Deputy Chief of Staff

Founded in 1894, the American Academy in Rome is a leading American overseas center for independent study and advanced research in the arts and humanities. Each year, the Academy awards the Rome Prize to approximately 30 artists and scholars who join a dynamic, transdisciplinary residential community on the Academy's eleven-acre campus on the Janiculum Hill-enriched further by invited Residents and Visiting Artists and Scholars, reaching a community of approximately 100 at any given time.

Fellows and Residents have gone on to earn 79 Pulitzer Prizes, 63 Mac Arthur Fellowships, 5 Nobel Prizes, and 5 Pritzker Prizes, among many other distinctions.

The Deputy Chief of Staff runs the day-to-day operation of the American Academy in Rome’s Board of Trustees and serves as a generalist within the Executive Office. Roughly half of the role sits with supporting the coordination of the Board of Trustees and its committees; the remainder is deployed against the institutional priorities that most need coordination at a given moment.

Reporting to the Chief of Staff, the Deputy Chief of Staff manages the full annual cycle of board and committee activity - approximately 30 meetings each year, including three full convenings of the Board of Trustees (two in New York, one in Rome) - from calendar and materials through minutes and next steps. Within AAR’s governance structure, the President and CEO leads the trustee relationship and the Chief of Staff is the senior staff point of contact on substantive institutional matters.

The Deputy Chief of Staff runs the day-to-day function and serves as the Trustees’ first point of contact on administrative matters, routing substantive or sensitive questions to the Chief of Staff and the President.

The balance of the role’s bandwidth is institutional. The position leads or supports discrete cross-departmental projects and, more generally, gravitates towards areas of institutional need.

Success in this role will be defined by well-run board and committee meetings, materials that reach Trustees complete and on time, a governance record and policy suite maintained to a high standard, Trustees who feel well served, and the reliable completion of institutional projects that cross departmental lines.

Working closely with the Chief of Staff and the President and CEO, the position will lead:

• Manage the annual calendar of board and committee meetings - approximately 30 per year, including three full meetings of the Board of Trustees - including scheduling, venue, logistics, and technical coordination for both in-person and virtual convenings.
• Draft agendas, board books, resolutions, and supporting materials in coordination with relevant staff liaisons and Chief of Staff.
• Ensure accurate and timely distribution of materials in advance of every meeting.
• Prepare the run of show for in-person board meetings and offer real time support.
• Track board and committee action items between meetings and drive follow-through with the Chief of Staff and relevant staff leads.
• Draft and maintain minutes, resolutions, and the governance record of the institution.
• Coordinate with committee chairs and their staff liaisons, including drafting of materials and management of committee work between meetings, to best prepare board committee meetings.
• Maintain the governance policy suite, including conflict of interest, document retention, and administer the annual disclosure cycle.
• Maintain trustee records, the board roster, and contact information.

• Serve as the day-to-day staff contact for trustees on scheduling, materials, and administrative matters.
• Route substantive or sensitive matters raised by trustees to the Chief of…