EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
North American Japanese Garden Association, Portland, Oregon
Closes: Friday, June 3, 2011

Classification: Full-time Exempt
Reports to: Board of Directors
Salary range: $40,000 – $55,000 commensurate with experience

The North American Japanese Garden Association (NAJGA) is a new member-based association in its formative stages. Recognizing the pivotal role Japanese gardens play in promoting Japanese culture and creating deeper ties with Japan, the NAJGA will establish a network of more than 200 Japanese gardens and professionals in the field of Japanese Garden design, construction and maintenance in North America along with other stakeholders and interested entities and individuals. The Executive Director will initially be employed by the Portland Japanese Garden and outsourced to the NAJGA while the Association is seeking 501 (c3) status. The NAJGA will be managed as an independent entity with its own budget, revenues and expenses. Management of the NAJGA will be the responsibility of the Executive Director who will receive significant guidance from and be supervised by a Board of Directors.

The NAJGA is a new organization with limited revenues supported in its first year by a grant from the Japan Foundation. Revenue development will be a key task for the Executive Director. This will include leading membership and program development, grant writing and the creation of other fundraising tools. The Executive Director will create customer service standards, bookkeeping procedures and other organizational systems necessary for tracking the fiscal and service stability of the Association as well as to accurately report the progress of the organization to its Board of Directors. The Executive Director’s salary growth will be dependent upon the revenue growth.

The Executive Director must be a leader with a wide variety of skills including the ability to move from the small details to bigger picture strategic thinking. Regional meetings and seminars, Association membership structure and recruitment, implementation of a biennial conference (2012), website management, and a regular e-newsletter are all programs of the NAJGA that the Executive Director will have active in its first year. The ability to work well with the board of directors, partner with other organizations when relevant, and communicate effectively with its members is essential.

Qualifications (partial list):
* Minimum Bachelor’s degree with preference for degree in Landscape Architecture, Landscape Design Education, Non-profit or Association Management, Education or other related field.
* Successful demonstration of experience in non-profit /association management, program development, coalition-building and resource development.

NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE

Full description and application instructions available at:
www.racc.org/resources/executive-director-sought-north-american-japanese-garden-association