Employment Opportunities

For Internship opportunities, see below our click here.

Director of Institutional Advancement

The Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyoming, (population 9,000, near Yellowstone National Park), seeks a Director of Institutional Advancement to lead current fundraising initiatives, including the annual fund, membership, grants, and planned giving as well as marketing and public relations. This individual will also provide overall leadership to a major capital and endowment campaign in the near future, and position the institution for success in this endeavor.

Founded in 1917,  the Buffalo Bill Historical Center is nationally and internationally recognized as the nation’s leading educational institution highlighting the American West. With over 100 employees and a budget of $9,000,000 annually, the Center includes the Buffalo Bill Museum, Whitney Gallery of Western Art, Plains Indian Museum, Cody Firearms Museum, Draper Museum of Natural History, McCracken Research Library, and other programmatic activities..

The ideal candidate is an energetic self-starter, is passionate about development, and enjoys mentoring staff, trustees, and volunteers. This individual will have managed marketing and public relations, with knowledge of brand management and new media. The successful candidate has 10 or more years of advancement experience, is collegial, results-oriented, a team player, at ease in corporate and cosmopolitan social settings, technically literate, and possesses a thorough knowledge of all aspects of advancement and philanthropy. Participation in professional and civic associations and organizations is a plus.

We offer an excellent salary and benefit package placing us in the top tier of organizations of our size. Area residents enjoy extensive recreational amenities, a rural lifestyle, daily Delta and United flights to and from Salt Lake City and Denver, no state income tax, and limited property and sales taxes. The Buffalo Bill Historical Center is an Equal Opportunity Employer. 

Send cover letter, resume, and salary history to: Institutional Advancement Director Search; Buffalo Bill Historical Center; 720 Sheridan Avenue; Cody, WY 82414, or e-mail to: chriss@bbhc.org.

The Position

Reporting to the Executive Director and CEO, the Director of Institutional Advancement is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Development Office and Marketing/Public Relations Department of the Center.  In that capacity the incumbent provides general direction to all staff in the division and provides tactical as well as strategic direction for the division. The Director of Institutional Advancement also carries a portfolio of 100 to 150 major donors and works to ensure that the major donor portfolios of Senior BBHC leadership and Curatorial staff are managed for the benefit of the institution. The Center is considering a major capital and endowment campaign in the next 5 – 7 years and the Director of Institutional Advancement will be a key player in the strategies and goal setting leading to a campaign and its implementation

The Institution

Since it was founded in 1917, the Buffalo Bill Historical Center has been committed to preserving and promoting the Spirit of the American West.  Here the many threads of the western experience—history and myth, art and American Indian culture, firearms technology and natural history—are woven together into the rich tapestry that is the American West. The Center is made up of five museums (Whitney Gallery of Western Art, Buffalo Bill Museum, Cody Firearms Museum, Plains Indian Museum and the Draper Museum of Natural History), the McCracken Research Library and other programmatic elements. The collections include over 70,000 objects and 500,000 historical photographs. The Center has a history of curating and traveling national and international exhibitions. The BBHC has a staff of over 100 employees, a Board of Trustees of 45 individuals and an additional 100 advisors serving on advisory boards. The board and advisory board members are leading citizens, many with national reputations for excellence in their respective fields and in philanthropy. The Center operates on a budget of $9 million annually and has an endowment of $40 million. Each year it serves more than 160,000 paid visitors. The facility encompasses over 310,000 square feet of space on forty acres of property. The BBHC is accredited by the American Association of Museums and a Smithsonian Affiliate. The Center is a private organization with 501c3 tax exempt status and is a registered Wyoming charity. The organization has a long history of fund raising on a national level with its Board of Trustees being especially generous over a long term. Currently, the expansion of the potential donor base, the establishment of an effective donor stewardship program, the hiring and establishment of remotely based major gift officers and the increasing of planned giving activities are major goals of the Center, in readiness for the capital and endowment campaign.

Our Donors

The Center has a donor base of over 10,000 individuals who have given the Center gifts in the past 5 years. Approximately 700 of those donors have given 1,000 or more annually.  Trustees, Advisors and others closely associated with the Center have given generously to support capital, endowment and special projects over the past five years. A membership base of 5,000 loyal supporters undergirds the entire program.

The Community

Cody, Wyoming, is a small town of 9,000 people located just 52 miles from the east entrance to Yellowstone National Park. Cody boasts extensive outdoor and indoor recreational amenities and has been recognized nationally for its quality of life. The Yellowstone Regional Airport connects Cody to all national and international destinations with direct flights to Salt Lake City and Denver. Outdoor recreational activities include fly fishing, white water rafting, skiing, snowboarding, horseback hunting, riding, camping, hiking, cycling and golf. Indoor activities at the new community Paul Stock Recreational and Aquatic Center include racquet ball, squash, lap swimming, basketball, jogging track, aerobics center, weight training and an Olympic size children’s pool. Cody offers extensive evening activities with restaurants, multi-plex movie theater, dramatic performances, and concerts.

Compensation

The Center has established a generous salary and benefit package for the position that places it at the top of institutions of similar size and budget.

Click here for the full job description.

---

BBHC Employment Application (PDF)

To apply send your resume and cover letter as e-mail attachments to Chris Searles.

The Buffalo Bill Historical Center is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

---

Internships Opportunities

The Buffalo Bill Historical Center has 9 paid and 12 volunteer internships available in a variety of disciplines and subject areas. These internships include: Accounting/Visitor Services, Archival Intern for Photographic Objects, Archival interns for special collections, William F. Cody and dime novels, Conservation interns (specialists and beginning), Education Intern, Video Intern, Registration Intern, Natural History—Eagle Research  Intern, Public Relations Intern, Western Art Intern, and others. The internship program offers students hands-on involvement with the museum profession in a manner that cannot be duplicated in the classroom or through textbooks. These experiences may result in graduate theses and dissertations, and assist students in defining their career goals. Interns become aware of the professional practices and ethics of a workplace environment. Qualified upper-level undergraduate students and graduate students are eligible to apply. To pursue applying, review the materials on our Internships page.

Share