Director of Grants | Houston Arts Alliance

Director of Grants | Grants Division

Houston Arts Alliance (HAA) is a local arts and culture nonprofit whose principal work is to implement the City of Houston’s vision, values, and goals for its arts grantmaking and civic art investments. HAA’s work is conducted through contracts with the City of Houston, overseen by the Mayor’s Office of the Arts. HAA also executes privately funded special projects to meet the needs of the arts community, such as disaster preparation and research on the state of the arts in Houston.

In short, HAA helps artists and nonprofits be bold, productive, and strong.

HAA prioritizes diverse perspectives that create better solutions and services for the people we serve, including diversity in age, self-identities, and all other domains. Those with backgrounds typically not recognized by corporate structures are encouraged to apply, including those with employment gaps, long term unemployment status, varied life experiences, and those touched by the legal system.

The Director of Grants is responsible for the distribution of about $15M in public funding for the arts annually, administered through a contract with the City of Houston Mayor’s Office of the Arts. The Director shares HAA’s values: fairness, transparency, and responsiveness to community. The Director manages a team and is responsible for systems that fairly and equitably distribute funding throughout the City’s diverse cultural community.

The Director will create solutions, solve complex problems, and envision systems change, with a dual focus on the humans impacted by our work and the integrity of the systems they are responsible for. This position reports to the CEO.

• Create and maintain productive, trusting, accessible, professional, and accountable relationships.
• Represent HAA as a visible, engaged leader in Houston’s arts and cultural community, attending grantee and other events.
• Co-create HAA’s reputation with the community of people it serves.
• Exhibit diplomacy with diverse stakeholders, such as city and arts community representatives.
• Develop and facilitate others’ insights into systems and processes to make division improvements.
• Identify internal and external politics that impact the organization and division.
• Identify and respond to local, regional, and national trends relevant to the arts and philanthropy.

• Center arts and cultural community in processes and decisions.
• Envision and lead implementation of policies and procedures for the entire grantmaking process.
• Ensure systems integrity so that systems create fairness and are transparent and ethical.
• Set and lead the strategy, vision, priorities, and calendar for grantmaking.
• Work collaboratively while maintaining leadership and ownership of the Grants function.
• Create, monitor, and improve the end-to-end grantee experience across the grant lifecycle.
• Continually evaluate and improve existing processes and systems for fairness and responsiveness.
• Ensure grants systems function on time and on budget.
• Ensure compliance with all applicable policies, regulations, and laws.
• Develop strategic communication deliverables, such as grants workshops and Board reports.
• Ensure HAA and grantee compliance with contract obligations.
• Ensure grantee payments are made timely and accurately.
• Troubleshoot and resolve problems as they arise to achieve compassion and systems integrity.

• Facilitate successful workflow through leadership, mentorship, accountability, and gratitude.
• Co-construct team and organizational culture through model choices and positive relationships
• Facilitate team members’ goals, members growth, and division integration with HAA.
• Manage the Grants Committee of the Board, which oversees grants lifecycle at points of review.
• Manage collegial and working relationships internally, across divisions.
• Assure proper maintenance of records.
• Set the annual division budget and staffing in consultation with the CFO.
• Assist the Finance team in annual audits and contract reviews as…