Community Manager

Oct 2

Boston Public Art Triennial
Boston, MA

Anticipated Start Date: November 30, 2026

Description

The Community Manager plays a critical role in building and sustaining meaningful, long-term relationships between The Triennial and communities across Boston toward its vision of a vibrant, open, and equitable city. Serving as The Triennial’s primary relationship-builder in the neighborhoods where Triennial 2028 will take place, this position develops trusted, reciprocal relationships with community organizations, residents, local leaders, artists, and other neighborhood stakeholders.

Their work ensures that community knowledge and priorities inform The Triennial’s artworks, programs, and audience development. The Community Manager builds and sustains neighborhood relationships, leads community-centered audience development, and supports programs and events.

Based on feedback gathered in 2026 and 2027, the Community Manager plans and implements community experiences and reciprocal partnerships, co-leads an advisory group, and supports data collection in the lead-up to Triennial 2028. The Community Manager reports to the Director of Engagement and works alongside the Public Programs Manager, the Triennial 2028 Curatorial team, artists, and partners. This is a contract position with the potential for renewal.

The Triennial is committed to partnerships that deliver tangible value to the communities it works with, not just its own programming. This includes compensating community members and organizations for their time and expertise, resourcing partner organizations where possible, and shaping Triennial 2028 programming around neighborhood priorities rather than institutional ones. The Community Manager is both a steward of these commitments in day-to-day relationship-building and an internal advocate for them, ensuring the organization follows through on what it promises to the neighborhoods where it works.

Job Mission

Strengthen the Boston Public Art Triennial's presence within Boston's neighborhoods by cultivating authentic partnerships, organizing alongside community leaders, and creating pathways for Bostonians to meaningfully engage with contemporary public art.

Key Behaviors

The Community Manager is:

A trust builder who understands that relationships develop over years, not event cycles, and who keeps commitments to partners even when institutional timelines shift
A translator who moves fluently between community settings and institutional ones, and who advocates in both directions
Comfortable navigating conflict; approaches challenging conversations with openness, curiosity, and care.
Collaborative and relationship-oriented; enjoys working with others and building strong relationships across communities and teams.
Comfortable with ambiguity and change, able to structure their own week and adapt priorities without a fully defined path

Metrics

The Community Manager succeeds when:

A Community Organizing campaign is developed and implemented by January 2027
8–12 neighborhood partnerships are identified and established, 3–4 community partners are established within each Triennial location cluster
5—6 Community Advisors are selected
Community feedback is documented and incorporated into Triennial 2028 planning

Responsibilities

Build and sustain reciprocal neighborhood relationships

Build and maintain meaningful, year-round relationships with neighborhood associations, community-based organizations, mutual aid networks, local leaders, artists, schools, resident groups, and other trusted community stakeholders across Boston.
Attend neighborhood meetings, community events, and partner gatherings as a representative of The Triennial.
Move relationships beyond event-based transactions toward ongoing, mutually beneficial collaboration. Translate community insights into actionable recommendations for programming (community happenings), partnerships, communications, and organizational strategy.
Lead community-centered audience development
Develop grassroots and campaign-style outreach strategies that welcome audiences who may not traditionally engage with contemporary art or cultural institutions.
Partner with the Communications team to shape neighborhood-specific outreach that reflects local languages, communication channels, cultural contexts, and trusted messengers.
Support with the Director of Engagement on opportunities for collaboration throughout the year, including programming, outreach, artist engagement, and audience development.

Program and Events Support

Support Community Listening Sessions by applying community organizing best practices and ensuring participants feel welcome, heard, and meaningfully connected to the process.
Maintain an ongoing feedback loop with community partners, demonstrating how their input has informed Triennial decisions and work. Maintain relationships year-round, recognizing community engagement as an ongoing practice rather than project-based outreach.

Requirements

3+ years of experience in community organizing, community engagement, cultural organizing, grassroots advocacy, or neighborhood-based work
Demonstrated experience organizing or supporting successful community campaigns, initiatives, or coalition-building efforts
Existing relationships with community organizations, neighborhood leaders, mutual aid networks, or resident groups in Boston, particularly in Back Bay/South End, Roxbury, Mattapan, Jamaica Plain, and Forest Hills
Experience facilitating meetings, listening sessions, or public conversations with diverse stakeholders
Strong understanding of Boston's neighborhoods, histories, and community ecosystems; lived experience in the communities this role serves is highly valued
Curiosity about contemporary art and belief in its civic potential; deep art-world experience is not required
Multilingual candidates strongly encouraged; [Spanish, Haitian Creole, Cape Verdean Creole, and Cantonese]

Salary Range and Employee Benefits

$75,000 - $80,000 per year

How to Apply for this Job

Email resume and cover letter to jobs@thetriennial.org

About the Organization

WOC is not responsible for the content of job postings.