Director, Public Programs

The Museum of the City of New York fosters understanding of the distinctive nature of urban life in the world’s most influential metropolis.

The Museum of the City of New York (MCNY) engages visitors by celebrating, documenting, and interpreting the city’s past, present, and future. Founded in 1923, the Museum is the country’s first and largest city museum, showcasing the city’s unique stories and cultural treasures. MCNY presents immersive exhibitions and programs at the intersection of history, popular culture, and art to 200,000 people annually, including 30,000 students and educators, fostering shared identity, civic pride and engagement, and social cohesion for New Yorkers.

Roles and Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership

• Develop and steward a multiyear public programs vision aligned with MCNY's curatorial priorities and institutional mission.
• Position MCNY as both a leading civic forum for substantive conversation about New York City and a destination for ambitious public experiences that draw New Yorkers and visitors at scale.
• Identify and cultivate relationships with thought leaders, scholars, artists, activists, community figures, and public intellectuals whose work intersects with the Museum's programs.

Event Programming

• Collaborate with curatorial staff to develop programming connected to exhibitions, collections, and research initiatives.
• Evaluate program performance and audience engagement; use data to refine programming strategy.
• Lead the planning and execution of MCNY's public festivals and signature events, including multi‑day and multi‑partner productions, with the explicit ambition to grow attendance and broaden the Museum's public audience.
• Oversee logistics, vendor relationships, permitting, and production timelines in coordination with the Associate Director and Coordinator.
• Develop and manage event budgets, ensuring responsible stewardship of resources.
• Identify opportunities for civic and community partnerships that expand the Museum's reach and deepen audience relationships.
• Supervise, mentor, and develop the Associate Director of Public Programs and Program Coordinator.
• Represent the public programs perspective in institutional planning conversations with the Chief Curator.
• Contribute to grant proposals, funder reports, and donor cultivation efforts in partnership with the Chief Curator and Development team.
• Represent MCNY externally at professional conferences, civic forums, and partner convenings.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

A successful candidate will have

• 7+ years of experience as a cultural programmer who has shaped the identity and direction of a public‑facing program, series, or institution; comfortable curating substantive conversations and producing large‑scale public experiences.
• A body of work that reflects sustained engagement with ideas: a coherent programmatic vision, a record of curating conversations that matter, or a track record of bringing substantive cultural or civic content to broad public audiences.
• Demonstrated experience managing complex event production, including festivals, large public convenings, and multi‑partner programming.
• Track record of building and maintaining operational systems including, but not limited to budgets, timelines, vendor management, staff logistics, in a cultural or civic setting.
• Experience managing staff and leading cross‑departmental collaborations.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; comfort presenting publicly and representing an institution externally.
• Familiarity with New York City history, culture, and civic life, or a clear and demonstrable commitment to developing that fluency.
• Experience developing original public programming with a distinct intellectual or curatorial point of view.
• Demonstrated success growing attendance for festivals, signature events, or other large‑scale public programming.
• Established network within New York City's cultural, academic, and civic communities.
• Experience working with development and fundraising teams to support grant writing and donor engagement.
• Fluency in Spanish is valued, but not required.
• A commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion and a passion for advancing equity and addressing structural racism within nonprofit organizations.

Physical Requirements & Work Environment

This role primarily works Monday‑Friday with occasional weekend or evening work required. The position is onsite at the Museum in an open‑office plan setting. The worker is required to remain in a stationary position 50% of the time and to traverse through office and museum gallery environments. The role requires use of standard office equipment, lifting up to 25 pounds occasionally, repetitive motion, and close visual acuity for data analysis, reading, and computer work. On occasion, the employee may work outside events with weather conditions including heat and cold.

Salary & Benefits

The annual salary for this position is $100,000. The Museum offers a competitive benefits package including medical, dental, vision, FSA, HSA, life insurance, 401(k) and a defined benefit pension plan, short‑ and long‑term disability, an Employee Assistance Program, optional critical illness and accident insurance, legal services, and pet insurance. Paid time off includes 10 days of annual leave, rising to 15 days in year 2 and 20 days in year 3, plus 12 sick days per year and 12 holidays. Employees qualify for free or discounted admissions to other participating cultural institutions.

EEO Statement

The Museum of the City of New York is committed to fostering a collaborative and respectful work environment with staff as diverse as New York City and the audiences who are curious about learning more about its history and engaging in contemporary urban issues. Our staff members are dedicated to working toward a common goal: creating the most dynamic and inspiring city museum in the world.

The Museum of the City of New York is an equal opportunity employer. The museum provides equal employment opportunity for all employees and applicants without unlawful discrimination with respect to age, citizenship status, color, creed, disability, ethnicity, gender identification or expression, marital status, military status or veteran, national origin, political association, political/personal convictions, predisposing genetic characteristics, race (including traits historically associated with race, such as hair texture and style), religion (including attire, clothing or facial hair worn in accordance with religious requirements), sex (including pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions and transgender status), sexual orientation, socio‑economic status, geographic location, philosophies, or any other classification protected by federal, state or local laws, in all employment decisions, including but not limited to recruitment, hiring, training, compensation, promotion, demotion, transfer, lay‑off, and termination, and all other terms and conditions of employment. The Museum complies with applicable state and local law governing nondiscrimination in employment which prohibits discrimination and harassment against any employees, applicants for employment or interns, as well as contractors, subcontractors, vendors, consultants, other individuals providing services in the workplace or their employees in every location in which the Museum has facilities.

We invite you to complete the optional self‑identification questions below used for compliance with government regulations and record‑keeping guidelines. Any self‑identification information provided will not be considered in the selection process. GENDER: Male, Female, Nonbinary, or I do not wish to self‑identify my gender. ETHNICITY: American Indian/Alaska Native (Not Hispanic or Latino), Asian (Not Hispanic or Latino), Black/African American (Not Hispanic or Latino), Hispanic/Latino, Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander (Not Hispanic or Latino), White (Not Hispanic or Latino), Two or More Races (Not Hispanic or Latino), or Decline to Specify. PROTECTED VETERAN STATUS: Disabled Veteran, Armed Forces Service Medal, Veteran, Veteran who served on active duty during a war or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized, Recently Separated Veteran, Veteran (but not one of the four protected classes above), or I decline to state my veteran status. NOT A VETERAN. DISABILITY: Yes, I have a disability, or have a history or record of having a disability; No, I do not have a disability; I do not wish to answer.