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An Invitation to Apply for the Position of Vice President and Chief
Digital Officer
American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York
THE SEARCH
The American Museum of Natural History ("AMNH" or the "Museum") seeks a
visionary, strategic-minded leader as Vice President and Chief Digital
Officer. This is a newly created leadership position at the Museum and
an outstanding opportunity to head digital strategy formulation and
implementation at one of the world?s preeminent scientific and cultural
institutions.
Since its founding in 1869, the American Museum of Natural History has
advanced its global mission to discover, interpret, and disseminate
information about human cultures, the natural world, and the universe
through a wide ranging program of scientific research, education, and
exhibitions. Today, it is one of the largest natural history museums in
the world, housing more than 40 exhibition halls, numerous laboratories
and teaching facilities, a major natural history library, and vast
storage areas for its extensive collections of specimens and cultural
artifacts. Long an innovator in science research and education, the
Museum recently established the Richard Gilder Graduate School, becoming
the first and only museum in the U.S. to offer a Ph.D. degree.
The Vice President and Chief Digital Officer (CDO) reports directly to
the President and will build and lead a new centralized Digital Group to
serve and support the Museum?s mission, operations, and programs. In
collaboration with other Museum leaders and constituencies, the CDO will
have responsibility for the development, promotion, and management of
all digital content and activities at the Museum. A highly visible
position on the AMNH senior leadership team, the CDO will have
tremendous potential for institution-wide impact.
The American Museum of Natural History has retained Isaacson, Miller, a
national executive search firm, to assist in the recruitment of the Vice
President and Chief Digital Officer. After extensive consultation with
representatives from the Museum?s leadership, the firm has prepared this
document, which will be shared with candidates and sources in the
search. More information about the Museum can be found at
http://www.amnh.org/.
BACKGROUND
History and Mission
The American Museum of Natural History is a nonprofit, educational
corporation, chartered in 1869 as a museum and library by a special act
of the Legislature of the State of New York. Established ?for the
purpose of . . . encouraging and developing the study of Natural
Science; of advancing the general knowledge of kindred subjects and to
that end of furnishing popular instruction,? the Museum counts among its
early supporters founder Albert S. Bickmore, as well as such prominent
New Yorkers as Theodore Roosevelt, Sr. and J.P. Morgan. The Museum is a
member of the University of the State of New York under the auspices of
the Regents of the State of New York and is accredited by the American
Association of Museums.
Since its founding, the American Museum of Natural History has been one
of the world?s preeminent institutions for scientific research and
education, with a commitment to exploring the broad range of natural
history ? including cultural history, systematics, and earth processes,
as well as the diversity and behavior of zoological life. The AMNH
mission, which reflects a close integration of science and education, is
"to discover, interpret, and disseminate through scientific research and
education knowledge about human cultures, the natural world, and the
universe."
Today, AMNH is a complex, multifaceted organization with broad
international scope and impact and one of the largest natural history
museums in the world. AMNH has earned recognition as a leader in
research in the natural sciences and anthropology, as well as in museum
education and exhibition. It is renowned worldwide for its extraordinary
collections of artifacts and specimens and for its exceptional program
of permanent and temporary exhibitions, which present a panorama of the
world?s cultures, serve as a field guide to the entire planet, and
examine the universe beyond Earth.
The AMNH campus sits in the middle of the approximately 18-acre
Theodore Roosevelt Park of the City of New York on Manhattan?s Upper
West Side and comprises a complex of 27 interconnected buildings housing
45 permanent exhibit halls, a planetarium, temporary exhibition halls,
research and collections facilities, and a natural sciences library,
with parking and food service amenities for the convenience of its
approximately four million annual visitors.
Throughout its history, the Museum has had a commitment to the
exploration and conservation of the natural world that has been rivaled
by few other institutions. Its scientific staff numbers over 200,
including more than 40 curators, and carries out research programs in
anthropology, astrophysics, biology, earth and planetary sciences,
molecular systematics, and paleontology. AMNH scientists steward
collections which currently number over 32 million specimens and
artifacts and which increase an average of 90,000 items a year. In
recent years, the Museum?s collections have moved into new areas such as
frozen collections of DNA and tissue samples and access to large
scientific digital databases of genomic and astrophysical data.
The Museum has long been at the forefront of efforts to discover the
myriad species that inhabit this planet and to understand the history of
life, an initiative of profound importance today in light of major
worldwide losses of plant and animal species. As part of this effort,
the Museum has launched an institute for non-human comparative genomics
research. With the opening of the widely heralded Rose Center for Earth
and Space and the reconstructed Hayden Planetarium, the Museum also
launched a department of astrophysics, which has grown to a staff of
some twenty researchers. Through their work, Museum scientists are
retracing the evolutionary tree, documenting changes in the environment,
exploring, mapping, and modeling stellar bodies in the universe, and
describing the achievements of human culture ? affecting common notions
of where we come from and where we may be headed.
Since 1887, the Museum has sponsored thousands of expeditions, sending
scientists and explorers to every continent. Among the most prominent of
these are the Central Asiatic Expeditions to Mongolia, led by Roy
Chapman Andrews, which from 1921 to 1930 uncovered the first dinosaur
eggs and an astonishing array of new dinosaurs and previously unknown
fossil mammals. The Jessup North Pacific Expedition of 1897 to 1903 was
led by Franz Boas, the anthropologist who originated the idea that all
cultures are intrinsically equal, and who was a mentor of another famous
Museum anthropologist, Margaret Mead. The Museum?s tradition of
exploration continues today with more than 100 field projects each year,
including ongoing research in such places as Mongolia, Madagascar,
China, Chile, and New Guinea.
The Museum?s research provides the foundation for its other core
mission: education. Seeking to increase scientific literacy among both
adults and children, to address issues that affect our daily lives and
the future of the planet and its inhabitants, and to provide a forum for
exploring the world?s cultural diversity, the Museum has an extensive
and diverse set of educational programs serving a range of audiences.
Advanced scientific training has long figured in the AMNH educational
offerings and in 2006, AMNH became the first American museum authorized
to grant its own Ph.D. degree with the establishment of the Richard
Gilder Graduate School. In fiscal 2007, AMNH received pledges totaling
$54 million designated for endowment to support the Graduate School,
which will matriculate its first class in the fall 2008 and offer a
doctoral program in comparative biology. The school will be housed on
Museum premises and will capitalize on its existing graduate training
programs run in conjunction with schools such as Columbia University,
CUNY, and New York University.
AMNH works closely with the formal K-12 education system to enrich
school programs, train science teachers, and foster science literacy in
New York City and across the country. More than 460,000 children visit
each year in organized school groups and many more participate in
programs that go beyond the Museums walls. A wide range of special
programs is offered for students from preschool through high school,
including classes taught by Museum scientists and instructors in
biology, earth sciences, astronomy, and anthropology and a range of
mentoring and internship programs. The Museum has an extensive program
of professional development for teachers and administrators, at all
levels of schooling and covering nearly all areas of the curriculum and
a diversity of teaching and learning strategies. An array of
educational programs for adults, including lectures, films, symposia,
conferences, and performances, is also offered. Additionally, the
Museum conducts extensive educational outreach into the New York
community, working in partnership with families, community-based
organizations, and schools. On the national level, the Museum?s National
Center for Science Literacy, Education, and Technology educates
teachers, children, and families through the development of materials
and products. In all of its work, the Museum makes a fundamental
commitment to reaching out to communities that traditionally have lacked
access to cultural and scientific resources.
The Museum is guided and supported by a distinguished Board of Trustees
and led by President Ellen V. Futter, the former President of Barnard
College. The Museum?s fiscal year 2007 operating revenues and support
totaled $154 million, derived from paid attendance, contributions and
grants, funds from the City of New York for operating and capital needs,
income from the endowment, auxiliary services, and membership.
Current Situation
Under the leadership of President Futter, the Museum has enjoyed a
period of revitalization and expansion over the last decade, moving
forward boldly to advance its mission of scientific research and
education. New research centers and programs, physical expansion and
refurbishment, and innovative educational activities have broadened the
scope and scale of the Museum. A global leader in scientific education
and research, the Museum is serving more people today than ever, as its
exhibitions and scientific and educational content are distributed
widely through a number of new channels.
Central to this expansion has been the innovative use of computer
technology. The Museum?s rich website is the digital portal to its many
products and programs serving science research and education. The
Digital Library Project (DLP) has enabled access to the Research
Library?s world renowned collections through digitization projects
that allow Web access to key portions, including its rich photo
archives. The Museum is now looking at ways to expand the DLP in order
to integrate and consolidate its various electronic resources and to
offer increased resources to the world?s scientific community. The AMNH
National Center for Science, Library, and Technology develops on-line
and off-line projects and products to support science education at home
and in schools. Forging key partnerships with schools, universities,
publishers, and community organizations, the National Center produces
high-quality, content-rich programs and materials using a range of
technologies, such as software, video, the Web, and print media.
Looking to the future, the Museum anticipates that technology in
general and digital technology in particular will play an increasingly
important role in the creation and delivery of its complex array of
offerings and activities. To this end, the Museum has worked with IBM
Global Business Services over the past several months to analyze its
current digital enterprise and to define an organizational strategy to
more effectively harness the power of digital technology. Informed by
this IBM study and committed to remaining at the vanguard of science
research and education, the Museum leadership has created the new
position of Vice President and Chief Digital officer.
THE ROLE
The Vice President and Chief Digital Officer reports to the President
and is a key strategic leadership role within the Museum. The CDO will
be advised by the Museum?s Digital Governance Committee, comprising
members of the Museum?s senior management team and other key staff.
The CDO is charged with developing and refining on an ongoing basis the
Museum?s digital strategic plan, in close collaboration with the
President, Digital Governance Committee, and senior leadership. The
central contact point for all digital activities, the CDO will have
broad institutional impact and will collaborate with and support all
areas of the Museum, including Science, Education and Exhibition
activities, as well as institution-wide administrative areas,
particularly Information Technology, Marketing, Development, Visitor
Services, and Business Development.
The CDO has responsibility for creating, developing, and leading a new,
centralized Digital Group within the Museum. S/He will oversee all
activities related to the Museum?s use of digital technology, including
website management, digital metrics and performance, channel and product
management, and distribution, partnerships, and development. The CDO
and his/her team will manage enterprise-wide digital tools and
technology in concert with the Information Technology function.
OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES
The Vice President and CDO?s overarching challenge will be to provide
strategic vision for the Museum?s varied digital activities and to
build, develop, and lead its newly created, centralized Digital Group.
The following, more specific opportunities and challenges suggest
initial areas of focus and accountability for the new CDO.
Craft the Museum?s digital strategy
A critical and primary task for the new CDO is to develop the Museum?s
overall digital strategy. The Museum seeks to migrate to a ?Web 2.0?
approach, with an emphasis on creativity, interactivity, information
sharing, and collaboration. As the Museum?s digital architect, the CDO
will determine how digital media can shape new audience experiences and
enhance existing ones, maximize its scientific and educational impact,
and promote greater visibility. This effort will require close
collaboration with a broad range of internal and external
constituencies. The Museum seeks a collaborative, innovative digital
strategist who can nurture relationships across all levels of the
institution, contribute critical counsel to the President and senior
leadership team, and advance the Museum?s mission.
Establish and provide leadership to the Digital Group
An integral step in implementing the Museum?s digital strategy is the
establishment and management of a newly created Digital Group. Digital
strategies and efforts are currently decentralized across the Museum and
building a new digital department requires reorganization of key staff
from various departments as well as hiring new personnel. The Digital
Group will have responsibility for website management; digital metrics
and performance; channel and product management; and distribution,
partnerships, and development. Groundwork is underway to build this
team, but an important task for the CDO will be to coalesce and develop
a brand new operation. The Museum needs an entrepreneurial builder and
organizational leader who can create and manage a high functioning and
highly collegial team that will deliver value and results to the
Museum?s many constituencies.
Improve the Museum?s web presence
As a preeminent scientific and cultural institution, the Museum has a
remarkable and wide-ranging audience that includes scientists,
educators, donors, and the general public. A major undertaking of the
CDO will be to implement a more effective, robust website that will
forge stronger relationships with this audience and promote the Museum?s
visibility and mission. To achieve this objective, the CDO must work
with a range of Museum constituencies and functional groups to meet
their respective needs. Implementing an enterprise-wide content
management system will figure prominently in this work. Other
priorities include assisting the scientists at the Museum build better
and faster websites for their research; creating a digital presence for
fund management and development; and enhancing two-way interactions with
key Museum stakeholders.
Develop new digital initiatives
While managing and enhancing the Museum?s current digital assets and
abilities, the CDO must also work to keep the Museum on the cutting edge
of digital communications and media. As the digital thought leader for
the Museum, the CDO must stay abreast of current and future technology
trends and innovations. The CDO must continue to build on current
innovations, while keeping an eye on the future and identifying and
pursuing the development of new ones. Maximizing the utilization of the
Museum?s digital assets, protecting them, and deploying them creatively
to enhance research. education, and the physical and virtual visitor
experiences, will all be critical tasks for the new CDO.
THE IDEAL CANDIDATE
We seek a visionary, strategic-minded, and collaborative leader who is
expert in digital strategy and technology, brings significant digital
experience in commercial, university, or research, environments, and
possesses the maturity and intelligence to operate in a demanding
intellectual environment. While no one candidate will possess all of
them, the successful candidate will bring many of the following
qualifications and attributes:
Professional Experience
? At least seven to ten years of experience and increasing
responsibility in a professional business or large scale non-profit
environment related to at least one of these areas:
multimedia/interactive design, digital media production, new media, web
design/development, or library sciences;
? Demonstrable knowledge of state-of-the-art digital technologies and
successful experience implementing major digital media initiatives; an
understanding of the full spectrum of digital activities;
? A builder; a seasoned and results-oriented leader who guides with an
entrepreneurial spirit to initiate and actualize new ventures;
? A track record of outstanding management; an experienced people,
project, and operational manager who is able to hire, develop, and
retain talented people to create a new division, to establish and uphold
high performance standards, and to delegate;
? Demonstrated ability to communicate clearly, both verbally and in
writing, in an informed and persuasive manner, to multiple
constituencies, including scientists, curators, administrators, staff,
and external parties;
? An undergraduate degree is required; an advanced degree in a relevant
field of technology, media or strategy, ideally the Ph.D., is strongly
preferred.
Skills and Personal Characteristics
? A creative and strategic thinker; capacity to inspire and to
contribute to creative thought;
? Forward-thinking; a passion for technology innovation and its
application to scientific research, education and exhibition;
? Exceptional interpersonal skills; a collaborator who is able to work
effectively with a wide variety of people at all levels, to inspire
trust, to organize people into effective teams, and to motivate them to
work hard and well together;
? Very organized tactical manager; capable of defining and implementing
effective management structures and systems;
? A strong customer service orientation; able to build and sustain a
culture defined by excellence and responsiveness;
? Confident and comfortable within both academic and business
environments; a strong appreciation for the academic culture and the
operational imperatives within an institution devoted to preservation
and innovation;
? Outstanding communicator; comfortable and effective in opening
channels of communication, listening to customers? needs, and
cultivating a healthy, productive, and ongoing dialogue;
? Strong leadership quality and public presence; able to represent AMNH
at most senior levels internally and externally;
? Negotiation skills; well-developed political skills; able to take
ownership as needed yet seek counsel as appropriate;
? Integrity, good humor, and a high level of energy.
TO APPLY
All inquiries, nominations/referrals, and resumes with cover letters,
should be sent electronically and in confidence to:
Vivian Brocard, Vice President
Katherine Ziemer, Associate
Isaacson, Miller
334 Boylston Street, Suite 500, Boston, MA 02116
E-mail: 3640 at imsearch.com
American Museum of Natural History is an Affirmative Action, Equal
Opportunity Employer and encourages applications from women and
minorities.
