The Opportunity
Reporting to the Senior Director, Public Technologies, the Digital Visitor Experience Director is responsible for determining strategy and aligning product direction for the technologies and digital experiences that make up Getty’s public presence for visitors to their campuses and website. The Director will provide leadership and direct four teams with a combined staff of 21, composed of software developers, user experience and visual designers, application managers, and Getty’s emerging platforms group. This individual will be responsible for determining the optimal manner to deploy human and financial resources to provide a seamless, high-quality experience for users that both delights and reinforces Getty’s strategic priorities and initiatives.
The Director should care passionately about visitors, understanding how technology can improve people’s experience of Getty before, during, and after a visit. This individual should understand how these experiences lead to brand loyalty and direct support of Getty’s organization, both financially and through personal connections. And this leader should understand how digital storytelling can build a global community, even for those visitors who may never step foot on Getty’s campus.
In this newly created role, the Director will be responsible for enabling a consistent, high-quality customer experience and defining Getty’s public digital persona through their leadership of the team that manages the applications that supports ticketing, event management, donor management, email marketing, audio guide, and the content management system. The Director will oversee the team that provides user experience research, visual design, and interprets Getty’s brand in the digital space as well as the team of software engineers that builds Getty.edu, their core web property, and Quire, Getty’s open-source digital publications tool. This individual will also oversee and integrate Getty’s emerging platforms program, which works with outside partners to develop high-polish digital experiences that communicate the impact of Getty’s collections and work. This leader will direct the training, support, documentation, and vendor management related to those applications and products, as well as any needed integrations between these applications. The Director will be a key stakeholder in Getty’s larger visitor experience initiative, a key strategic priority, ensuring that digital concerns are fully integrated into on-site experiences. This individual will also be responsible in working with our Data Analytics team to put in place the tools needed to provide visibility and create understanding of the visitor data used to make strategic decisions.
About Getty
Getty is the world’s largest cultural and philanthropic organization dedicated to the visual arts. Nearly two million visitors each year enjoy art, architecture, and gardens at Getty’s two locations: the Getty Villa, in Pacific Palisades, which houses the Getty Museum’s antiquities collection, and the Getty Center, in Los Angeles, which contains the Center Museum and its collection of paintings, photography, and decorative art; the Getty Library, one of the most significant research collections in the world; and the offices of Getty’s four programs.
Beyond public visitation, Getty makes a lasting difference in conservation practice and art historical research and promotes knowledge and appreciation of art among audiences of all ages through conservation work, publications, exhibitions, grant initiatives, training programs, and other efforts. Getty pursues its mission internationally, serving both the general interested public and a wide range of specialized professional communities to promote a vital society through an understanding of the visual arts.
Getty comprises four constituent programs: the Getty Conservation Institute, the Getty Foundation, the Getty Research Institute, and the J. Paul Getty Museum, with collaborative functions such as publications, communications, and digital held within the larger J. Paul Getty Trust.
GETTY CONSERVATION INSTITUTE
The Getty Conservation Institute (GCI) works internationally to advance conservation practice in the visual arts—broadly interpreted to include objects, collections, architecture, and sites. The Institute serves the conservation community through scientific research, education and training, field projects, and the dissemination of information. In all its endeavors, the GCI creates and delivers knowledge that contributes to the conservation of the world’s cultural heritage.
GETTY FOUNDATION
The Getty Foundation fulfills the philanthropic mission of Getty by supporting individuals and institutions committed to advancing the greater understanding and preservation of the visual arts in Los Angeles and throughout the world. Through strategic grant initiatives, the Foundation strengthens art history as a global discipline, promotes the interdisciplinary practice of conservation, increases access to museum and archival collections, and develops current and future leaders in the visual arts. It carries out its work in collaboration with the other Getty Programs to ensure that they individually and collectively achieve maximum effect.
GETTY RESEARCH INSTITUTE
The Getty Research Institute (GRI) is dedicated to furthering knowledge and advancing under - standing of the visual arts. Its Research Library, with special collections of rare materials and digital resources, serves an international community of scholars and the interested public. The GRI creates and disseminates new knowledge through its expertise, active collecting program, public programs, institutional collaborations, exhibitions, publications, and residential scholars program. The activities and scholarly resources of the GRI guide and sustain each other, and together provide a unique environment for research, critical inquiry, and debate.
J. PAUL GETTY MUSEUM
The J. Paul Getty Museum seeks to inspire curiosity about, and enjoyment and understanding of, the visual arts by collecting, conserving, exhibiting, and interpreting works of art of outstanding quality and historical importance. To fulfill this mission, the Museum continues to build its collection through purchases and gifts, and develops programs of exhibitions, publications, scholarly research, public education, and the performing arts to engage its diverse local and international audiences. All these activities are enhanced by the stunning architectural and garden settings of the Museum’s two renowned venues: the Getty Center and Getty Villa. Please see an example of extraordinary digital content created in collaboration with the team at the Getty Villa.
For more information on Getty please visit their website.
Candidate Profile
While it is understood that no one candidate will bring every desired skill, characteristic, and experience, the following offers a reflection of the ideal candidate profile for the Digital Visitor Experience Director (“Director”).
Strong candidates will offer the following attributes and competencies:
Passionate for the Mission and Values
The Director will be a global citizen. They will be intellectually curious with a keen interest in the visual arts and humanities and have a passion for Getty’s mission to promote and ensure a vital civil society. The Director will be committed to and knowledgeable about best practices in the field and among peers. They will be accomplished in their areas of focus and will be well respected for their contributions, intellectual heft, and commitment to the public with a user/audience-centric orientation. The Director will be able to navigate in a complex organization in order to accomplish goals, present views, and build support and collaboration.
A Forward-Thinking Leader
The Director will be a forward-thinking leader who will help guide Getty’s digital visitor experience into and through a successful next chapter. They will have solid analytical, strategic thinking, and problem-solving skills; the ability to innovate, and with capacity to create or seize opportunities to improve digital experience effectiveness and impact while maintaining and reflecting Getty’s overall brands. This leader will offer an understanding of the creative processes necessary to identify, shape, and complete digital storytelling platforms and the ability to mentor and direct creative teams within the constraints of a complex organization. The Director will have an understanding of best practices in content and software, including privacy, security, and standards. The successful candidate will have a demonstrated understanding of data analytics, reporting, and data-driven decision-making processes, with the proven ability to define relevant key performance indicators, report on progress to stakeholders, and identify strategic changes needed to meet those goals.
A Team Leader
The Director will bring strong leadership and people management capabilities, particularly in hybrid work environments, and have a proven track record with a lens of diversity, equity, and inclusivity in managing and developing a team: attracting, retaining, and growing talent through performance reviews, professional development, goal setting, and accountability. They will be an inspiring leader who can guide teams through the process of developing a shared vision around digital strategies for the future and effectively implement that vision into day-to-day work. They will be a strong listener, have a high level of emotional intelligence, and possess an ability to create an environment that fosters creativity, collaboration, shared values, and professional ethics. Additionally, the Director will have experience managing a large budget and approach operations and finances with an eye toward sustainability and best practices and will make decisions based on a clear understanding of the strategic objectives of Getty.
An Influencer and Relationship Builder
The Director will have proven experience and outstanding abilities in strategic leadership, operational management/administration, managing collaboration, change management, and fostering teamwork and will be skilled at building multi-disciplinary coalitions across complex organizations, particularly when advocating for the visitor experience conflicts with long-standing practice or business goals. They will possess strong interpersonal skills and diplomacy, with the ability to build cooperative relationships internally, and effective collaborations and networks around the world.
A Technologist
The Director will demonstrate experience in setting and sustaining product vision for content-driven digital products, with experience leading technical teams and providing technical vision across a complex digital ecosystem, integrating custom software with vendor projects in an agile, continuously deployed environment. Experience with complex front-end software engineering projects, headless content management systems, customer relationship management systems, and APIs strongly preferred. The Director will demonstrate an understanding of the full lifecycle of vendor software products, with experience migrating platforms, negotiating contracts, and developing integrations.
An Ambassador for Getty
The Director will be recognized as a thought leader in the cultural heritage technology space, with the deep professional network to effectively represent Getty’s history, mission, values, and priorities and further the organization’s strategic goals in a manner that enhances Getty’s credibility, reputation, and impact. Museum experience is welcomed, as is comparable experience in other domains. They will possess highly developed communication skills, patience, and persistence.
Their experience will include at least 10 years of supervisory, project, or process management. A bachelor’s degree is required; equivalent professional experience will also be considered.
Compensation & Benefits
Salary is competitive and commensurate with experience. The salary range for this role is $190,000 - $210,000.
Contact
Koya Partners, the executive search firm that specializes in mission-driven search, has been exclusively retained for this engagement. Naree W.S. Viner and Stephen Milbauer of Koya Partners have been exclusively retained for this search. To express interest in this role please submit your materials here, or email Stephen directly at [email protected]. All inquiries and discussions will be considered strictly confidential.
Koya Partners l Diversified Search Group is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to individuals living with disabilities. If you are a qualified individual living with a disability and need assistance expressing interest online, please email [email protected]. If you are selected for an interview, you will receive additional information regarding how to request an accommodation for the interview process.
The J. Paul Getty Trust is an equal opportunity employer and strongly encourages applications from people of color, persons with disabilities, women, and LGBTQ+ applicants.