Job Details

Overview

The Organization The Hewlett Foundation invests in creative thinkers and problem solvers with different perspectives, all working to build an inclusive society where everyone has a meaningful opportunity to thrive. A nonpartisan philanthropy, the Hewlett Foundation has made grants in the U.S. and globally for nearly six decades based on an approach that emphasizes long-term support, collaboration, and trust. Learn more at www.hewlett.org.

The Performing Arts Program The Performing Arts program makes grants to support meaningful artistic experiences for communities throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Hewlett is the largest arts funder in the region, distributing over $20 million annually and supporting the arts across ten Bay Area counties. The program strives to create a Bay Area where all communities honor and support both their own and each other's artistic and cultural vibrancy. In pursuit of this vision, the program has three strategic priorities:

• To ensure Bay Area communities have opportunities to discover, develop, and experience meaningful artistic and cultural practices.
• To ensure Bay Area artists and culture-bearers shape and benefit from the services, policies, and practices that most impact their creative agency and economic well-being.
• To enable equitable access to high-quality arts education opportunities for Bay Area youth.

The Position

Reporting to the Foundation's President, Dr. Amber Miller, the Performing Arts Program Director will lead one of the Hewlett Foundation's longest-standing areas of philanthropic investment. This is a rare opportunity to steward and evolve a program that has shaped—and been shaped by—the Bay Area's dynamic performing arts ecosystem for nearly six decades.

Role Overview

Program Strategy Guide a refresh and rearticulation of the Performing Arts program strategy, building on the existing framework while reassessing portfolio composition, legacy commitments, and funding balance (e.g., types of organizations supported, geographic distribution of grantees across the Bay Area).

Advance a compelling, values-driven vision for the future of the Bay Area arts ecosystem that centers the expansive power of the arts and community benefit from both artistic expression and arts education.

Develop and socialize clear goals, metrics, and tradeoffs for the next phase of the strategy—within the team, across the Foundation, and with external stakeholders—ensuring alignment with the President's vision for institutional coherence and collaboration.

Serve as the program's primary strategic communicator, translating field insights, data, and emerging arts-sector challenges into a cohesive, actionable narrative that earns trust from grantee partners, peer funders, board members, and senior leadership.

Leadership and Management Navigate and model institutional leadership, actively participating in the Senior Leadership Team, contributing to cross-Foundation initiatives, and ensuring the Performing Arts program is aligned with and influential in Hewlett's evolving institutional priorities.

Team Leadership Guide and support a high-performing, collaborative team of three program officers, a program operations manager, and a program associate, sustaining the team's strong culture of trust and shared values while providing clarity, structure, and thought partnership during a time of organizational change.

External Relations Serve as a bridge between internal and external stakeholders—including the President, Board, legal and operations teams, and grantee partners—helping to communicate the purpose and impact of the Performing Arts program. Build and strengthen relationships with Bay Area arts organizations, peer funders, government partners, and cross-sector collaborators to amplify impact and foster strategic alliances.

External Relations (continued) Communicate a clear and compelling narrative about the program's strategy, values, and impact, advance field understanding, and align with institutional goals around transparency and learning.

Term The Program Director, Performing Arts serves an eight-year term and will lead the strategy for the tenure of the term.

Team Direct Reports – Three Program Officers, Program Associate, and Program Operations Manager; Team Supports – Communications Officer, Grant Officer, Legal Counsel; Performing Arts Grant Portfolio – Currently, the program has over 170 active grant partnerships, totaling nearly $67 million.

Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate possesses competencies including: Drives Vision and Purpose; Communicates Effectively; Strategic Mindset; Decision Quality; Builds Effective Teams; Stakeholder Focus.

Qualifications and Experiences

• A proven track record of leadership experience within performing arts organizations, nonprofits, universities, philanthropy, public sector, or other cultural institutions.
• Established reputation for integrity and credibility among artists, administrators, funders, and thought leaders in the performing arts ecosystem.
• Expansive, inclusive view of the performing arts, grounded in both artistic practice and the operational realities of sustaining cultural institutions.
• Familiarity with a diverse range of performing art forms and institutions.
• Exceptional communication and listening skills, with the ability to engage thoughtfully across a wide spectrum of voices.
• Demonstrated ability to build and sustain strong relationships with arts leaders, funder peers, and policy advocates, both locally and nationally.
• Strategic thinker with an adaptive mindset, capable of balancing legacy commitments with innovation in response to evolving community needs.
• Demonstrated ability to convene stakeholders—artists, administrators, funders, and community members—for meaningful dialogue, learning, and collective action.
• Understanding of and meaningful relationships in the Bay Area's performing arts sector preferred.
• Knowledge of philanthropy or prior grantmaking experience preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to both successfully and collaboratively lead a team, and contribute constructively as an engaged member of a senior leadership team.

We Are

Guiding Principles Hewlett Foundation uses its resources in ways that remain true to the philanthropic ethos and values of its founders. This includes evolving the Foundation's approaches to changing contexts while maintaining core principles that have guided its work for nearly 60 years. The Foundation has articulated a set of guiding principles:

• Seeks to bring about meaningful and socially beneficial change in the fields in which Hewlett works.
• Pursues change by tackling defined problems in a pragmatic, nonpartisan manner.
• Focuses on outcomes to maximize the effectiveness of its support.
• Is committed to openness, transparency, and learning.
• Is committed to working, both internally and externally, in a collaborative fashion based on mutual respect. Grantees, peer funders, and other colleagues in their work are partners in problem-solving.
• Seeks to promote the values and practice of diversity, equity, and inclusion in their workforce, culture, and grantmaking.
• Approaches its role in philanthropy and its responsibilities to society with humility and respect for others.
• Is dependent on a lean staff, which is given considerable autonomy; a commitment to simple, flexible procedures; and a cooperative working relationship between the Board, staff, and President.

Location Residency in the Bay Area is a requirement for the position. All Hewlett employees spend a minimum of 3 days/week in the office when not traveling.

Equal Opportunity Employer We are an equal opportunity employer and welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, cultures, and experiences.

Compensation and Benefits The Hewlett Foundation is committed to providing compensation that is competitive within the philanthropic sector. A generous total compensation package that emphasizes both base salary and comprehensive benefits is offered. The salary range for this position is $280,000–$415,000, dependent on the individual's skills, experience, abilities, and qualifications and our practice of maintaining salary equity within the Foundation.

Timeline and Next Steps

Interested candidates should submit a resume as soon as possible. If a cover letter is helpful, please submit that as well. We will need a list of references for all candidates selected for an in-person interview at the Foundation. If you are interested in this position, please click here. All applicants will receive an email confirming receipt of their application. If you are selected to move forward for an initial screening call, we expect you to hear from us by mid-August.