Position: Preservation Programs Director

Location: Greater Seattle area strongly preferred. Candidates from the greater Seattle area will be expected to spend at least two days per week in the office (although more in-person time can be accommodated and is welcomed!).

Salary Range: Minimum exempt threshold ($69,264 projected for 2024) to $75,000, depending on experience

Position Type: Full-time exempt

Benefits: Medical, vision, and dental; a retirement program; and paid time off including holidays, vacation, and sick time
Travel Required: Yes

To Apply
Please e-mail your resume, a cover letter describing how your experiences and interests fit with the Preservation Programs Director job responsibilities and qualifications, and three references to info@preservewa.org with the subject line “Preservation Programs Director.” In your email, please be sure to include your pronouns.

Application deadline: September 8, 2023
Expected start date: November 1, 2023

About the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation
The Washington Trust for Historic Preservation is dedicated to saving the places that matter in Washington State and to promoting sustainable and economically viable communities through historic preservation. We work to build a statewide ethic that preserves Washington’s historic places through advocacy, education, collaboration, and stewardship.

Values Statement
We Are People-Centered. As we approach our work, we will listen to the needs of local communities and adapt our work to the moment.
We commit to being:
• Inclusive
- Amplify the many voices of preservation and heritage in Washington.
- Assess preservation’s historic complicity/biases and make change.
• Proactive
- Be bold, creative, and solutions-oriented.
- Lead the charge in preservation advocacy.
• Empowering
- Offer tools that enable local community builders to effect change.
- Connect preservation resources to economic recovery.
• Approachable
- Be the organization you turn to to help save places that matter.
- Bring inspiration, hope, and (dare we say) fun to preservation.

Job Description
The Washington Trust is seeking a qualified individual to act as the Preservation Programs Director, the organization’s lead for preservation and advocacy issues in Washington State. The Preservation Programs Director will manage all preservation programming and place-based advocacy for the Washington Trust, including the Washington’s Most Endangered Places program, multiple grant programs, a property easements program, public education programming, and technical preservation support.

As Washington State’s only statewide, nonprofit historic preservation organization, the Washington Trust offers strategic, technical, and financial support to the many organizations and advocates across the state who strive to preserve Washington’s historic and cultural places. The Preservation Programs Director should be a dynamic, solutions-oriented person who enjoys working with the public and a wide variety of stakeholders. The Preservation Programs Director will be expected to drive engagement in historic preservation throughout the state and help grow the Washington Trust audience.

In addition to place-based advocacy work, the Preservation Programs Director will be the lead on all grant programs administered by Washington Trust, including grants funded by the Washington Trust as well as grant programs managed under contract. Administrative duties associated with the grant programs include contracting, reporting, and documentation and is anticipated to comprise at least 50% of the position’s workload.

The Washington Trust is headquartered in Seattle. Residency within the Seattle area is preferred. The Preservation Programs Director will be required to work onsite at the Seattle office on a frequent basis for the purposes of using office equipment, printing, mailing, and maintaining physical files, particularly for grant programs. During some months when the volume of physical paperwork is higher (such as periods of high levels of grant contracting or reimbursement), the frequency of on-site presence may need to increase, depending on workload.
The Preservation Programs Director will report to the Executive Director. A background check will be required for this position.

Primary Responsibilities

• Work with community members, organizations, governmental entities, developers, property owners, and other stakeholders to strategize creative solutions to place-based preservation issues statewide and to help make preservation more accessible and engaging.
• Serve as the organization’s main point of contact for and manage the day-to-day administration of all place-based advocacy campaigns and grant programs. This includes responding to all preservation-related general inquiries and connecting community members to relevant information and resources.
• Manage relationships with members of the public and prospective grantees through email, phone, and written communication in a timely manner.
• Coordinate with communications staff to promote advocacy issues and preservation programs statewide, including providing engaging, place-based content for the Washington Trust website, This Place magazine, e-mail campaigns, and social media accounts that demonstrates the importance and impact of the work of the Washington Trust.
• Coordinate with communications staff to promote all grant programs to recruit a diverse selection of eligible applicants for each grant program and cycle.
• Manage all grant application processes including developing grant application and guidance materials, holding informational workshops, assisting applicants with the submission process, reviewing applications for eligibility requirements, and coordinating grant committee reviews.
• Manage the grantmaking process, with assistance from other Washington Trust staff, including developing and executing grant contracts and amendments, reviewing invoices and other project documentation, reviewing/finalizing grant completion reports, managing reimbursement processes, preparing documentation paperwork and reports as needed, and tracking and confirming grant payments.
• Oversee grant project work by requesting and reviewing progress reports for all grantees on a quarterly basis, reviewing project plans throughout the grant period to ensure grantee compliance with historic preservation standards, conducting site visits as needed, and maintaining active and ongoing communication with all grantees.
• Request and review annual monitoring reports from grantees after projects are complete as determined by required property easements and other contract terms.
• Respond to public inquiries about the Washington Trust easement program and its guidelines and parameters.
• Correspond as needed with owners of properties on which the Washington Trust holds easements, including consultation on property changes, conducting annual site visits to easement properties, and completing annual monitoring forms with photo documentation.
• Efficiently manage and ensure the integrity of data, files, and communications for all preservation programs. In particular, continue to hone and streamline system for the management of multiple grant processes and records, improving current practices where possible.
• Manage the Preservation Committee of the Washington Trust Board of Directors including holding quarterly meetings, managing Most Endangered Places nomination reviews, coordination on special advocacy campaigns, and administration of the Washington Trust Legal Defense Fund.
• Lead in the development of curriculum and programming at the annual Youth Heritage Project, an educational overnight field school for high school students.
• Support the Executive Director in preservation advocacy issues related to public policy and legislative actions, both statewide and nationally.
• Serve as the Washington Trust representative for Section 106 consultation processes and other regulatory issues.
• Support Washington Trust development and communications staff in providing place-based programming and content for Washington Trust events such as the annual Vintage Washington fundraiser and Sivinski Holiday Benefit.
• Support the Executive Director in creating the annual outreach and advocacy budget and assist in monitoring and tracking the budget throughout the year.

Skills & Experience Required

• Must embrace the mission of the Washington Trust and have an interest in historic preservation and downtown revitalization.
  
• Qualified applicants will have a bachelor’s degree in historic preservation, architectural history, or a closely related field, and at least three years of professional experience.
• Preferred applicants will have a master’s degree in historic preservation, architectural history, or a closely related field, and at least five years of professional experience.
  
• Preferred applicants will also have experience in nonprofit or government grant administration and experience with state and federal contracting requirements and guidelines.
  
• Knowledge of and experience implementing the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties is required.
  
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills to effectively connect with and engage constituents through public speaking and writing.
  
• Ability to develop and maintain a wide variety of working relationships with many different partners including the general public, individual/private property owners, nonprofit organizations (large and small), government entities, and commercial property developers.
  
• Ability to proactively manage peaks and flows of workload and complete multiple tasks on time.
  
• Financial management skills, including budgeting, financial monitoring, financial reporting, and accounts receivable as well as excellent attention to detail and accuracy, especially in accounting and contracts.
  
• Ability to communicate effectively with colleagues of all levels and be a team-builder.
  
• Frequent in-state travel required for advocacy purposes, grant project site visits, and Washington Trust events. A valid Washington State driver’s license state and the capacity to travel overnight are required.
  

Visit the website for job posting: https://preservewa.org/job-opening-preservation-programs-director