Job Description

Who we are:

Assembly House 150 (AH150) is an innovative nonprofit art, design, and construction studio and incubator in Buffalo, NY. With artist and founder Dennis Maher, the organization is transforming a formerly abandoned 1860’s era church into a “living museum for the construction arts”. The vision for this site, re-named The Assembly House, is to create an architectural dreamworld where people can learn trades skills and be in touch with tools and materials. Teams of apprentices and students work with tradespeople, designers, architects, educators and others to build the church into a cultural destination and create uniquely designed environments for other sites. Projects are realized while providing educational opportunities in architecture, design, and construction.

Our Opportunity: Development and Engagement Manager

Assembly House 150 seeks a mission-driven individual for a newly created role as Development and Engagement Manager. This position will work directly for the Artist Director in making The Assembly House vision come to life, as well as helping facilitate long-term strategic goals. This includes playing an instrumental role in helping the organization maintain and sustain its endeavors in workforce development/skills training and the visionary transformation of the church, while increasing engagement and support networks as we pivot into future projected plans over the next 5 years.

This position will have a wide scope of responsibilities with key focus areas including: 

- Lead engagement with donors, including seeking and developing new opportunities to secure financial support from individuals and corporations.

- Be the primary advocate for AH150 construction arts learning opportunities in the community through engagement with educators, trades specialists, employers, and prospective and past program participants.

- Lead planning and execution for small group engagements at The Assembly House. Consult with the event planner for large engagements.

- Supervise the proper and effective use of the CRM system. Consult with the Director about ways in which it is working and ways to improve its effectiveness.

- Oversee the system of grant scheduling, requests, tracking, and the preparation of materials for grant reports. This work will be done in partnership with the Director, Grant Writer, Operations Manager, and CFO.

- Supervise the preparation and sending out of correspondence, e.g. event promotion, workshop activities, acknowledgement letters, etc.

- Lead tours at The Assembly House for donors, partners, and the public. 

Position Requirements:

o Minimum 3 years experience in a similar role, acting in a direct support role to Executive Leadership, and managing external relationships and initiatives, and previous fundraising experience.

o Previous experience in a highly visible external role requiring professional communication skills, both written and verbal. This position necessitates public speaking. The ideal candidate should be comfortable speaking in front of small and large groups.

o Previous project management experience.

o Demonstrated critical thinking skills to plan and problem solve within the established artistic vision and framework of the organization and in coordination with the director

o The position will require flexibility in the work schedule in order to accommodate duties/hours outside of a typical work day, including, for example, occasional weekend tour engagements and evening events.

Salary range is $70,000 - $80,000 annually, plus health benefits and 26 total PTO days in the first year of employment.

Interested candidates can apply by submitting resume and cover letter in one pdf with the subject “Development and Engagement Manager” to: info@assemblyhouse150.org.

APPLICATIONS WITHOUT A COVER LETTER WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED.

For more information on Assembly House 150, see

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