Vice President, Strategic Projects

Vice President, Strategic Projects

The Vice President of Strategic Projects plays a critical connector role across The Philadelphia Orchestra and Ensemble Arts Philly (POEA). Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer and serving as a strategic partner to the President and CEO, this leader helps turn organizational priorities into results by coordinating projects that strengthen operations, support artistic and audience goals, and advance POEA's mission as a world-class orchestra and a cultural cornerstone of Philadelphia.

Working closely with department heads and the Enterprise Leadership Team, the VP guides complex, cross ‑ department efforts from planning through completion. Projects may include implementing new business or earned ‑ revenue initiatives, improving season ‑ planning and workflow processes, supporting labor and workforce planning, coordinating high-level board and governance projects, and advancing elements of the organization's long ‑ range strategic plan.

This position ensures major initiatives are well organized, resourced, and communicated—helping teams stay aligned, informed, and accountable while maintaining clarity between strategy and execution.

Responsibilities

Enterprise Project Management (Primary Focus)

• Lead and manage high-impact, cross departmental projects from initiation through completion, ensuring clear goals, defined scope, and measurable outcomes.
• Develop project charters, timelines, KPIs, and reporting frameworks; monitor progress, anticipate risks, escalate issues, and drive solutions and tradeoff decisions.
• Leverage practical project management tools to keep major initiatives moving and on schedule.
• Analyze new earned ‑ revenue ideas (venue use opportunities, experiential programming, food & beverage strategy) and lead cross ‑ team pilots.
• Lead or support special initiatives assigned by the COO and President & CEO, including organizational effectiveness projects, strategic planning work, and enterprise change management efforts.
• Oversee the cross ‑ department metrics meetings and senior leadership meetings, ensuring that each department submits data and presentations on time, that the information presented is accurate and actionable, and that discussions lead to concrete next steps that move the organization forward.

Executive Partnership and Strategic Support

• Manage implementation of a new long-range strategic plan and its milestones across departments.
• Coordinate follow ‑ through on major executive or board priorities, such as business model adjustments post ‑ merger.
• Provide structure and follow ‑ through for Enterprise Leadership Team priorities—ensuring cross ‑ functional alignment, accountability, and progress tracking.
• Serve as a primary strategic partner and thought leader to the COO, helping to prioritize initiatives, organize executive workflows, and ensure follow-through on key commitments.
• Support and collaborate closely with the COO and CEO on enterprise-level initiatives, high- priority strategic projects, and organizational performance goals.
• Translate executive and board priorities into actionable workplans, cross functional workstreams, and clear accountability structures.
• Prepare briefing materials, presentations, analyses, and recommendations to inform executive and board decision-making.

Organizational Effectiveness and Process Improvement

• Identify inefficiencies and structural gaps across operational and programmatic workflows, and lead efforts to streamline processes, clarify decision rights, and improve communication flows.
• Support annual and multiyear planning cycles, including budgeting, season planning, performance measurement, and reporting, with an emphasis on cross department alignment.

• Clarify who's responsible for what, so projects stay on track and communication is clear.
• Partner with People & Culture, Finance, and department leaders to ensure strategic projects are adequately resourced and integrated into day-to-day operations rather than operating as standalone efforts.

Stakeholder Coordination and Internal Communications

• Act as a key conduit of information between the COO, senior leadership, project sponsors, and department heads, ensuring that decisions, timelines, and expectations are clearly communicated.
• Collaborate closely with the executive office staff, development, and marketing/communications teams to ensure enterprise projects align with organizational storytelling, stakeholder engagement, and fundraising strategies.
• Partner with communications and people & culture departments to support internal communications related to major strategic projects, so that staff understand the "why," "what," and "how" of changes and new initiatives.
• Build strong, trust-based relationships across the organization and select external partners and consultants when representing the COO or serving as project lead.

Culture, Equity, and Community Alignment

• Ensure that strategic projects reflect POEA's commitments to inclusion, equity, access, and community partnership, including the organization's role as a civic convener and cornerstone of Philadelphia's cultural ecosystem.
• Integrate feedback from staff, artists, audiences, and community partners into project design and implementation where appropriate.

Knowledge, Skills, and Experience

Required

• 7+ years of progressively responsible experience in project management, strategy, operations, arts administration, consulting, or a related field, with a track record of leading complex, cross functional initiatives.
• Demonstrated success managing multistakeholder projects in a nonprofit, performing arts, entertainment, or similarly matrixed environment.
• Exceptional communication skills—written, verbal, and visual—with the ability to synthesize complexity, tell a clear story, and translate strategy into actionable plans.
• Strong analytical and organizational skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities, deadlines, and stakeholders in a fast-paced setting.
• High emotional intelligence, diplomacy, and sound judgment, with the ability to build trust and influence without formal authority across diverse teams.
• Proficiency with project management tools and comfort working with data and dashboards to track progress and impact.
• Experience in performing arts, live events, cultural institutions, or adjacent creative industries.

Preferred

• Familiarity with nonprofit governance, budgeting, and development operations, including board engagement and philanthropy.
• Experience partnering closely with C-suite executives or serving in a chief of staff, strategy, or transformation role.
• Background in organizational change management, process improvement, or management consulting.

Work Environment and Requirements

• This position is based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with an onsite/remote schedule as determined by organizational policy and business needs.
• Evening and weekend work is required in conjunction with performances, special events, rehearsals, and other organizational activities.
• Routine office environment with extended periods of computer and desk work; ability to navigate performance and event venues as needed.

Reporting structure

• Reports to: Chief Operating Officer (COO).
• Member of: Senior leadership team, collaborating closely with the President and CEO and other executives.
• Direct reports: no

About The Philadelphia Orchestra and Ensemble Arts Philly

The Philadelphia Orchestra and Ensemble Arts Philly (POEA) bring together one of the world's preeminent orchestras with the iconic venues that have anchored Philadelphia's cultural life for nearly 170 years. As owner and operator of the Academy of Music, Miller Theater, and the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, and the programming partner for the historic Forrest Theatre, POEA serves as a cornerstone of the city's artistic and civic identity, welcoming one million people annually to a vibrant constellation of stages across Center City.

Representing both the world-renowned Philadelphia Orchestra and a dynamic roster of resident partners and visiting artists, POEA presents more than one-thousand events annually that represent a wide range of programming, including Broadway, classical, comedy, theater, jazz, dance, and family presentations, reflecting and serving the breadth of the region's communities. Through innovative programming, robust educational initiatives, deep commitment to diverse communities, and expanding digital platforms, POEA acts as a convener and civic partner—bringing people together, fostering dialogue, and creating an expansive, inclusive future for the arts in Philadelphia and beyond.

The Philadelphia Orchestra and Ensemble Arts is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants are considered for employment without attention to race, color, age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, ethnicity, veteran or disability status.

Employees are expected to be able to perform the essential duties and responsibilities of this position, with or without job modification/reasonable accommodation. If an employee believes a job modification/reasonable accommodation is needed, please contact Human Resources so that a review can be conducted. POEA strives to comply with the accommodation provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Title VII of the