Executive Director
The Mission of the USS Silversides Submarine Museum is to honor the men and women of the military, preserve military history and provide experiences that educate the public about past and preset military history and technology. Comprised of three facilities, the museum offers a wide variety of ways to engage with WWII and submarine history through lectures, classes, immersive events and community fundraisers.
The USS Silversides Submarine Museum is looking for an Executive Director who is a dynamic, inclusive, and collaborative leader to oversee the programing, administration, fund development and strategic planning of the organization. Serving as the public face of the museum, the Executive Director will be responsible for directing the work of the organization to achieve its mission, while serving as the principal spokesperson and lead advocate for the museum.
General Responsibilities
The Executive Director provides leadership, strategy, and direction toward the achievement of the USS Silversides Submarine Museum's mission, values, goals, and objectives by working with the Board of Directors and acting as liaison and advocate between the Board, staff employees, community partners, and volunteers. This position requires collaboration, influencing, and communications skills to achieve high performance. The Executive Director is expected to participate in and provide leadership across the organization, while improving our capabilities and performance with all constituencies. Candidates should have experience and a demonstrated passion for working with community members and partners, along with a personal and professional passion for honoring the history of the museum, it's exhibits and the veterans whose story they tell.
Professional Experience and Educational Requirements
Bachelor's degree with a minimum of five years' experience providing executive oversight and management leadership.
Active fundraising experience and understanding of the fundraising community. Experience with diversifying funding sources and successfully generating new revenue streams.
Proven track record of establishing relationships with individuals and organizations of influence, including funders, partner agencies and volunteers.
Demonstrated ability to lead, drive culture and influence change - inspiring, professional and credible.
High level of strategic thinking and planning. Ability to envision and convey the organization's strategic future to the staff, board, volunteers, and donors.
High degree of integrity and honesty, along with a demonstrated ability to exercise confidentiality and neutrality in complex and sensitive situations.
Proven ability to drive culture and influence change - inspiring, professional, and credible.
Strong financial management skills, including budget preparation, analysis, decision making and reporting.
Exceptional written and oral communication skills, including public speaking. Highly organized, with the ability to effectively plan and delegate as needed.
If this position sounds like a fit for you, please apply on or before May 12, 2025 at:
For a complete position profile please contact:
Holly Hughes, Board Chair
USS Silversides Submarine Museum
The USS Silversides Submarine Museum is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, creed, color, religion, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, marital status, height, weight, or age.
Position Profile
Executive Director
USS Silversides Submarine Museum
2025
POSITION PROFILE
Position
Executive Director
Company
USS Silversides Submarine Museum
Location
Muskegon, Michigan
Reporting Relationship
Board of Directors
Website
https://silversidesmuseum.org/
Contact Information: Holly Hughes, Board Chair
MUSEUM OVERVIEW
The USS Silversides Submarine Museum is a destination museum attracting visitors from all over the world and our great nation. The most well attended attraction in Muskegon County except for Michigan's Adventure in Muskegon. Located near beautiful Lake Michigan, our museum comprises three facilities: the two-story museum building housing temporary and permanent exhibits; the USS Silverside Gato-class submarine; and the USCGC McLane, a prohibition-era Coast Guard cutter. Outside the museum, we offer a wide variety of ways to engage with WWII and submarine history through lectures, classes, immersive events and community fundraisers.
The feature attraction of the museum is the World War II submarine, USS Silversides. The USS Silversides completed 14 combat war patrols and is officially credited with sinking 23 major Japanese ships (3rd highest total for any U.S. Navy Submarine). Moving to Muskegon in 1987, USS Silversides has been painstakingly maintained in its World War II configuration and is considered the U.S. Navy's most successful surviving World War II submarine. In 1993, the Prohibition-era U.S. Coast Guard Cutter McClane joined the USS Silversides on display at the museum.
A proud staple of the Lakeshore community, the mission of the USS Silversides Submarine Museum is to honor the men and women of the military, preserve military history and provide experiences that educate the public about past and present military history and technology.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Executive Director is the public face of USS Silversides Submarine Museum, responsible for directing the work of the organization to achieve its mission, while serving as the principal spokesperson and lead advocate for the museum.
The Executive Director will report to a governing volunteer board of directors, and will have overall strategic and operational responsibility for the staff, programs, administrative affairs of the organization and the execution of its mission.
This position requires a high-level of collaboration and influencing skills to achieve superior results. The Executive Director is expected to participate in and provide leadership across the organization, while improving our capabilities and performance with all constituencies.
The ideal candidate will be an ethical, effective, and energetic advocate for the USS Silversides Submarine Museum. The candidate will be strongly committed, personally and professionally, to preserving and honoring the history of the museum, its exhibits and the veterans whose story they tell. The candidate will combine passion and vision for public engagement with knowledge and understanding of the nonprofit sector, including trends and best practices. The ideal candidate will respect and actively engage the participation of staff, volunteers and community partners representing diverse social, economic, and educational perspectives.
KEY RELATIONSHIPS
Specifically, the key relationships for this role include the Board of Directors, internal staff, volunteers, donors, community partners, community leaders, and other external third-party service providers.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Strategy and Management
Leads the development, execution and monitoring of the strategic growth plan that effectively advances the museum's unique mission and ensures growth objectives are met.
Establishes, monitors, evaluates, and reports on comprehensive goals and outcomes for the overall performance of the organization.
Establishes appropriate annual and long-term financial objectives and manages to ensure these goals are consistently met.
Leads, directs, and evaluates the work of employees, providing transparent feedback and mentorship for ongoing growth and development.
Maintains accountability for the overall fiscal integrity of the organization.
Assures adherence to legal and regulatory guidelines as well as in-house policies to maintain the organization's compliance and ethics.
Accountable for building and leading high-performing teams that collaborate to achieve organizational results.
Board Relations
Develop and maintain effective relationships with Board members and facilitate use of their respective professional expertise in various advisory capacities for the USS Silversides Submarine Museum.
Keep the Board informed regarding important matters.
Develop appropriate strategies to recruit Board candidates who are diverse in background, experiences, and expertise.
Prepare policy recommendations for the Board.
Lead implementation of all Board approved policies.
Draft the Board's agenda for review by the Chair of the Board.
Act as the Board's agent in entering into agreements which are necessary to the operations of the USS Silversides Submarine Museum.
Attend all Board meetings, unless excused.
Serve as an ex-officio member of all Board Committees.
Fundraising
Develop and implement a robust fundraising plan to diversify sources of revenue and grow reserves and resources from federal, state, and private sources.
Collaborate with Board, volunteers and community partners to cultivate and steward strong relationships with both public and private donors.
Identify grant opportunities and work to develop government, non-profit, and foundation grants to support the operations of the museum.
Membership & Community Relations
Serve as ambassador of the museum to the public, all stakeholders, community partnerships, the Board of Directors, staff, and volunteers.
Attend and participate in community events, networking engagements and Board service opportunities to further establish the museum's presence in the community.
Work to increase museum membership, improve member benefits and maintain member records.
Seek opportunities for public speaking to advocate for the museum's mission to the greater community.
Maintain accountability for the overall reputation, culture, employee engagement and satisfaction levels within the organization.
Develop programs and community activities to create awareness and advance the mission of the museum and benefit the community.
Fiduciary
Establish appropriate annual and long-term financial objectives and manage to consistently achieve these goals.
Prepare annual budget and policy recommendations for Board review and approval.
Provide financial updates to the Board of Directors.
Establish policies and procedures that adhere to GAAP standards and that safeguard the assets of the museum.
Administrative
Work with Exhibits committee to develop and implement exhibits for museum and off-site venues.
Collaborate with Collections Committee to ensure donated items are appropriately reviewed, accessioned, conserved, preserved and cataloged.
Coordinate maintenance of museum building, grounds and equipment.
Maintain and monitor records & reports related to museum utilization, financial progress of the museum gift shop profitability, supply inventory & vendor relationships, etc.
This list of principal responsibilities and leadership characteristics is not complete and will be supplemented with input from the Board, staff, and community.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE & EDUCATION/QUALIFICATIONS
The Executive Director will possess the following:
Bachelor's degree with a minimum of five years' experience providing executive oversight and management leadership.
Great enthusiasm for the mission and potential of the USS Silversides Submarine Museum to advance the museum's reach and impact.
Demonstrated ability to lead, drive culture and influence change - inspiring, professional and credible.
Ability to tell the story of museum in a compelling and persuasive manner.
Experience in diversifying nonprofit funding and success in planning and executing multiple fund development campaigns.
High degree of integrity and honesty, along with a demonstrated ability to exercise confidentiality and neutrality in complex and sensitive situations.
Superb networking and relationship building skills
Verifiable ability to manage staff and the financial affairs of an organization.
Experience in successful application of creative and analytical problem-solving skills.
Exceptional written and oral communication skills.
Advanced understanding of state, local and federal level public policy.
LEADERSHIP CHARACTERISTICS
Servant Leadership Mindset
An attitude and lens of servant leadership; able to influence others with active listening, empathy, and persuasion; willing to advance the needs of others for the greater good of the organization.
Operationalizing Strategy
Knows the business and the mission-critical technical and functional skills needed to do the job; disciplined and focused on achieving strategic goals; able to set up systems and processes that are efficient, effective, and self-sustaining, can quickly diagnose and fix a workflow problem; always looking for incremental process improvement.
Resiliency and Flexibility
Able to adjust to changes with agility and optimism; adaptable to changing leadership; able to understand and react appropriately to different personality styles.
Equity and Inclusion
Demonstrates an understanding and curiosity about different cultures and racial backgrounds, physical abilities, age, gender, and sexual orientation; committed to creating a welcoming environment for all people; intentional and unapologetic in developing programs, membership, and strategic partnerships with other people across the range of human differences.
Inspire
A proven ability to motivate others to action based on a passion for the mission and conviction to impact change.
Communicating Effectively
Writes and presents effectively; adjusts to fit the audience and the message; strongly gets a message across.
Relating Skills
Warm, friendly, and interpersonally agile; easy to approach and talk to; relates well to all kinds of people; makes a pleasant first impression and builds solid relationships.
Acting with Honor and Character
Is a person of high character; is consistent and acts in line with a clear and visible set of values and beliefs; deals and talks straight; walks his/her talk; is direct and truthful but at the same time can keep confidences.
The USS Silversides Submarine Museum is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, creed, color, religion, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, marital status, height, weight, or age.
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