Position Summary:

The Site Director for the Little Haiti Chapter is responsible for creating a healthy and vibrant ecosystem among the teaching artists, students, parents, site administration and the larger community. He/she will ensure the highest quality of leadership, community-specific cultural sensibilities, and management of students and staff. He/she will oversee and support students and teaching artists by responding to the needs of each constituent, in collaboration with the Director of Educational Programming and Director of Operations & Outreach. He/she will be an advocate of the Miami Music Project mission and El Sistema philosophy, while facilitating community and family inclusion. Numerous performances and events may take place during weekends and participation will be required.

Essential Functions:

• Provide Assistance to the Director of Educational Programming (DEP) to effectively oversee Miami Music Project teaching artists,
• Communicate regularly with parents, seeking their support and building relationships with the families of our program and the broader community through intentional parent/family-­focused meetings and events,
• Collaborate with DEP to meet with teaching artists at the chapter when needed to set common goals for the ensembles and discuss strategies for targeting the progress of each student,
• Oversee each student’s compliance with Miami Music Project discipline and attendance policies,
• Maintain effective and consistent communication with host school by updating administration with daily chapter-level activities, and monitoring each student’s in-school progress in relation to their musical progress in the program,
• Provide assistance to the DOO to ensure the dissemination of all information regarding daily operations, concerts, student progress, class schedules, etc.,
• Supervise the proper assignment and maintenance of the musical instruments to each child, along all policies and procedures related to loaning an instrument,
• Verify teaching artist, coordinator and security time sheets and manage substitutions according to Miami Music Project policies and procedures,
• Schedule and facilitate individual parent-student-teacher meetings when needed for excellent or poor behavior and/or academic progress,
• Participate in weekly staff and/or other meetings as needed,
• Represent Miami Music Project in community-based events, institutions, initiatives, etc (e.g. Little Haiti Arts Coalition) in collaboration with the Director of Operations & Outreach (DOO),
• Submit reports on a regular basis in reference to the chapter, including but not limited to student behavior/academic progress, instruments, teaching artists, community engagement, parent involvement, etc.

In addition to the above responsibilities, the Site Director will perform other similar and related duties, as directed by the DOO and/or the DEP, not requiring materially different qualifications from those described above.

Qualifications and desired skills include:

• Strong commitment to El Sistema philosophy and mission of the Miami Music Project,
• Bachelor's degree or higher, with experience working in the field of music and/or arts education,
• Strong interpersonal, written and communication skills, with demonstrable ability to effectively facilitate meetings, present publicly and provide professional and appropriate business level written information utilizing various media,
• The ability to work effectively with a wide range of constituencies in a diverse community and the willingness to collaborate with and learn from one’s colleagues,
• Strong computer, time management and organizational skills,
• Desire and ability to be a motivational mentor and role model for all program constituents,
• Bilingual in English and Spanish and/or Haitian-Creole a must.

To apply send your cover letter and resume to sarah@miamimusicproject.org. Use the words “Site Director, Little Haiti” in the subject line. Interviews begin July 6 and the start date is July 15.

Upon hiring, a Criminal Background check and Miami-Dade County Public Schools fingerprinting (level 2 screening) will be required of the candidate prior to working within public school grounds.

Miami Music Project uses music as a tool for social transformation, empowering children to acquire values and achieve their full potential, positively affecting society, through the study and practice of music. Miami Music Project is a Florida-based non-profit education and arts organization founded by world-renowned conductor James Judd in 2008. In 2010, Miami Music Project developed and implemented its core music education program modeled after the El Sistema philosophy to make classical music training available to all, especially those of low socio-economic status.

Designed as an intensive, tuition-free, after-school music program, Miami Music Project provides hundreds of children from at-risk demographics with a fully integrated music curriculum, excellent training from professional musicians and music educators, and opportunities for leadership and social development. The program builds the transferable practical skills needed to improve academic motivation, classroom success and social preparedness, and creates new avenues of cultural awareness in the city’s most vulnerable communities. Ultimately, by enriching the lives of individual children and creating a network of stand-alone orchestras in Greater Miami’s most underserved communities, the program seeks to create social change within the communities served.

Miami Music Project currently serves a total of 300 students participating across four community chapters located in under-served immigrant communities (Little Haiti, Doral, Liberty City, and Little Havana) with distinct populations - predominantly African American and Hispanic. Students train after-school with lessons taught by a team of professional musicians—Teaching Artists—following the El Sistema philosophy. Additionally, students participate in ensemble-based community performances throughout the school year. The chapters work in harmony to further a shared vision, goals, curriculum, repertoire and experiences.