Programs Manager

AIA Seattle and Seattle Design Festival envision of a culture of design that fosters equitable, resilient, thriving communities. AIA Seattle’s mission is to champion the central role of architects in creating and sustaining a better built environment. Seattle Design Festival’s mission is to unleash the design thinker in everyone to illuminate Seattle’s challenges and ignite action. We are a member-led organization, and volunteers inform our work. This interactive relationship allows us to harness the wisdom and leadership of our community to expand our impact.

AIA Seattle is one of the largest architectural associations in the US, with an inspiring community of members who are passionate and engaged in our changing city. AIA Seattle is seeking a Programs & Engagement Manager to lead the programmatic activities of AIA Seattle, a 501(c)(6) professional membership organization. The Programs & Engagement Manager oversees AIA Seattle’s nationally recognized educational programs, our signature design and individual awards events, and committee-led programming. The position anticipates major issues and ideas shaping design and the built environment, and develops learning and engagement opportunities to prepare our members with the skills and knowledge to create equitable, resilient, and thriving communities.

Goals of the Position

Programs Management (65%)
Initiate, manage and produce a range of education and awards programs to equip our members to shape the built environment and elevate the impact of architecture and design in our communities

• Develop and manage programs that advance AIA Seattle’s mission, long-term vision, and organizational priorities
• Engage members, volunteers, and partners to inform program development and expand organizational impact
• Ensure clear roles, expectations, and guidelines so all program participants can meaningfully engage and contribute to program success
• Oversee the delivery of programs and events in alignment with established goals and objectives
• Develop and manage program budgets to support financial sustainability, organizational priorities, and responsible stewardship of resources
• Evaluate program outcomes and effectiveness of implemented strategies to inform recommendations for future programs

Member Engagement (20%)
Manage and support member committees in their work to deliver successful events and engagement opportunities for our 10-county membership and greater design community

• Deploy strategies to strengthen member engagement and community impact through committees
• Guide annual planning process and orientations for committees to set expectations and ensure alignment with mission and organizational priorities
• Implement processes, frameworks, and tools that support effective committee leadership and enable successful committee-led events and engagement opportunities
• Foster strong relationships with members and committee leaders to support a connected and inclusive design community
• Review committee spending reports and support committees to ensure responsible stewardship of resources
• Evaluate effectiveness of committees and committee-led programming to inform recommendations for the future

Cross-Collaboration & Personnel Management (10%)
Collaborate with the team and supervise others, including the Programs Coordinator, to contribute to the overall success of AIA Seattle and Seattle Design Festival programs

• Exemplify mission, vision, and values and demonstrate high level of leadership
• Manage hiring, annual reviews, onboarding, documentation and redundancy planning, and individual professional development for direct reports, as applicable

• Collaborate on organization-wide management of people, policy considerations, professional development, staff care, and team appreciation
• Work closely with AIA Seattle program staff on annual planning and support capacity of team
• Contribute to and participate in day-to-day and long-term strategy planning
• Attend AIA and SDF events and functions as required

Governance & Leadership (5%)
Manage and support related leadership groups and steering committees to advance learning and engagement opportunities and promote the organization’s mission, vision, and imperatives

• Provide staff leadership and management for steering committees in support of the goals of the position
• Partner with chairs to develop goal-driven agendas and annual plans
• Ensure alignment between steering committee work and organizational strategy

Job Skills and Attributes

• Exceptional ability to prioritize and manage multiple projects
• Courageous collaborator that values success of the collective
• Enjoy facilitating the voices of others and leading from behind
• Organized and self-directed strategic thinker with attention to detail
• Relationship builder and connecter with excellent interpersonal skills and ability to motivate volunteers and collaborators
• Effective communicator with strong presentation, writing, and facilitation skills
• Commitment to justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion
• Excited to further the aligned organizations’ vision for equitable, resilient, thriving communities

Job Qualifications

• Requires Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent life experience
• Demonstrated management experience in programs development, project management, event planning, volunteer engagement, membership, and/or related

Our Team and Benefits
AIA Seattle offers a competitive salary and benefits package. We seek applicants with a range of backgrounds, viewpoints, and work styles. Our organization is taking active steps through education programs and collaboration spaces to support industry-wide culture change, so that architecture and the allied professions actively attract and retain more people of color, women, and non-binary people. We are a small office that supports flexibility, creativity, leadership, and the professional development of all our staff. We value our team and work to provide runway for professional advancement. We currently work both in person and remotely and seek ways to encourage collaboration while providing flexibility for work-life balance.

This is a full-time, 40 hours per week position in the range of $31.76-$40.38 per hour. AIA Seattle contributes 100% of employee premium coverage of medical benefits and life insurance, and employees may enroll in the company dental plan which the company covers at 50% of the premium. Employees are invited to participate in a 401k for which the company matches up to 4% of wages per year. Full-time employees receive holiday leave which includes nine paid holidays, plus the entire week between December 25th through January 1st.

New full-time employees accrue ten days of additional paid time off over the course of the year, with an additional day for each anniversary of hiring date, and additional sick leave above the requirements of the City of Seattle and State of Washington. Sixteen hours are available for paid employee community service each year, which can be used by team members to give time for their passions and interests. Reimbursement is available for in-office days and work-related events for parking expenses.

We actively encourage applications from people of color, immigrant and bilingual communities, people of all abilities, members of LGBTQ+ communities, and people with other diverse backgrounds and lived experiences. We are dedicated to upholding an inviting workplace and co-create organization-wide policies together as part of our team workload for thoughtful and actionable measures to advance sustainability, equity, diversity and anti-racism, and to support industry-wide culture change.

We provide equal employment opportunities to all individuals.

To Apply:

Submit a resume and letter of interest through the application portal. Preferred deadline is November 13, 2026.

Accessibility accommodations during the job application process are available. Please make direct contact at View email address on click.appcast.io.