants design professionals and contractors throughout project execution.
• Apply expertise in project management principles methods and techniques specific to cultural facilities.
• Respond proactively to project risks and issues to maintain project baselines and fiscal responsibility.
• Coordinate with internal analysts and subject matter experts to produce clientready strategic deliverables.
• Foster an environment of creative problemsolving teamwork and innovation across cultural project teams.
• SOX control responsibilities may be part of this role which are to be adhered to where applicable. 

Qualifications :

• 15 years of applicable experience with cultural institutions including tracking and planning of cultural projects.
• Strategic advisory expertise at project conception offering innovative approaches to achieve cultural clients objectives with measurable results.
• Ability to win new cultural work of significant size within 18 months of employment.
• Excellence in client relationship management with cultural institutions and multidisciplinary stakeholders throughout project lifecycles.
• Exceptional leadership skills with demonstrated success managing diverse project teams in delivering complex cultural facility projects.
• Experience developing live event programming strategies aligned with mission market and revenue goals of cultural institutions.
• Superior organizational abilities to manage multiple priorities simultaneously while maintaining quality standards and meeting timesensitive deadlines.
• Effective communication skills to develop and deliver compelling reports proposals and presentations to various stakeholders including executivelevel decision makers.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite MS Project and industryspecific project management software with practical knowledge of construction contracts and practices.
• Demonstrated commitment to information management ensuring project data is properly documented shared among team members and securely archived for future reference.

Education/Experience

• Bachelors degree in related field required masters in related field preferred.
• Demonstrated expertise managing capital projects for museums performing arts centers and cultural heritage sites.
• Experience developing strategic consulting outcomes into actionable inputs for scope schedule and budget development.
• Active membership in relevant professional organizations.
• Proven track record delivering new construction renovation and capital maintenance projects for cultural facilities.
• Advanced knowledge of systems and best practices specific to cultural venues.
• Expert ability to interpret specifications contract documents and RFPs.
• Comprehensive understanding of specialized requirements for exhibition spaces performance venues and cultural collections.
• Experience supporting clients in planning and execution of live events including vendor coordination and production oversight.
• Experience navigating the unique funding and stakeholder dynamics of cultural institutions.
• Success managing missiondriven projects that balance cultural significance with practical project needs.
• Ability to prioritize multiple concurrent projects while maintaining attention to detail.

Additional Information :

*Onsite presence and travel requirements may change depending on our clients needs

Our inspired people share our vision and mission. We provide a great place to work where each person has the opportunity and voice to affect change.

We want our people to succeed both in work and life. To support this we promote a healthy productive and flexible working environment that respects worklife balance.

Turner & Townsend is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees and actively encourage applications from all sectors of the community.

Please find out more about us at & Townsend does not accept any speculative or unsolicited CVs that have been sent to our internal recruitment team or hiring managers from agencies outside of our preferred supplier list or that have not followed due process. Any speculative or unsolicited CVs will be treated as a direct application.

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

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