MASS MoCA, one of the world’s largest and liveliest centers for making and enjoying today’s most ambitious and evocative art, seeks a Director of Technology who will author the information technology hardware and software strategies and systems that bring MASS MoCA into the 21st century. Working collaboratively across all departments, the Director of Technology will implement (and further develop as needed) the Museum’s recently completed Digital Technology Master Plan; position the Museum at the leading edge of new technologies through the next decade+ of growth; and provide strategic guidance to executive leadership regarding which emerging technologies should be incorporated to support the Museum’s 2024-2030 Strategic Plan.
MASS MoCA is unique in the art world. It is a non-collecting museum with a dual performing and visual arts mission and has an extraordinary setting that is at once urban and rural, with more than 300,000 square feet of exhibition space set on a 16-acre repurposed factory campus. MASS MoCA’s campus comprises a good portion of the small city of North Adams in the Berkshire mountains of western Massachusetts. With vast galleries and a stunning collection of indoor and outdoor performing arts venues, MASS MoCA embraces all forms of visual and performing art: music, sculpture, dance, film, painting, photography, theater, and boundary-crossing works of art that defy easy classification. We thrive on helping artists make work that is fresh and forward-looking, and that engages our 170,000 annual visitors who come to the Berkshires from around the country and globe. Central to MASS MoCA’s mission is our commitment to serving as a catalyst for community revitalization. We are ardent believers in the power of the creative economy at MASS MoCA. We believe that advancement of the arts, increased tourism, deeper community participation, and regional economic redevelopment are mutually reinforcing and inextricably linked.
As 2025 marks its 25th anniversary, MASS MoCA celebrates its astonishing history defined by tenaciousness, vision, risk-taking, artistic excellence, and a commitment to the revitalization and economic growth of the region. As we look to the next phase of our future under the leadership of our dynamic director, Kristy Edmunds, a dedicated board of trustees, and the completion of a new seven-year Strategic Plan (2024-2030), we now seek to realize a new vision for cultural institutions at a time when museums and all arts organizations must reevaluate their role and relevance in society.
The Director of Technology will serve as a member of MASS MoCA’s senior leadership team, the director’s cabinet. The Director of Technology will be a collegial and responsive partner to colleagues on the director’s cabinet as well as with departments across the institution, including public programs, visitor experience, visual arts, performing arts, real estate, and buildings and grounds/campus planning. The Director of Technology will lead by example in their work with the Technology team.
The successful candidate will demonstrate a unique blend of technical and management skills, including: the ability to simultaneously plan and implement projects; providing leadership and direction for technology projects, yet taking a “hands-on” approach when needed; ability to communicate IT concepts clearly to a variety of users; and the ability to think strategically and implement organization-wide initiatives while also focusing on improving the individual user experience.
Job Summary
The Director of Technology leads MASS MoCA’s technology team and manages the company’s technology operations and the implementation of new systems and policies. Under the leadership of this new Director, the technology team will assess and address the technology needs of the institution and provide exceptional service to the staff, and by extension both the onsite and virtual visitors, while building a sustainable technology infrastructure.
Duties and Responsibilities
- Assume ownership of the MASS MoCA Digital Strategy (funded by private philanthropy), and, with it as the primary tool and guide, implement a strategic technology vision that aligns with MASS MoCA’s mission, values, and goals, ensuring a strong foundation for future growth.
- Drive change management and adoption of new technology across the museum.
- Devise and establish IT policies and systems to support the implementation of strategies set by upper management.
- Collaborate closely with executive and leadership teams to identify and prioritize key technology initiatives, including data management, digital curation, and online engagement that will support and enhance the institution’s mission.
- Lead day-to-day operational management of the IT organization, including infrastructure, enterprise applications, and integration.
- Provide exceptional service to the staff and patrons of the museum.
- Articulate and document IT requirements, develop annual budget, and monitor the organization’s expenditures.
- Analyze variances, identify inefficiencies, and implement corrective actions to ensure cost-effectiveness and sustainability of system solutions.
- Manage/monitor the administration, performance, and maintenance of all components of MASS MoCA’s IT environment, including management of the Technology Department staff to ensure that business and end-user needs are met timely and effectively.
- Implement standardized processes and tools to monitor key metrics, and proactively identify and resolve problems within MASS MoCA’s information systems environment.
- Proactively manage MASS MoCA and vendor resources to work through events/problems in order to minimize end-user impact.
- Evaluate and manage third-party Managed Service Providers (MSP) as needed.
- Research industry best practices, new technologies, applications, hardware, etc., to recommend IT solutions to current/future business challenges.
- Establish organizational guidelines and resources for IT that may facilitate the implementation, enhancement, and maintenance of MASS MoCA’s cross-functional applications; e.g., Advancement, Visitor Experience, Finance, and People and Culture.
- Control budget and report on expenditure.
- Assist in building relationships with vendors and creating cost-efficient contracts.
- Through close collaboration with other leaders at the museum, break down silos between core cross-functional applications; eliminate manual data entry via systems integration.
- Perform other duties as required.
Other Job Responsibilities
Staff Leadership:
- Model organizational values and lead with collaboration and empathy;
- Inspire passion and commitment toward common organizational goals;
- Create a work environment that embraces change and support new ideas; and
- Work through complex issues and problems to optimize performance
Institutional Responsibilities:
- Support MASS MoCA’s mission, vision, and core commitments to the visitor experience, constituent engagement, and institutional relevancy for the future;
- Contribute to and support the MASS MoCA’s new strategic plan, annual priorities, and institutional initiatives including diversity, equity, access, and inclusion and environmental sustainability;
- Contribute to building a team and organization based on mutual respect, a spirit of collegiality, cooperation, and an openness to multiple perspectives; and
- Help to shape MASS MoCA’s institutional culture of ongoing learning, collaboration, innovation, creativity, and community engagement.
