For Immediate Release
April 18, 2018
Contact: Steve Wilcox
602-771-6536
[email protected]
Arizona Commission on the Arts Announces Staff Departure, Opening for Digital Operations Manager
The Arizona Commission on the Arts announced today that Ben Watters will leave his position as the state agency’s Grants and Research Director on April 26, 2018, to take a new job with MST Solutions, a Chandler-based company specializing in cloud technology and marketing automation solutions.
Alongside the announcement of Watters’ departure, the Arts Commission released a call for a Digital Operations Manager.
Ben Watters
“Like so many individuals who have made vast contributions to the Arts Commission’s advancement, Ben Watters began his tenure as an agency intern, supporting the grants and operations team,” said Jaime Dempsey, Executive Director of the Arts Commission. “A sharp, incisive member of the team from the start, Ben has had a powerful impact on the agency’s operations and capacity to innovate and serve. We congratulate him as he takes this next step in his career.”
Watters was formally hired as Grants and Operations Coordinator in 2014. In this role he was instrumental in the maintenance of the Arts Commission’s information technology infrastructure, including its online grant application platform.
Driven by his interests in research and program evaluation, Watters additionally took a leading role in developing new data collection and analysis instruments that greatly enhanced the Arts Commission’s ability to serve Arizona’s artists and nonprofit arts sector. His analysis of data collected in partnership with DataArts helped the agency understand the position of Arizona’s nonprofit arts organizations coming out of the recession.
In 2016, following the retirement of Virginia Berryhill, Watters was promoted to the position of Grants and Research Director. During his tenure directing the technology side of the Arts Commission’s grantmaking activities, Watters oversaw the agency’s transition from the GO online grants application platform to Submittable. This spring, Watters completed the year-long integration of Salesforce, a sophisticated and comprehensive customer relationship management tool into various agency operations, including payment processing, procurement, and office administration, streamlining processes and eliminating duplicative efforts.
Call for Applicants
With Watters’ departure, the Arts Commission’s executive team has restructured staff duties and issued a call for applicants to a newly-created position:
Digital Operations Manager
This position oversees the Arts Commission’s information technology infrastructure, which supports statewide arts grantmaking, agency fiscal processes, and programmatic and operational efficacy. The Digital Operations Manager also oversees the development and maintenance of database systems, digital operating procedures, and the collaborative collection and reporting of data.
The ideal candidate demonstrates a strong interest in the agency’s mission and possesses superior information management skills and the ability to establish productive relationships with diverse stakeholders and partners.
Qualified individuals interested in applying for this position are advised to visit https://azarts.gov/opportunities/agency-opportunities/ to review a comprehensive job description, requirements, and application instructions. Applications will be accepted until position is filled. A first review of applications will take place May 3, 2018.
About the Arizona Commission on the Arts
One of 56 state and jurisdictional arts agencies across the United States, the Arizona Commission on the Arts is a 51-year-old agency of the State of Arizona and a leading force in the creative and professional development of Arizona’s arts sector. Through robust programs, research initiatives, and strategic grantmaking, the Arts Commission catalyzes arts-based partnerships that strengthen Arizona communities through the arts.
We imagine an Arizona where everyone can participate in and experience the arts.
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For more information on the Arizona Commission on the Arts, visit www.azarts.gov or contact Steve Wilcox, Communications Director, Arizona Commission on the Arts, at (602) 771-6536 or [email protected].
To request this or any other agency publication in an alternative format, contact the Arts Commission offices at (602) 771-6502.
Images available upon request.
