Job Description

About Our Job

With competitive pay, great benefits, and endless opportunities, working for the City and County of Denver means seeing yourself working with purpose — for you, and those who benefit from your passion, skills and expertise. Join our diverse, inclusive and talented workforce of more than 11,000 team members who are at the heart of what makes Denver, Denver.

What We Offer

The City and County of Denver offers a competitive salary commensurate with education and experience. New hires are typically brought into the organization between $109,134 - $150,000. We also offer generous benefits for full-time employees which include but are not limited to:

• A guaranteed life-long monthly pension, once vested after 5 years of service
• 457B Retirement Plan
• 140 hours of PTO earned within first year + 12 paid holidays, 1 personal holiday, 1 Wellness Day and 1 volunteer day per year
• Competitive medical, dental and vision plans effective within 1 month of start date

Location & Schedule

The City and County of Denver supports a hybrid workplace model. Employees work where needed, at a job site several days a week and off-site as needed. In this position you can expect to work on site at least three days per week. Office is located at 1245 Champa Street, Denver.

Who We Are & What You’ll Do

About Denver Arts & Venues

Denver Arts & Venues (DAV) is the City and County of Denver agency responsible for operating some of the region’s most renowned facilities, including Red Rocks Amphitheatre, the Denver Performing Arts Complex, Colorado Convention Center, Denver Coliseum, Loretto Heights, and McNichols Civic Center Building. DAV also oversees the Denver Public Art Program, administers cultural funding opportunities such as the DENVER CREATES Fund, Five Points Jazz Grant, and P.S. You Are Here, and leads implementation of DENVER CREATES: A Collective Commitment to the Arts, Denver’s cultural plan.

Revenue generated by the agency is reinvested into the community through grants for artists and arts organizations, free and low-cost cultural events, public art, venue operations and maintenance, and arts education programs.

Denver Arts & Venues is committed to advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) through practices that expand access to arts and culture, foster authentic community relationships, and create meaningful, lasting impact across Denver’s diverse communities.

About the Role

Denver Arts & Venues is seeking a Director of Cultural Affairs to lead the Cultural Affairs Division and advance the agency’s mission of supporting arts, culture, and community throughout Denver. Reporting to the Deputy Executive Director of Arts & Culture, this position provides strategic leadership for Denver’s cultural plan, grantmaking programs, cultural initiatives, and community-based events and activations.

The Director of Cultural Affairs serves as a key leader within the agency, responsible for developing long-term strategies, managing division operations, overseeing staff and resources, and building partnerships across the arts and cultural sector. This role also plays a critical part in advancing DAV’s equity, diversity, and inclusion goals and ensuring alignment with agency-wide priorities.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide leadership, supervision, coaching, and professional development for a team of five employees, including senior program managers and program managers.
• Establish strategic direction, priorities, and performance measures for the Cultural Affairs Division and support implementation of agency and divisional goals.
• Provide direction and oversight for the team to serve as stewards of DENVER CREATES: A Collective Commitment to the Arts, including guiding implementation efforts and helping shape future goals and priorities.
• Lead the planning, administration, evaluation, and continuous improvement of cultural programs, grant initiatives, and community activations.
• Oversee the equitable and effective administration of grant programs, including development of funding processes, timelines, guidelines, evaluation methods, and performance outcomes.
• Direct the planning and execution of cultural events and activations, ensuring strong community engagement, exceptional customer service, and responsible budget management.
• Manage divisional budgets and resources, ensuring expenditures and align with approved funding levels and organizational priorities.
• Track, analyze, and report program outcomes and key performance indicators to support informed decision-making and demonstrate impact.
• Collaborate with internal departments, city agencies, community organizations, artists, cultural institutions, philanthropic partners, and other stakeholders.
• Support implementation of DAV’s equity, diversity, and inclusion initiatives through participation in agency efforts, training, goal setting, and progress tracking.
• Partner with the Marketing and Communications team to promote cultural programs, events, sponsorship opportunities, and community engagement initiatives.
• Identify and cultivate opportunities for strategic partnerships, innovative programming, and community-centered cultural development.

What You'll Bring

We value diversity of ethnicity, race, socioeconomic status, sexual identity, gender, religion, language, ability, and experience and exemplify this through the makeup of our team at all levels. You'll be right at home here if you cultivate strong relationships and push yourself, your work, the people around you and Denver to the next level.

Our ideal candidate has some or all the following experience, skills, and characteristics:

• Ten (10) or more years of experience leading, managing, and developing high-performing teams.
• Experience designing, implementing, and evaluating grant programs, cultural initiatives, community engagement efforts, or related public-sector programs.
• Deep understanding of equity, diversity, and inclusion principles, particularly as they relate to community engagement, cultural programming, and grantmaking practices.
• Exceptional relationship-building and collaboration skills.
• Demonstrated ability to develop strategic plans and successfully translate vision into measurable outcomes.
• Strong project management and organizational skills.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to use data and performance metrics to inform decisions and communicate results.
• Experience navigating complex challenges and developing practical, innovative solutions.
• Knowledge of local, national, and emerging trends in arts, culture, creative industries, and community-centered cultural development.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work a flexible schedule, including occasional evenings and weekends.

Required Minimum Qualifications

Internal Candidates Only: Please note that probationary employees are not eligible to apply to open positions until they’ve successfully passed probation. Please only apply if you have already passed probation.

• Education requirement: Bachelor's Degree in a related field based on a specific position(s).
• Experience Requirement: Five (5) years of experience at the type and level of functional or operational management, which must have included management of subordinate supervisors
• Education/Experience Equivalency: Two (2) years of the appropriate type and level of experience may be substituted for each required year of post-high school education.
• Additional appropriate education may be substituted for the minimum experience requirements.
• License/Certifications: By position, requires a valid Driver's License at the time of application.
• Licenses and certifications must be kept current as a condition of employment.

Application Deadline

This position is expected to stay open until 10/12/2026. Please submit your application as soon as possible and no later than 10/11/2026 at 11:59 PM.

About Everything Else

Job Profile

CA2758 Director

To view the full job profile including position specifications, physical demands, and probationary period, click here.

Position Type

Unlimited

Position Salary Range

$109,134.00 - $180,071.00

Target Pay

$109,134 - $150,000/based on education and experience

Agency

Arts & Venues Denver

Redeployment during Citywide Emergencies

City and County of Denver employees may be re-deployed to work in other capacities in their own agencies or in other city agencies to support core functions of the city during a citywide emergency declared by the Mayor.

The City and County of Denver provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, genetic information, age, or any other status protected under federal, state, and/or local law.

It is your right to access oral or written language assistance, sign language interpretation, real-time captioning via CART, or disability-related accommodations. To request any of these services at no cost to you, please contact Jobs@Denvergov.org with three business days’ notice.

Applicants for employment with the City and County of Denver must have valid work authorization that does not require sponsorship of a visa for employment authorization in the U.S.

For information about right to work, click here for English or here for Spanish.