Assistant to the Chief Development Officer (Full-Time) - Portland Art Museum

Job Description

The Portland Art Museum (referred to as Museum) and PAM CUT // Center for an Untold Tomorrow invites applications for the position of Assistant to the Chief Development Officer. The Assistant to the Chief Development Officer plays a key role as part of the collaborative and dynamic Development team, which works together to advance the mission of the Portland Art Museum.

As a highly organized and proactive team member, the Assistant provides critical support to the Chief Development Officer and contributes to the overall success of the Development team. With excellent communication skills and attention to detail, this individual ensures seamless administrative operations, helps coordinate day-to-day activities, and assists in executing impactful fundraising strategies. This is an exciting opportunity to be part of a passionate team dedicated to championing art and culture in our community.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

Administrative Support:

• Optimize and manage the Chief Development Officer’s (CDO) calendar and schedule, ensuring seamless coordination of internal and external meetings, travel arrangements, and itineraries, while keeping the CDO apprised of all commitments. 
• Collaborate with the team to draft, edit, and finalize correspondence, presentations, reports, and proposals, ensuring accuracy, professionalism, and high-quality standards.
• Ensure efficient communication flow, particularly when the CDO is unavailable due to frequent meetings. This includes identifying and resolving potential roadblocks to decision-making and ensuring timely responses to important requests.
• Track department expenses, process invoices, and reconcile credit cards for the CDO and Director of Community Philanthropy.
• Organize and maintain both physical and digital filing systems for secure and efficient record-keeping.
• Monitor the Development Department's email and hotline, addressing inquiries promptly with support from Museum colleagues.

Development Support:

• Proactively support the CDO in managing donor relationships by:
  • Scheduling external meetings, lunches, events, and donor engagement while ensuring thorough preparation and follow-up with agendas, presentations, and meeting notes.
  • Monitoring donor birthdays, anniversaries, and significant giving milestones, collaborating with team members to ensure timely and meaningful recognition.
  • Tracking plans for stewardship, cultivation, and solicitation, while preparing briefings in partnership with the donor services team with donor history, interests, and connections to ensure informed and effective engagement.
  • Maintaining donor records to ensure donor interactions, contact reports, and key touchpoints are accurately recorded in the Altru donor database.
• Schedule and coordinate internal Development and cross-departmental meetings, including preparing agendas, presentations, meeting notes, and ensuring follow-through on action items.
• Log and track all incoming donations (check/cash) for the Development department, maintaining accurate records.
• Assist with donor engagement activities, including drafting and proofing communications, preparing meeting and call summaries, coordinating logistics for meetings and events, and supporting large-scale print and mail projects.
• Uphold confidentiality and protect donor privacy by exercising discretion and adhering to all standards, equity practices, ethics, and privacy rights.
• Collaborate with the Development team on projects, team-building activities, and bi-monthly Development Committee meetings, ensuring efficient planning and execution. 

Development Committee, Board and Donor Relations:

• Maintain positive relationships with board members, donors, and key stakeholders.
• Attend meetings and events and maintain relationships with trustees, donors, and members of the Museum.
• Contribute to a culture of inclusive donor stewardship, practice empathy, and show respect for donors at all levels, actively working towards achieving long-term equity goals within the Development department.

Office Management:

• Support the daily office operations, including maintaining supplies, addressing staff request, and developing policies and procedures to enhance productivity. 
• Coordinate office layout and reconfigurations, as well as manage the maintenance of equipment and facilities.
• Act as the primary liaison with vendors and service providers, ensuring timely delivery and quality service.

Secondary or Additional Responsibilities

• Partner with the donor services team on donor research, proposal packets, gift agreements, and donor reports.
• Assist the Engagement Manager with the planning and execution of large-scale donor events, programs, tours, special access, managing invitations lists and supporting follow-up strategies to engage a strong base of diverse donors.
• Remain current with events and trends in the local community and the nonprofit field, conveying knowledge of public activities and informing internal projects, policies, and procedures at the Museum.
• Perform other related duties as assigned. 

Supervisory Responsibilities

• May supervise temporary staff and/or volunteers for the Development Department.

Institutional Responsibilities

• Support the Museum’s mission, vision and core values of creativity, connection, equity, learning, accessibility and accountability.
• Contribute to and support the PAM strategic plan, annual priorities, and institutional initiatives such as diversity, equity, inclusion and access.
• Contribute to a positive organizational culture based on mutual respect, a spirit of collegiality, cooperation, and openness to many perspectives.
• Participate in a culture of ongoing learning, collaboration, innovation, creativity, and community engagement.
• Use the equity lens in decision making. Promote equity and inclusion goals and have a “people first” mindset.

Required Knowledge & Skills

If you have any questions along the way including wanting to talk about a nontraditional career background, please reach out to HR.

• Must have excellent knowledge of the Google Platform, Microsoft Suite (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint); Blackbaud Altru or other CRM donor database, Web based content management systems, and project management software a plus.
• Work requires continual attention to detail in composing, typing and proofing materials, establishing priorities and meeting deadlines.
• Must be able to anticipate needs and work proactively in a fast-paced environment with demonstrated ability to juggle multiple competing tasks and demands.
• Position continually requires demonstrated poise, tact and diplomacy. Must be able to maintain the highest level of confidentiality and handle sensitive material concerning the organization and the Chief Development Officer’s role within the organization.
• Must have excellent communication and interpersonal skills and be able to interact and communicate with individuals at all levels of the organization.
• Expected to work independently and as a collaborative member of the Development team, and will need to be flexible to the growing needs of the Museum.

Education, Formal & Informal Experience, Training Required, Certification, Etc.

• Bachelor’s degree in Business or related field with three or more years related experience to executive level management; or equivalent combination of education and experience. 
• Non-profit fundraising experience is a plus. 

Job Conditions

• Exempt/Full-time status
• Schedule/Hours: Monday through Friday, 9:00am - 5:00pm (New hires are required to be onsite full-time and have the option to move to one day remote, after three to six months, subject to the approval of their supervisor)
• Onsite/Not Remote
• Occasional travel
• Occasional evening and weekend hours
• On-call status
• Extensive computer work

Physical Activities

• Frequently sitting, standing, and walking.
• Continuously operates a computer and other office equipment, such as a copy machine, phone, and printer.
• Continuously communicates with team members.
• Occasionally push/pull/lift/carry up to 10 lbs.
• This is not a complete representation of all physical requirements.

Benefits

• This role is exempt/salaried and full-time.
• Budgeted compensation is within pay grade G ($50,809 min - $59,159 mid - $66,883 max), depending on experience. 
• Healthcare package: medical, dental, vision, disability, life insurance, 401K match, and flexible spending accounts.
• Paid time off: 6 paid holidays, 2 floating holidays, vacation, sick, and bereavement leave.
• Monthly Museum contribution for public transit, parking, or bike to work plan.
• Museum admission & lectures, programs, and gift shop discounts.
• R.E.A.P (Reciprocal Employee Attraction Pass), providing free general admission to local destinations.

Application Process for Assistant to the Chief Development Officer

In order to be considered eligible, submissions require a resume, cover letter, four references, and all application questions answered. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

Application materials will be screened and interview candidates will be selected and notified by email. All applicants will be notified once the position is filled. 

Closing date: We will begin reviewing applications immediately, so please apply as soon as possible. The closing date is subject to change at any time.

Company Description

Equal Opportunity & Accessibility

The Museum is deeply committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, both in our hiring practices and in our Museum employee experiences. We strive to foster a mindful and respectful environment in which everyone can be their authentic selves at work and experience a culture free of harassment, racism, and discrimination.

The Museum is an equal opportunity employer, committed to a policy of non-discrimination in employment on any basis including age, sex, color, race, creed, national origin, religion, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, political belief, disability or any other legally protected status. We are committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. This commitment ensures that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations to participate in the application, interview, and hiring process. Alternative formats of this application are available upon request. If reasonable accommodation or an alternative form of this application is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, perform essential job functions, and/or receive other benefits and privileges of employment, please contact Human Resources at hr@pam.org or 503.276.4358.

About the Portland Art Museum and PAM CUT // Center for an Untold Tomorrow

The seventh oldest museum in the United States, the Portland Art Museum is internationally recognized for its permanent collection and ambitious special exhibitions drawn from the Museum’s holdings and the world’s finest public and private collections. The Museum’s collection of more than 50,000 objects, displayed in 112,000 square feet of galleries, reflects the history of art from ancient times to today. The collection is distinguished for its holdings of arts of the native peoples of North America, English silver, and the graphic arts. An active collecting institution dedicated to preserving great art for the enrichment of future generations, the Museum devotes 90 percent of its galleries to its permanent collection.

The Museum’s campus of landmark buildings, a cornerstone of Portland’s cultural district, includes the Jubitz Center for Modern and Contemporary Art, the Gilkey Center for Graphic Arts, the Schnitzer Center for Northwest Art, PAM CUT, and the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Center for Native American Art. With a membership of more than 22,000 households and serving more than 350,000 visitors annually, the Museum is a premier venue for education in the visual arts. For information on exhibitions and programs visit portlandartmuseum.org.

PAM CUT celebrates cinematic storytelling from around the corner and across the globe, embracing artists who want to express themselves in a variety of ways and don’t fit into neat categorization or boxes.

The Portland, Oregon-based organization focuses on pioneering, multi-faceted artists changing for whom, by whom and how cinematic stories are told — and provides support directly to creatives through exhibitions, artist residency, career sustainability programs, ongoing education, and global recognition platforms including programming at its signature spaces at the Portland Art Museum, PAM CUT galleries, and the Tomorrow Theater. 

PAM CUT also serves individuals and communities who want to share experiences through our participatory, ever-evolving, and unbound programming.  Audiences attending PAM CUT programs experience and create cinematic storytelling in many forms including: Film, Series, Audio, Gaming, Animation, Immersive and XR, and more! Learn more at pamcut.org.