Salary: $118,460.16 - $144,318.72 Annually
Location : San Jose
Job Type: Full-Time
Remote Employment: Flexible/Hybrid
Job Number:
DEPART: Economic Development
Opening Date: 08/03/2026
Closing Date: 8/17/2026 11:59 PM Pacific

About the Department
The City Manager's Office of Economic Development & Cultural Affairs (OEDCA) has three integrated divisions:

1. Cultural Affairs: Arts, Sports, and Entertainment - Fostering a vibrant, inclusive, and creative city by advancing cultural expression, supporting artists and arts organizations through grants and technical assistance, promoting access to sports and entertainment, commissioning and preserving public art, producing/coordinating outdoor special events and destination marketing, and stewarding City-owned convention and cultural facility assets and partnerships.
2. Economic Growth and Business Development - Accelerating San José's economic vitality by driving business retention, expansion, and attraction; supporting real estate and catalytic development; strengthening Downtown as a thriving urban center; and advancing commercial corridor revitalization and small business success across San José's diverse neighborhoods.
3. Workforce and Talent Development - Building a resilient and inclusive workforce by connecting job seekers to training, education, and career pathways; delivering supportive services that reduce barriers to employment; and partnering with employers to design hiring initiatives that align with regional industry needs and economic opportunity.

OEDCA's mission is to catalyze equitable job growth, investment, entrepreneurship, cultural vibrancy, and talent attraction and retention in San José while strengthening the City's fiscal health. In support of its mission, OEDCA focuses on five key areas:

1. Retain/ grow jobs and revenue and promote innovation from large and medium-sized businesses in key sectors such as manufacturing and artificial intelligence.
2. Foster small business resilience and create thriving business districts.
3. Accelerate a thriving Downtown.
4. Activate San José as the South Bay's hub for sports, arts, and entertainment.
5. Prepare residents to participate in the local economy through training, education, and career support.

Position Duties
This position is in the Public Art Program within the City of San José's Office of Cultural Affairs (OCA) and serves as a senior-level professional responsible for leading complex, multi-phase public art projects, contributing to the stewardship of the City's public art collection, and supporting major program elements. The position reports to the Public Art Program Director and works with significant independence in planning, developing, implementing, and evaluating public art projects and initiatives throughout the City.

The Senior Arts Programs Coordinator performs advanced professional work requiring independent judgment, strong project management skills, aesthetic literacy, and the ability to coordinate complex relationships with artists, fabricators, contractors, consultants, City departments, engineers, community stakeholders, advisory bodies, and partner agencies. The position manages assigned public art projects through all phases of development: concept, artist selection, design development, fabrication, installation, closeout, documentation, and long-term stewardship.
Distinguishing Characteristics
The Senior Arts Programs Coordinator is distinguished from the Arts Programs Coordinator by the complexity, scale, visibility, and independence of assigned projects; the scope of stakeholder coordination and project team management required; responsibility for preparing higher-level analyses and recommendations; and the expectation to exercise independent professional judgment across all phases of project delivery without close supervision. While an Arts Programs Coordinator may support or assist on public art projects, the Senior Arts Programs Coordinator is expected to independently lead assigned projects from initiation through completion, managing all associated contracting, budgeting, community engagement, and interagency coordination.

The Senior Arts Programs Coordinator is distinguished from the Public Art Program Director in that the Director retains responsibility for overall program strategy, policy direction, budget stewardship, formal staff supervision, and final program-level decision-making. The Senior Arts Programs Coordinator advises the Director on project and program matters but does not hold program-wide administrative or supervisory authority.
Typical Duties
Duties may include, but are not limited to, the following:
Project Planning and Initiation

• Leads assigned complex public art projects from initiation through completion, including temporary installations, capital improvement project integrations, collection-related projects, and other public art initiatives.
• Develops and manages detailed project work plans, schedules, scopes of work, budgets, deliverables, and timelines; monitors progress and recommends corrective action as needed.
• Identifies project stakeholders; coordinates early engagement with host City departments, architects, engineers, construction managers, and community partners to establish project parameters, location, and approach.
• Recommends project budgets and funding strategies; monitors expenditures, encumbrances, invoices, and contract balances; identifies budget issues and recommends corrective action.

Artist Selection

• Manages all aspects of artist selection processes, including developing qualifications criteria, writing and issuing Requests for Qualifications and Requests for Proposals, conducting artist outreach, recruiting qualified artists, coordinating selection panel logistics, preparing evaluation materials, facilitating interview processes, and preparing selection recommendations.
• Ensures artist selection processes comply with applicable City procurement requirements, Public Art Program policies, and Public Art Committee approval processes.

Contracting and Procurement

• Drafts, negotiates, reviews, and administers artist agreements, consultant agreements, purchase orders, and related project contracts; monitors deliverables, insurance requirements, invoices, and contract milestones; prepares amendments as needed.
• Coordinates with the City Attorney's Office, Purchasing, and other City departments to ensure compliance with applicable procurement requirements, contracting procedures, and project approval processes.

Design Development, Fabrication, and Installation

• Oversees and guides artist design development, ensuring the artist's approved design intent is carried through fabrication and installation; exercises aesthetic judgment as necessary.
• Reviews artist proposals, design documents, fabrication plans, installation plans, construction schedules, maintenance plans, and related technical materials for consistency with project goals, City requirements, and public art best practices.
• Coordinates the integration of artwork with construction documents, specifications, and capital project schedules; reviews bid documents to ensure correct and complete documentation of artwork scope; consults with engineers, conservators, and other technical specialists as needed to verify structural integrity, code compliance, ADA requirements, and long-term durability.
• Manages artists, fabricators, installers, and other contractors through the implementation of each project; conducts site visits to construction sites, fabrication shops, and artists' studios to monitor progress.
• Anticipates and resolves technical issues, stakeholder conflicts, and implementation challenges that arise in the course of project delivery.

Community Engagement and Public Information

• Develops and implements community engagement plans for assigned projects, including public meetings, stakeholder interviews, artist-community interactions, workshops, presentations, surveys, and outreach materials.
• Develops and distributes public information materials related to assigned public art projects, artist opportunities, and program initiatives.
• Represents the Public Art Program at project-related meetings, community events, workshops, and other assigned activities; presents information and responds to questions regarding assigned projects and program elements.

Advisory Body and Interagency Coordination

• Supports preparation of materials for the Public Art Committee, Arts Commission, selection panels, community meetings, and other advisory or review bodies; attends meetings as assigned and presents on assigned projects and program elements.
• Serves as a project-level liaison between the Public Art Program and City departments, artists, arts organizations, contractors, consultants, community groups, partner agencies, and members of the public.
• Coordinates assigned projects with interagency partners, including transportation agencies, utilities, and other public entities, to ensure alignment with capital project schedules and interagency obligations.

Collection Stewardship

• Coordinates the conservation, maintenance, repair, relocation, documentation, and long-term stewardship of assigned works within the City's public art collection; ensures long-term maintainability of new projects through careful review of fabrication materials and techniques.
• Maintains assigned project records, artist files, contract files, collection documentation, image archives, and inventory information.

Program Support and Administration

• Conducts research and prepares analyses, memoranda, staff reports, presentations, and recommendations for review by the Public Art Program Director.
• Develops and recommends procedures, templates, tracking tools, guidelines, and process improvements related to public art project delivery, artist selection, community engagement, documentation, and collection stewardship.
• Supports grant, fundraising, partnership, and interagency opportunities by gathering project information, preparing draft materials, tracking deliverables, and assisting with reporting requirements.
• May provide lead direction and technical guidance to lower-level staff, consultants, interns, temporary staff, and project teams on assigned projects.
• Attends or participates in evening and/or weekend meetings, programs, activities, and events as necessary to fulfill the requirements of the position.
• Performs other duties of a similar nature or level.

Minimum Qualifications
(These qualifications are typically required. An equivalent combination of education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities sufficient to satisfactorily perform the duties of the job may be substituted.)
Education and Experience:

Any combination of training and experience equivalent to a Bachelor's Degree from an accredited college or university, and four (4) years of responsible experience related to the applicable program.

Other Qualifications
Minimum Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (position requirements at entry and depending on area of assignment):

• Knowledge of principles and practices of non-profit arts management.
• Knowledge of principles and practices of grants administration.
• Knowledge of principles and practices of arts education delivery and management
• Knowledge of management techniques, contract negotiations and negotiations of other agreements.
• Knowledge of budgetary principles and practices.
• Ability to coordinate and manage multiple projects.
• Ability to supervise others effectively.
• Ability to communicate effectively both orally and in writing, with diverse groups of people.
• Knowledge of the field of public art or construction management, including artists working in the public realm and contemporary trends and practices in the field (if assigned to Art in Public Places).
• Knowledge of integration of the public art component into the underlying capital project (if assigned to Art in Public Places).

Desirable Qualifications (likely to contribute to more successful job performance; can often be learned on the job):

• Knowledge of the City's structure and procedures as they relate to the City's arts goals and policies.
  • Ability to develop a variety of resources through fundraising, grants, and various other activities in providing broad base program support.
  • Ability to establish City and community support for meeting the goals and objectives of an arts program.
  • Ability to prepare detailed reports and financial statements.
  • Ability to develop budgets.
  • Ability to work both independently and as part of a team, including team leadership skills.

Competencies:

The ideal candidate will possess the following competencies, as demonstrated in past and current employment history.

Job Expertise - Demonstrates knowledge of and experience with applicable professional/technical principles and pra