Description

Position Overview

The President & CEO is the chief executive of Independence Historical Trust, responsible for its leadership and management, implementing board- approved strategy, and ensuring effective coordination with the Park. Reporting to the Board of Directors, the President & CEO sets the direction and tone of the Trust, leads a small and capable staff and a large volunteer corps, and represents the organization to donors, partners, civic leaders, and the public.

The Trust is at an inflection point. Over the past decade, it has deepened its collaboration with the Park and taken on larger projects. Its ambitions for the decade ahead are still larger. The board is making a deliberate investment in leadership capacity to meet that opportunity. This work is a calling, and these places require and deserve a President & CEO to match the national moment and opportunity reflected in the recent 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and the forthcoming 250th anniversary of the Constitution.

The role is substantially external-facing. Working in close collaboration with the Park’s Superintendent and leadership team, the President & CEO aligns philanthropic investment, programmatic support, and community engagement with shared priorities for stewardship, visitor experience, education, and resource protection. The Trust and the Park are also exploring arrangements under which the Trust would provide operational support for sites and services within the Park, which would deepen the partnership and expand what the organization is asked to deliver.

Success in this role rests on relationships and judgment more than on positional authority. The next President & CEO will move comfortably among National Park Service leadership, public officials at every level, major donors and institutional funders, peer institutions, and the Trust’s own board, staff, and volunteers, and will protect the organization’s rigorously nonpartisan standing while advocating effectively for the Park.

Responsibilities

Leadership and Organizational Strategy

• Set organizational direction in partnership with the board, and translate the Trust’s forthcoming strategic plan into priorities, plans, and decisions a small team can execute.
• Lead, develop, and grow the Trust’s staff, fostering a culture of collaboration, accountability, and service.
• Refine the operating infrastructure, systems, and staffing model a growing organization requires, sequencing growth to what the revenue base can sustain.
• Assess where the organization most needs added capacity, and make the case to the board for the investment required to deliver on its plans.
• Partner with the board and its committees to set strategy, strengthen governance, and monitor organizational performance.
• Support the Governance Committee in board expansion, succession planning, and the recruitment of members who add civic standing and philanthropic capacity.
• Bring forward policies and recommendations for board consideration, keep the board informed of significant decisions and risks, and help translate the strategic plan into governance practice.

Philanthropy and Development

• Set strategy and annual goals for major gifts, campaigns, events, and institutional giving in partnership with the Director of Development and the board.
• Personally cultivate, solicit, and steward major donors as the Trust’s lead relationship manager with its most significant supporters.
• Lead the First Bank exhibit and stewardship campaign, and build the pipeline for what follows.
• Diversify revenue across individual, corporate, foundation, and public sources, and reduce reliance on any single gift or campaign.
• Mobilize an expanding board whose fundraising capacity is still being developed, and convert 250th anniversary visibility into sustained donor relationships.

Partnership with the National Park Service

• Maintain a strong and trusted working relationship with the Park Superintendent and staff, grounded in an understanding that the Trust’s core mission and purpose is to assist the Park.
• Identify and advance funding opportunities that support National Park Service priorities, including interpretation and education, visitor services, collections care, and preservation.
• Work fluently within the rules, regulations, and approval processes under which the Park operates, and translate them for donors and partners.
• Advance any expanded operational role the Trust takes on within the Park, and represent Park philanthropy among peer Friends organizations nationally.

External Relations, Advocacy, and Communications

• Serve as the Trust’s spokesperson and most visible ambassador with donors, partners, media, government, and the public.
• Build relationships with federal, Commonwealth, and City officials that promote understanding of and support for the Trust’s mission and role.
• In coordination with the Park, support opportunities to collaborate with cultural and educational institutions, community groups, visitor marketing organizations, and others to advance Park priorities and its commitment to a quality visitor experience.
• Set the tone, style, and strategy of the Trust’s communications and marketing, and guide its media response on key issues and opportunities, in close collaboration with the Park.

Financial Oversight and Operations

• Develop the annual budget for board review and approval, ensure strong internal controls and timely reporting, and deliver approved financial results.
• Build the financial infrastructure a growing organization needs as it takes on larger capital projects and a deeper role with the Park. 
• Ensure compliance with IRS regulations, accounting standards, grant requirements, and applicable law, including obligations tied to federal funding and agency agreements.
• Steward endowment and invested funds with the appropriate board committee and strengthen revenue-generating opportunities that support healthy cash flow.
• Oversee operations and administration with the Director of Operations and engage the volunteer corps that extends the Trust’s capacity.

Requirements

Desired Experience and Competencies

Independence Historical Trust seeks a seasoned executive who pairs fundraising results with political judgment and who is energized to lead an organization through a period of deliberate growth. The ideal candidate can close a major gift, brief a Superintendent, testify credibly before public officials, walk the Park with a volunteer, and be equally at home in each setting. They bring disciplined financial and operational judgment to a lean organization and the patience to build systems before scaling. They are politically astute without being political, and they are genuinely passionate about American history and public access to the places where it happened.

Baseline Qualifications

• Ten or more years of progressive leadership experience in the nonprofit, public, or philanthropic sector, including five or more years in senior leadership or executive roles.
• Demonstrated success securing major gifts and leading revenue growth across individual, corporate, foundation, and public funding.
• Experience reporting to and partnering with a Board of Directors on governance, strategic planning, and committee work, including supporting directors in fundraising.
• Strong financial and operational management experience, including budgeting, controls, audit oversight, and board- level financial reporting.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the presence and credibility to represent an organization publicly to donors, officials, press, and community audiences.
• Commitment to historic preservation, civic education, and public access. Familiarity with the National Park Service, particularly in an urban setting, is a plus, as is knowledge of the Philadelphia region.

Leadership and Growth

• Ability to set a clear direction and translate it into priorities, plans, and decisions a small staff can carry out.
• Experience leading an organization through a period of growth, scaling its staff, systems, and revenue alongside rising ambition.
• Entrepreneurial judgment to identify opportunities, sequence them realistically, and decline the ones that do not serve the mission.
• Comfort with both strategic leadership and hands-on execution, with sound instincts for risk, reputation, and the stewardship of long-held institutional trust.

Fundraising and Development

• Track record of personally cultivating, soliciting, and closing significant gifts, and of leading campaigns of meaningful scale.
• Ability to make a compelling case for philanthropic investment in public assets, and to leverage private dollars against major public commitments.
• Experience building development infrastructure, including pipeline, systems, and stewardship practice, alongside development staff.
• Experience mobilizing a board in fundraising, including boards whose giving culture is still being established, and converting moment-driven visibility into sustained support.

Partnership and Strategic Judgment

• Exceptional relationship builder able to cultivate durable partnerships with government agencies, elected officials, peer nonprofits, funders, and community leaders.
• Fluency in public–private partnership, including appropriations and public funding processes, grant compliance, and agency agreements.
• Political touch and the ability to advocate effectively while preserving nonpartisan standing and the confidence of partners across the spectrum.
• Track record as a convener who brings partners together around shared priorities and goals, with the discretion to handle sensitive relationships and information.

Organizational and Financial Management

• Experience managing complex projects, including budget, schedule, and multi-party coordination.
• Track record of building organizational capacity, systems, and infrastructure appropriate to a small staff and growing organization.
• Working knowledge of public–private partnerships, project delivery, and government contracting.
• Experience recruiting, developing, and retaining staff, and building a culture in which people grow and stay.