Vice President, Strategy and Operations - Special Collections (Storytelling)

How You’ll Contribute

The Storytelling team works to expand the organization’s impact through journalism, photography, film/video, web content, mapping, asset management, and data visualization. As one of the largest funders to individual storytellers in this work, it also identifies key grantmaking, and fellowship opportunities with creative talent. Much of the team's programmatic activity is focused on identifying and building capacity for the next generation of diverse storytellers.

The Vice President, Strategy and Operations - Special Collections ensures that the Society’s media and library assets can be leveraged to support storytelling, now and into the future. You will work across internal teams and external stakeholders to guide the digital asset lifecycle from creation to asset delivery, through archiving and preservation. You will secure and organize National Geographic Society’s media and library assets and ensure their availability, usability, and understandability to the organization and to key external stakeholders. This is a hands-on role responsible for strategic and operational work.

Your Impact

Responsibilities Include:

Strategic and Operational Leadership (50%)

- Serve as a key strategic partner, translating high-level vision into actionable divisional priorities and performance management frameworks.
- Provide strategic leadership and operational support, including projects such as the Center for Human Histories and Culture, Systems Unification, AWS integration, and others.
- Lead efforts to enhance divisional efficiencies and effectiveness, continuously assessing divisional structure, staffing, operational workflows, and resource allocation to ensure alignment with strategic objectives.
- Monitor and report on division performance, budgets, talent development and outcomes across the division - ensuring accountability and measurable progress.
- Lead and cultivate a high-performing and results driven team—built on a culture of trust and respect—to empower individuals and drive collective results.

Team Development and Leadership (25%)

- Build a strong team culture, focused on creativity, teamwork, innovation, and service of the overall National Geographic mission
- Ensure the department is integrated into the broader organizational goals, including collaboration with internal divisions including the Storytelling Division overall and campus & experiences, and external partners, particularly the Walt Disney Company .

Collections Expertise (15%)

- Lead the process of defining, implementing, and managing the full lifecycle for media assets from acquisition to archival storage. Oversee the development and implementation of creation, collection, storage, access, preservation, and other lifecycle management policies. Oversee and guide use of technologies to meet service objectives. Work with senior leadership across NGS to leverage the archive and library for mission-driven initiatives and potential fundraising opportunities.
- Partner with internal and external teams (Communications, Advancement, Programs, IT, etc.) to provide a self-service environment tuned to the needs of the organization and key external stakeholders. Support internal and external teams with critical and time-sensitive digital assets and research requests. Continually assess and improve media asset management and archival systems to ensure they provide value to users.
- Ensure rights management compliance through collaboration with Legal and Business Affairs.
- Stay up to date on the newest digital asset management and archival industry best practices.

Storytelling Leadership (10%)

- Serve as a key member of the Storytelling Leadership team.
- Advise and help the Chief Storytelling Officer with strategic and operational decision making.

What You’ll Bring

Educational Background

Bachelor’s degree required. Master’s degree preferred.

Minimum Years and Types of Experience

- 15+ years of experience with 7+ years leading an enterprise media/digital asset management program
- 7+ years of people management experience, including management of other people managers.
- Archival or library experience preferred
- Experience in designing and implementing a large-scale multi-year strategy and associated budget.

Necessary Knowledge and Skills

- Experience developing and leading a team, specifically through a season of change and growth
- Ability to exercise the highest degree of ethical standards, initiative, sound judgment, discretion, decision-making, and diplomacy in sensitive and high-stakes situations
- Demonstrated ability to establish strong partnership relationships, both internally and externally
- Demonstrated ability to interact effectively with senior business executives, talent, and other high-level internal and external partners
- Skilled at collaborating across multiple departments in a complex organization, managing conflict and change management
- Excellent attention to detail, organizational, problem-solving skills, and follow through as demonstrated through effective project management experience.
- Strong communication skills - both verbal and written.
- Presents a high degree of sophistication, self-confidence, and self-motivation - ability to keep calm under pressure.
- Comfort multi-tasking multiple deadlines and projects.
- Experience working with external and philanthropic funders.

Desired Qualifications

- Proven track record managing teams of people leaders, budgets, and cross-functional initiatives at a senior level.
- Experience working with executives and external partners.
- Strategic thinker with the ability to translate vision into action.
- Skilled collaborator and relationship-builder across diverse teams.
- Strong leadership presence with confidence representing senior leadership.
- Adaptable and resilient, with the ability to manage competing priorities in a fast-paced environment.
- Experience managing grants and translating a grant budget into operational model
- Demonstrated experience leading new process development and implementation with cross-functional partners
- Experience managing multiple collections sites and site teams

Supervision

3+ direct reports

Salary Information

The National Geographic Society offers a competitive and holistic total rewards package. Our compensation structure and transparent pay philosophy are based on industry-specific market data for similar-sized nonprofit organizations.

The salary range for this position accounts for a wide range of factors including but not limited to organizational need; specific skill sets; experience and training; certifications; and more. At the National Geographic Society, individuals are typically hired at or near the starting point of the salary range for their role, and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case.

The salary range for this position is $204,250.00 - $215,000.00.

In addition, the National Geographic Society offers a competitive and comprehensive benefits package that includes, but is not limited to, medical, dental, and vision insurance; engaging and comprehensive wellness program; 401(k) retirement savings plan with matching contributions after 6 months of employment; flexible paid time off benefits with up to 22 days of paid annual leave per calendar year (15 days for new hires in their first year, prorated based on the number of pay periods remaining in the year) and 10 days of sick leave; 12 paid holidays and a paid winter break between December 25 and 31 (May not apply to all roles that are required to work during high volume seasons or essential workers. Please check with the hiring manager for confirmation.); paid parental leave, adoption and surrogacy expense reimbursement, fertility benefits; learning and development opportunities; Lifestyle Spending Account; pet adoption assistance and insurance; pre-tax transportation benefits with a generous employer subsidy; employer-paid life insurance and disability benefit; and a variety of National Geographic discounts and perks.

Job Designation

Resident - Our Resident category recognizes that certain staff need to be physically present at Base Camp to do their work. Some Resident staff must be at Base Camp every day to do their jobs, while others may only need to be physically present onsite some of the time to meet looming deadlines or to get work done and may require a unique schedule. As such, this category has been revised to provide maximum flexibility depending on what’s required for each individual role. The days Resident staff come into the office will be determined by their teams and workflow, and they should work with their supervisors to determine their specific schedule. And throughout the year, their schedule may be adjusted based on cyclical work cycles, deadlines, and/or ebbs and flows of work.

Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States. This position is not eligible for visa sponsorship.

W e encourage you to apply even if your experience is not a 100% match with the position. We are looking for someone with relevant skills and experience, not a checklist that exactly matches the job description. We want to help you grow and in return, you help us grow into a stronger, more inclusive organization.