Partnership & Program Manager

Spiral Q is a non-profit arts organization whose work is guided by our mission to build strong communities characterized by creativity, joy, can-do attitudes and the courage to act on their convictions. In pursuit of this mission, we use art to connect people, values, neighborhoods and movements to their collective creative force for change. Our vision is to cultivate a responsive and engaged society. We work with, and bring together, students, neighbors, cultural organizers as well as professional and non-professional artists to bring creativity and joy to the streets of our neighborhoods through parade and pageantry. 

Spiral Q is seeking a part-time or full-time Partnership & Program Manager to join our small staff team from February-July 31st 2026, with the hope of extending this position pending funding. The person in this role is energized by working in and building relationships with a variety of community spaces (such as public schools, community centers and libraries) and their extended networks such as principals, site coordinators, teachers, parents/guardians, and students. With an eye for detail, an understanding of program management, and a passion for working with youth, this person is comfortable moving between tasks and collaborating across different departments working iteratively and collaboratively. This role will largely consist of program administration for Spiral Q’s SparQ youth arts education program is supported by and reports to the Partnerships & Program Director. 

ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES 

Support SparQ Youth Arts Education Programming

• Assist with the development of education materials such as lesson plans and curriculums
• Create permission slips for culminating parades if necessary
• Co-plan and co-facilitate any training sessions needed 
• Schedule/facilitate introduction meetings between classroom teachers and teaching artists to assess and ensure needs are met
• Ensure teaching artists maintain their inventories with the Studio Manager 
• Complete School Partnership Agreements (and collect appropriate certificate of insurance)
• Make Spiral Q announcements in Class Dojo for SparQ programming 
• Review school-wide programming for relationship building and potential programming conflicts
• Build relationships with partners such as being a physical presence in school partner sites

Support external programming administration 

• Monitor and maintain the community email address and program requests to discuss at staff meetings
• Check voicemail 
• Serve as main contact between school partners and Spiral Q 
• Assist in administrative support such as permit applications and certificate of insurance

Manage and oversee teaching artists compliance 

• Review clearances needed from the School District of Philadelphia
• Review Teaching Artist clearances on file throughout the year 
• Track upcoming clearance expiration dates for teaching artists and staff
• File Teaching Artist clearances with the School District ahead of programming
• Manage and oversee Peoplehood Youth Residencies 
• Schedule residency dates with youth based partners 
• Staff teaching artists appropriately 
• Work with Studio Manager/Co-Executive Director to bring youth groups into Community Art Build Dates
• Serve as primary contact and support for youth groups on Peoplehood Day

Support special events and staff-wide projects

• Take on a role during Parade Days 
• Help set up and break down special events when possible 
• Help maintain clean offices whenever and wherever possible 
• Support program needs for special events when possible (ex: SparQ Parade, Peoplehood Parade)

SKILLS & EXPERIENCE Applicants need not have all of the below skills/experiences, but ideal candidates may have the following: 

• Bachelor’s Degree in a relevant field (or comparable and relevant experience: please explain in your cover letter)
• Familiarity with art-making programs and/or with public school programming
• Experience with printmaking, paper maché, painting, building, puppetry, theater, and/or fabrication
• Passion for community and/or communal art making 
• Experience with Spiral Q projects and programs - or equivalent experience
• Values aligned with Spiral Q’s mission and practices
• Stellar interpersonal skills and genuine approach to relationship building
• Comfortable leading/supervising young adults
• 3+ years experience in project/program management or a similar field 
• Strong organizational skills
• Has valid Driver’s License  
• Comfortable driving passenger vans (training available) 
• Ability to work independently as well as part of a team
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite, Google Suite, and/or Canva (training available)
• Comfortable working in non-AI administrative space 
• Our office is entirely Mac-based: experience with recent Apple OS

Location & Accessibility 

The Partnership & Program Manager is expected to be available during weekly office hours, Monday-Friday 10am-6pm, with availability on evenings and weekends for parades and special events such as our SparQ Parade in late Spring and Peoplehood Parade and Pageant in the Fall. Spiral Q works collaboratively in our shared office 4 days with 1 day of remote office work available. The Staff continues to wear face masks to help prevent the spread of Covid, and out of respect for working with at-risk communities. Spiral Q’s Studio is currently not wheelchair accessible, and has limited air conditioning and heating. Spiral Q’s office is located up one flight of stairs.

TIMELINE & COMPENSATION

Timeframe: February 2026-July 2026

Weekly Commitment: Full Time (40 hours/week) or Part Time (25-30 hours/week) pending interest and experience

Compensation: Based on a $50K full-time annual salary: a part-time employee (25-30 hrs/week) will earn $625-781/week, or a full-time salaried position (35-40 hrs/week) will earn $25,000 over this 6 month employment period pending February 1st start date.

Benefits: Spiral Q offers health benefit packages to Full-time staff 3 months after start date. Spiral Q believes that all staff deserve and need time to rest, recreate, recharge. All full-time employees are allotted up to 25 days (175 hours) of Paid Time Off in addition to Paid Holidays. Part-time employees are allotted time off at the same rate based on the percentage of time they work (ex. 0.5 FTE is allotted 87.5 hours PTO).

Invoicing & Payment Info: Full-time employees are responsible for tracking their hours and submitting monthly timesheets to help Staff record data regarding operations and program hours. Part-time employees are expected to track their hours and invoice monthly.

Additional Roles & Professional Development: This employee may be invited to participate in and support different roles as appropriate throughout the year depending on experience/excitement (such as teaching, facilitating community conversations) and will have access to professional development opportunities throughout the year.