Current Openings

• Finance Assistant (full listing below)
• Festival Assistant (full listing below)
• Programming Manager (full listing below)

Finance Assistant

Job Type: Part-time regular

The National Council for the Traditional Arts is seeking qualified applicants for the position of Finance Assistant.

Qualifications: Associate’s degree in accounting or equivalent course work. Solid understanding of financial accounting methods and a relevant working knowledge of GAAP with 1-2 years nonprofit experience preferred. Experience with Excel, Word, and Quickbooks online in a MAC environment required. Federal grant reporting and Uniform Guidance experience a plus. Strong analytics and attention to details a must. Must be a team player with an upbeat collaborative attitude.

Duties to include:

• Process routine Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable.
• Reconcile all credit card accounts monthly.
• Review and track vendors.
• Review and document vendors using SAM.gov exclusions.
• Support General Ledger account reconciliation.
• Assist in preparing monthly financial statements on an accrual basis.
• Review budget versus actual monthly providing variance report to management and project managers.
• Maintain clean record keeping and e-filing.
• Assist Finance Manager and Executive Director with special projects as required.

The candidate shall have regular access to our Silver Spring, MD, office location and be available to be scheduled on-site during regular business hours. This role is a regular part-time (20 hours per week) non-exempt position, reporting to the NCTA Finance Manager with a starting hourly rate of $20 per hour.

Interested candidates should send a cover letter, resume, and references to: work@ncta-usa.org. Review of candidates will begin immediately. Position open until filled.

Festival Assistant

Job Type: Temporary Seasonal

The National Council for the Traditional Arts (NCTA), a leading, non-profit traditional arts organization and producer of major, music-oriented festivals, and other public programs, seeks a focused and energetic Festival Assistant to provide office and on-site support for two, large-scale festivals featuring multicultural music and dance performances on 5–7 stages, crafts demonstrations, family activities, and foodways, as well as several smaller events.

This is the perfect contract position for someone with an interest in arts, culture, and event logistics who enjoys operating in a fast-paced, collegial small-office environment. The position provides festival staff support. Responsibilities include: document creation, travel purchasing, data entry, logistics support, and customer service.

Qualified applicants will be detail-oriented, organized, and adaptable, with excellent people skills. Effective oral and written communication skills and computer literacy are essential. Prior experience with festival planning is preferred. Experience with database entry, MS Office, Google Suite, and Adobe Acrobat is required. Must possess a clean driving record, be able to lift 40 lbs., and have access to reliable transportation. Some evenings, weekends, and travel required. Contract runs: May 1 – December 15.

This is a seasonal temporary hourly position, starting at $18-$20 per hour based on experience.

The candidate shall have regular access to our Silver Spring, MD, office location and be able to travel on-site for events with some additional evenings and weekends based on events schedule. 

Interested candidates should send a cover letter, resume, and references to: work@ncta-usa.org. Review of candidates will begin by March 29, 2023.

Programming Manager

Job Type: Full-Time

The National Council for the Traditional Arts (NCTA) is a leading non-profit arts organization that produces major festivals featuring traditional music, dance, storytelling, crafts, and more. The NCTA seeks an experienced, highly motivated individual with a strong commitment to a broad spectrum of folk and traditional arts to develop and coordinate program content for major annual festivals, tours and other events. Responsibilities include the solicitation and evaluation of potential performers, extensive networking with the field and conducting original fieldwork to identify new artists, working with community programming committees, and negotiating contracts, as well as developing program schedules, written program notes and press materials. Other duties include assisting with related grant proposals, media projects, etc. Very strong organizational skills, the ability to communicate effectively and work as part of a team, and good computer skills (specify) are essential, as is familiarity with a wide range of traditional music, dance and other art forms. Successful candidates must demonstrate thorough attention to detail and willingness to take direction. A background in folklore, history, ethnomusicology, cultural anthropology or a related field is preferred.

Good benefits. Salary level mid-$50,000s, or commensurate with experience.  

The candidate shall have regular access to our Silver Spring, MD office location and be able to travel on-site for events with some additional evenings and weekends based on events schedule. 

Interested candidates should send a cover letter, resume, and references to work@ncta-usa.org, or send via mail to NCTA Search Committee, 8757 Georgia Avenue, Suite 450, Silver Spring, MD 20910.

Review of candidates will begin February 14, 2023.

Core Qualifications:

Experienced, highly motivated individual with a strong commitment to folk and traditional arts. Very strong writing and organizational skills, the ability to communicate effectively and work as part of a team, and computer literacy are essential, as is familiarity with a wide range of traditional music, dance and other art forms. Successful candidates must demonstrate thorough attention to detail and willingness to take direction. A background in folklore, history, ethnomusicology, cultural anthropology or a related field is preferred.  

Position responsibilities: 

• Research and evaluate the appropriateness of potential new artists for NCTA programs (festivals, tours, special projects, etc.) per the organization’s programmatic philosophy and mission. This includes the solicitation of performers; conducting fieldwork to identify new prospects and provide grassroots artists new opportunities to work with the NCTA; and sharing new ideas/materials and working collaboratively with other members of program staff to maintain the NCTA’s longstanding artistic mission. 
• In coordination with Festival partners and NCTA senior staff:
  • Manage and execute NCTA programmatic responsibilities at one or more festivals, including: preparing recommendations for artists to be included in festival programs, traveling to multiple out of town programming meetings, working with programming committees in the selection process, negotiation of contracts, developing program schedules and writing program notes and press materials. Researching and writing and editing narrative texts and sound samples for grant proposals, media projects, etc. Organize and update digital photographic files. Create and maintain research on festival artists and artist media materials. Participate in coordination of local partner marketing efforts.
• Supervise: research on festival artists, collection of promotional materials, management of artist merchandise sales, production of schedules and other tasks during festival season. Generate, disseminate and track festival artists contracts. Supervise the research, collection, assembling and distribution of photographic and print marketing and educational materials. Work with partnering organizations and institutions to facilitate and support effective marketing, promotion and outreach efforts. 
• Support senior staff with programmatic responsibilities related to other NCTA festivals and events.
• Support senior staff with responsibilities related to the NPS Cooperative Agreements and partner NPS sites.
• Support NCTA Director, program and production staff with NCTA responsibilities at the National Heritage Fellowships, touring programs, and other events and activities.
• Supervise, train, evaluate and recruit support staff based on current staffing levels.
• Participate in organization strategic planning and development activities in cooperation with the NCTA director. 
• Other duties as assigned.