Director of Institutional Events

California College of the Arts (CCA) is a leading educational and cultural institution dedicated to fostering academic excellence through a diverse and inclusive community. Located in San Francisco, CCA offers innovative programs in the arts, design, architecture, and writing that prepare students for leadership and creative careers. The college is committed to supporting groups historically underrepresented in higher education and believes that diversity is integral to its mission. CCA provides a hybrid campus work mode supporting collaboration between staff members while allowing flexibility. With a full-time workweek defined as 37.5 hours, the college offers a comprehensive benefits package, including multiple medical plans, generous holiday and vacation time, retirement matching, and tuition remission. The college values a dynamic work environment and encourages applications from a diverse pool of candidates.

The Director of Institutional Events at California College of the Arts is a pivotal leadership role responsible for the creation and execution of inspired, innovative, and engaging event experiences across the institution. This position leads the annual programming of events in the President's Office and the Advancement departments that are crucial for fostering community engagement and supporting the college-wide philanthropic program and institutional strategy. The Director’s key projects include managing the annual gala and commencement, each demanding a full year of detailed planning and coordination. These signature events involve extensive collaboration with diverse stakeholders including trustees, volunteers, event specialists, professional staff, and external vendors.

The Director ensures all event content is aligned with CCA’s mission and values, creating storytelling moments that engage donors, students, faculty, and alumni. By working closely with the President, trustees, senior administrators, faculty, and fundraising professionals, the Director maximizes participation and fundraising outcomes through carefully orchestrated programmatic activities. This role also includes supervising the Events Manager while serving as the institutional expert for event planning and execution, offering strategic advice to senior leadership.

This role demands a highly organized, creative, and polished events professional capable of managing a high-pressure and fast-paced environment. Primary duties include managing a significant budget, overseeing cross-departmental teams, negotiating contracts, directing event production and logistics, and ensuring excellence in guest experience. The Director chairs the Commencement Planning Committee and leads extensive coordination to deliver an inclusive and celebratory event for graduates and their families. The position requires sophisticated communication skills for coordinating with high-level volunteers such as trustee gala chairs and effectively leading teams of staff and external partners.

Additional responsibilities encompass developing a multi-year operational strategy for institutional events, strengthening vendor relationships, and strategically positioning events to elevate the college's public profile. The Director’s leadership extends to supervising team members, facilitating their professional development, and maintaining rigorous quality standards for all events. The role requires hands-on experience in donor events, budget management, contract negotiation, and strategic event planning within a nonprofit context, with flexibility to work evenings and weekends as needed.

The compensation for the Director of Institutional Events ranges from $107,000 to $112,200 annually, reflecting the importance and complexity of the role within CCA’s advancement efforts. This is a full-time, exempt position based primarily on the San Francisco campus with hybrid work options.