Small Museum Association

Founded in 1923, the Sheboygan County Museum is seeking an executive director to lead this 100-year-old organization into a bold new future of preserving local history and serving the community. The ideal candidate will provide dynamic leadership and direct the museum’s programming, exhibitions, collections management, educational activities, and community outreach. The executive director will work closely with the Board of Directors to refine, develop, and implement a progressive program for the Museum’s fundraising, planning, organization, staffing, and operations.

In honor of its centennial, and Sheboygan County’s changing community, the Museum recently rebranded, with an eye to a more holistic approach to the history of Sheboygan County. The executive director will take charge of this rebrand, reimagining the museum for its’ next century. The revised strategic vision focuses on a call to develop exhibits and programs that bring light to this new perspective as the organization proudly shares the history of Sheboygan County.

The executive director will be excited and inspired by the opportunity to lead an organization which is committed to becoming the space where people have transcendental conversations about the past, to build a better future for all. The Museum’s strategic vision has also developed plans to bring experiences to people beyond the spatial limits of the Museum, extending the organization's presence to other spaces in the County.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Manage the day-to-day operations of the museum, ensuring a high standard of quality

• Oversee special events, exhibitions, and educational programs

• Supervise our team of curators, program managers and educators by providing guidance and mentorship.

• Work with the museum curator in overseeing the selection, classification, cataloging, display and preservation of the museum collection in order to inform, educate and inspire the public.

• In conjunction with the Board develop and implement of long-term strategic plans consistent with the museum’s mission.

• Work with the Board of Directors to set priorities and allocate resources in support of the strategic plan.

• Develop and manage the museum’s budget ensuring fiscal responsibility and sustainability

• Serve as the primary liaison between the museum and the Sheboygan County government in order to sustain our major source of funding and the maintenance of our museum campus.

• Identify and secure funding sources to support the museum’s programs and operations

• Serve as the primary ambassador for the museum developing and maintaining relationships with our members, corporate supporters and other key stakeholders.

• Represent the museum at professional conferences and meetings.

• Stay abreast of developments in the museum field and work to achieve best practices for small museums.

Qualification

•  Master's degree related to museum studies. A bachelor's degree with two years of relevant experience in museum operations could be substituted for a Master's degree

• Demonstrated experience working in a museum setting with management responsibilities.

• Fundraising and grant-writing experience.

• Excellent communication, interpersonal, teamwork and public speaking skills.

• Information technology skills required to effectively and efficiently perform the tasks of executive director at the museum.

Compensation

The executive director is a full-time salaried position where the job responsibilities will include work outside regular business hours and is considered exempt from requirements that would apply to non-exempt hourly employment.

• Salary range: $52,000 to $60,000 per year.

• Flexible paid time off including time off available after three months of employment.

• A negotiable package of a matching employer contribution toward the costs of health insurance and/or retirement.

• A paid holiday schedule as provided in the museum employee handbook.

Applying for the Executive Director Position

Please email, in PDF format, your cover letter, resume, and contact information for three professional references to:

Liza Rosenthal, Operations Manager

Sheboygan County Historical Society and Museum

liza.rosenthal@sheboygancounty.com

Applications will be accepted until November 3, 2023 or until the position is filled.  Please no phone inquiries.

About the Sheboygan County Museum (sheboyganmuseum.org)

Founded on May 31, 1923, the Sheboygan County Museum is a 501(c)(3) that provides educational opportunities, programs, and public events dedicated to highlighting key aspects of the communities’ history. It annually hosts nearly 3,000 elementary students for Full-Day Education Programs, displays a variety of exhibitions of local, regional, and national interest, and has a collection that contains over 30,000 objects of interest about and from Sheboygan County. The Museum also maintains a 500-plus piece specialized Education Collection that provides hands-on experiential learning opportunities to visitors of all ages.

The Museum Campus is made up of six buildings: the main museum building houses collections, offices, classrooms, work areas, and local history exhibits; an 1850s Italianate two-story structure which displays historic artifacts; an 1864 hand-hewn log cabin; an 1890s German-style wooden barn; an 1867 cheese factory; and a restoration center for storage and workspace.