About
Our client, an internationally established Art Fair whom have hosted in 10 cities worldwide, are now bringing the Art Fair to Austin in 2024 and are seeking an experienced and entrepreneurial Fair Director to join the organisation.
The role
Bringing the international brand to life in Austin, The Fair Director role is predominantly focused on selling booths to galleries and artist collectives, as well as signing on partners and sponsors in order to curate an exhibition that reinforces the brand’s identity and mission. This is a dynamic, all-encompassing role responsible for delivering on two equally important fronts, exhibitor and visitor satisfaction, as well as the commercial success and effective delivery of the fair. Reporting to the US Regional Managing Director of the Fairs and leading the small but mighty local team to launch and grow the fair into a must-see city event.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Gallery Sales and Relationship Management
Develop strong and effective relationships with existing and new exhibitors, to fill
each fair with quality contemporary art.
Support galleries to maximize their art sales potential, happiness factor and likelihood to
return.
Responsible for fair’s vision and key messaging, manifested through selection of galleries and artists.
Design the floorplan together with the fair’s external production company, and curate the
layout of the fair to manifest each fair’s vision and message.
Partnerships
Identify and convert sponsors to enhance the fair experience and target new visitors.
Identify partner organizations to collaborate on inspiring programming around the fairs to
enhance the visitor experience and extend the fair’s network.
Leads any partnership activations onsite to be seen and reinforced as ambassador and face of fair.
Fair content and visitor experience
- Consistently seek to improve the experience for fair visitors with fresh and dynamic content and an excellent overall visitor experience.
- Create a buzz and ensure the fairs are talked about on and offline.
Marketing and PR
- Provide Marketing team with high quality content, activations, and ideas to aid them in delivering quality footfall, ticket revenue, PR potential and brand awareness.
- Review and approve the marketing, communications and PR strategy presented by the Marketing team.
Operational
- Exceptional management of planning and on-site operations for each fair.
- Negotiation and management of key external suppliers.
- Responsible for the review of all fair contracts, permits and licenses.
- Ensure all legislation adhered to and appropriate risk management followed on site.
- Maximize use of internal systems to improve productivity.
Strategy and Business Development
- Support the US Regional Managing Director in all expansion research and strategy to help lead production of art fairs in other US cities
Finance, Budgeting and Reporting
- Meet and manage annual fair budgets to ensure financial targets are delivered.
- Regular analysis and reporting to develop improvement plans and adjust annual plans to ensure financial expectation is met or diligently modified with your direct report.
Essential Skills and Experience
- Strong selling skills, with at least five years sales experience, ideally in the art market with
knowledge of contemporary art and art fairs.
• Developed leadership skills with excellent delegating, prioritizing and multitasking abilities.
• Strong project management skills with attention to detail and organizational skills to manage
and meet multiple deadlines and projects simultaneously.
• Ability to perform well under pressure.
• A strong communicator and confident negotiator.
• Well networked amongst galleries, institutions and collectors
• Proactive work ethic with dedication to improve all systems, operations, tactics that will
help to accelerate brand expansion.
• Works well within a small team setting
Start Date: ASAP
Location: Austin and work from home/hybrid schedule available with some travel required (approximately 10%)
Hours: Full time position of 40 hours per week. Participation in additionally scheduled special events on some weekends and evenings required, specifically during the fair weeks.
Salary: Commensurate with experience in the range of $60,000-$90,000 with full health
benefits, bonus opportunities and extensive vacation package