Candidates for this position should submit a cover letter, resume, and appropriate references by November 27 to Meredith Handakas using [email protected].
History Nebraska, formerly the Nebraska State Historical Society, seeks an inspiring leader and experienced administrator to serve as the organization’s Director and CEO. Reporting to a 15-member Board of Trustees, the Director will provide the visionary, steady, and inclusive leadership required to expand its services and impact throughout the state, increase public and private funding, and realize its ambitious vision to become the most relevant and engaging state historical society in the country by 2028.
History Nebraska, fully accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, preserves and interprets the state’s past, contributes to its citizens’ education, and uses history’s tools to shape a better future for all Nebraskans. A comprehensive state agency, it fulfills this mission by operating the State Library and Archives, Nebraska History Museum, Offices of Historic Preservation and State Archeologist, and administrative offices in Lincoln; the Ford Conservation Center in Omaha; and six historical sites throughout the state. The agency is committed to inclusivity in the stories it collects and shares and the people it serves, and its digitization initiative is generating new opportunities for Nebraskans to access their individual and collective pasts.
Requirements
A successful Director will…
- Enthusiastically embody and share the mission of History Nebraska throughout the state.
- Understand and appreciate both the history and culture of Nebraska.
- Genuinely enjoy interpersonal relationships at all levels.
- Successfully nurture positive relationships with the Governor’s office, Legislature, and their staffs; private funders; and History Nebraska’s supporting foundations.
- Build strong collaborative partnerships with other organizations and agencies.
- Inclusively engage staff, board, and a broad range of stakeholders in realizing History Nebraska’s strategic vision.
- Empower all staff through open, inclusive, supportive leadership and promote equity and professional development at all levels.
- Express genuine interest in every aspect of the organization and be conversant in each.
- Nurture programs that support small historic sites throughout the state.
- Give astute attention to the agency’s financial health with a thorough understanding of the budget process and accountability for financial administration.
- Expand the organization’s funding base through legislative appropriations, partnerships, grants, and collaboration with supporting foundations.
- Participate on commissions, boards, and steering committees statewide.
The successful candidate will…
- Possess impeccable integrity.
- Bring successful experience managing a complex organization of multiple functions and locations.
- Demonstrate success in private and public fundraising.
- Document success in motivating and productively working with an active board of directors/trustees.
- Demonstrate a commitment to and success in recruiting, supporting, empowering, and retaining talented people.
- Possess a genuine affability and a demonstrated commitment to treat everyone equitably and with respect.
- Demonstrate the ability to raise an organization’s public profile in an effective and inspirational way that includes innovative programs and technologies.
- Demonstrate the skills and personality to serve as an organization’s public face that actively builds friends and increases audiences.
- Possess a natural appetite for decision-making and is willing and able to make tough, reasonable decisions that may not be popular.
