Summary
Description
Career Opportunity
The National Association for Music Education (NAfME) seeks an accomplished association executive and relationship-builder to serve as its next Executive Director. At a consequential moment for music education and for the association itself, the next leader will unite a complex national network around clear priorities, strengthen trust with state music education associations and members, and translate NAfME's mission into measurable value and sustainable impact.
This role calls for a leader who can zoom out to see the national landscape and zoom in to ensure disciplined execution. The successful candidate will bring sound nonprofit and association-management judgment, emotional intelligence, financial fluency, and an authentic understanding of the realities facing music educators. They will communicate with clarity, listen without defensiveness, make difficult decisions when needed, and create the conditions for staff, volunteer leaders, and affiliates to succeed together.
Mission: NAfME is a collaborative community that supports music educators and advocates for equitable access to music education.
Reporting Structure: The Executive Director is appointed by and accountable to NAfME's 23-member National Executive Board and serves as the association's chief staff executive. The role leads a 20-member national staff organized across finance and administration, governance, advocacy and public policy, professional development and publications, development, communications, membership, and programs for members and students.
Organization at a Glance: Founded in 1907, NAfME represents nearly 57,000 active, retired, and future music educators teaching millions of students. The association works through national, division, state, society, council, committee, and staff structures. NAfME operates with an annual budget of approximately $6.5 million, with membership dues currently accounting for 81% of operating revenue.
Salary Range: $240,000-$260,000
Working Environment/Location: This is a remote role requiring convenient access to a major airport. The Executive Director should anticipate strategic travel to state, division, national, partner, and advocacy gatherings. The Executive Director must be able to lead a distributed staff team across multiple time zones and cultivate a connected, accountable, and collegial culture without relying on a shared physical office.
First-Year Focus: Listen deeply; establish a shared agenda with the National Executive Board; strengthen affiliate relationships; deepen member value; align staff capacity with priorities; and produce a credible plan for membership, revenue diversification, and measurable impact.
The Leadership Moment
NAfME enters this transition with enduring strengths: a nationally recognized mission, deep advocacy expertise, respected publications and professional learning, a broad network of educators and volunteer leaders, dedicated staff, and a strong reserve position. Recent investments in the Advocacy Leadership Initiative, Hill Day, state toolkits, and coalition-building demonstrate the power of strong national infrastructure paired with effective state leadership.
The next Executive Director must combine mission-centered leadership with disciplined prioritization, a sustainable business model, and expanded non-dues revenue. This moment offers NAfME an opportunity to demonstrate the value of national membership, strengthen trust with state leaders and members, and define a mutually beneficial partnership between the national organization and its state affiliates.
The Executive Director must be skillful at balancing the perspectives of elected leaders while keeping NAfME firmly centered on its mission. Through meaningful dialogue and clear communication, the leader will connect strategic choices and programs to meaningful, measurable outcomes for the profession, educators, and students. They must also help music educators navigate the forces reshaping the field, including teacher shortages, school funding pressures, declining enrollment, and artificial intelligence, as well as the evolving ways people create, learn, teach, and engage with music.
Key Responsibilities of the Executive Director
Strategy, Governance, and Organizational Leadership
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Partner with the National Executive Board to translate mission and strategic direction into focused, measurable organizational goals. Provide timely, candid information to the Board and support sound decision-making across a large, geographically dispersed volunteer governance structure.
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Balance long-range vision with operating discipline; set priorities, define outcomes, establish accountability, and ensure that activity translates into impact.
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Lead organizational change with transparency, empathy, and appropriate urgency, including making difficult resource, program, or personnel decisions when necessary.
Member Value and State Association Relationships
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Enhance and sustain trusted, two-way relationships with state music education associations, division leaders, state executive directors, societies, councils, and members.
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Clarify and communicate a compelling value proposition that distinguishes NAfME's national role while honoring the essential work and autonomy of state affiliate associations.
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Listen and respond to feedback with openness and responsiveness to develop mutually beneficial approaches to affiliation, dues, services, and shared advocacy.
Advocacy, Visibility, and External Leadership
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Serve as a credible, visible national voice for music education and champion NAfME's relevance to educators, policymakers, school leaders, funders, corporate partners, and the public. Represent NAfME at state conferences, division meetings, national convenings, partner gatherings, and advocacy events, using stories and data to move relationships beyond the transactional.
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Strengthen federal, state, and local advocacy by connecting national expertise with practical tools, coalitions, and capacity-building for state and local leaders.
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Build relationships across diverse political, geographic, and cultural contexts while keeping the association centered on its mission and evidence-based policy priorities.
Financial Sustainability, Development, and Partnerships
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Provide responsible stewardship of NAfME's assets and reserves while strengthening budgeting, forecasting, financial transparency, and Board understanding of financial choices.
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Reduce dependence on membership dues by developing a practical, measurable strategy for philanthropy, grants, corporate partnerships, sponsorships, affinity opportunities, and other mission-aligned earned revenue.
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Integrate fundraising and partnership development into organizational strategy, impact measurement, and clear communications.
Staff Leadership, Culture, and Operations
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Lead and develop a distributed staff team by setting clear expectations, delegating appropriately, supporting cross-functional collaboration, and creating sustainable workloads.
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Protect the warmth and collegiality valued by NAfME staff while strengthening accountability, role clarity, decision-making, and follow-through.
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Assess whether organizational structure, systems, staffing, and technology are aligned with strategic priorities and make thoughtful changes as needed.
Programs, Professional Learning, Research, and Innovation
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Ensure that professional learning, publications, research, student programs, advocacy resources, and member services are relevant, accessible, well-coordinated, and evaluated for participation, outcomes, and impact.
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Preserve high-quality offerings while making purposeful decisions about which programs to strengthen, redesign, partner with, or discontinue based on mission, member need, financial sustainability, and staff capacity.
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Help NAfME anticipate and respond to advancements in music education, including artificial intelligence, emerging technologies, educator recruitment and retention, changing student interests, and evolving pathways for the learning and making of music.
The Ideal Candidate Profile
The strongest candidate will be a seasoned association or nonprofit executive who understands that this role is simultaneously relational, strategic, operational, and public-facing. They will be energized by a complex federated network and able to cultivate alignment among people with different perspectives, priorities, and approaches to the work. The candidate will bring confidence without ego, empathy without avoidance, and the skill to move from listening and vision to decisions and results.
Essential Capabilities and Experience
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Substantial leadership experience in a nonprofit membership association, professional society, education organization, or similarly complex mission-driven enterprise.
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Demonstrated success setting strategy and translating it into priorities, operating plans, measurable outcomes, and sustained execution.
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Experience partnering effectively with a volunteer governing board and navigating the appropriate roles of elected leaders and professional staff.
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Strong financial, business, legal, and administrative acumen, including budgeting, resource allocation, and development of diversified revenue.
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Evidence of building durable relationships across affiliates, members, partners, and funders, with broad interests and perspectives.
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Exceptional written, oral, and interpersonal communication; the ability to listen closely, tell compelling stories, explain difficult decisions, and represent the association publicly.
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Experience modernizing membership, project management, professional learning, communications, data, technology, or digital engagement strategies.
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Experience leading, developing, and holding accountable a geographically distributed workforce.
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Demonstrated judgment, integrity, emotional intelligence, courage, adaptability, and follow-through.
Preferred Background
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Direct experience in music or arts education (or a closely related field). A music education degree is not required.
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A deep, authentic understanding of the day-to-day realities of music educators and the capacity to earn credibility with practitioners across disciplines and career stages.
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Experience with public policy, government relations, coalition-building, nonprofit administration, fundraising, corporate partnerships, or national advocacy.
About the National Association for Music Education
For more than a century, NAfME has helped shape music education as a profession. Working with affiliated state music education associations, six geographic divisions, societies, councils, committees, and a national staff team, NAfME advances music education and promotes lifelong experiences in music.
Want to know more? Visit nafme.org
Benefits
NAfME offers eligible employees medical insurance, optional dental and vision coverage, employer-paid life and disability insurance, retirement benefits that include a 6.5% employer contribution, and paid annual and sick leave.
How to Apply
To apply, visit jobs.armstrongmcguire.com and select the National Association for Music Education Executive Director opportunity. Follow the instructions to upload a compelling cover letter, resume, and salary expectations. The cover letter should respond directly to NAfME's mission, the leadership moment, and the responsibilities and qualifications described in this profile.
Please provide all requested information to be considered. For technical assistance, contact talent@armstrongmcguire.com. No phone calls, please. Applications will not be accepted by email or directly from third-party posting sites.
Initial interviews are anticipated to be held in October with finalist conversations in November. The anticipated start is early 2027, depending on the selected candidate's availability.
Equal Opportunity
NAfME is committed to creating an inclusive workplace and providing equal employment opportunities. Qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or any other status protected by applicable law. Reasonable accommodations are available to applicants who need them during the hiring process.
About Armstrong McGuire
Armstrong McGuire is a national executive search, fundraising, and strategic advising firm that believes in unlocking the potential of nonprofit leaders and the communities they serve. Founded in 2004, our diverse team of advisors works with clients and leaders to align strategy, optimize operations, build capacity, and lead nationwide searches that bring talented individuals to high-impact organizations.
Learn more at armstrongmcguire.com
