We’re Hiring An Executive Director
The Port Townsend School of Woodworking seeks a visionary leader and experienced fundraiser for an Executive Director position. We are looking for a leader who is passionate about woodworking and has a proven track record of educational or nonprofit business management and development.
About Us
The Port Townsend School of Woodworking (PTSW) cultivates craft, creativity, and a passion for woodworking. PTSW is the premier woodworking school in the western United States with a mission to create a more diverse and inclusive woodworking community. We are located in the Victorian seaport town of Port Townsend, WA, on the Olympic Peninsula.
Port Townsend is a center of craftsmanship, with a well-established marine trades community and a world-class specialty lumberyard. The PTSW campus is located on the 434-acre historic Fort Worden State Park grounds. Founded in 2008, the Port Townsend School of Woodworking has grown to be the leading woodworking school in the Pacific Northwest.
PTSW offers an array of classes, including twelve-week intensives in hand and machine tool woodworking and furniture making, and two-day to two-week classes in hand tool woodworking, traditional furniture making, studio furniture, cabinet making, carving, Northwest Coast Arts, woodturning, green woodworking, and timber-framing. PTSW hosts more than 650 students every year from the Seattle area and beyond. We have been a 501(c)(3) non-profit since 2011 and are a certified Washington State vocational school with the ability to accept GI Bill funding for longer courses. In 2025, PTSW’s annual budget is approximately $800K and historically has grown an average of 10-15% per year. For a more complete financial picture of the school, you can look at our 990s from 2023 and 2022.
PTSW has a strong presence in traditional markets for woodworking education - retirees, veterans, professionals, young adults, and mid-life career changers - but we work hard to welcome everyone for a diverse student body that makes us a richer and stronger community. We are encouraged that a significant and growing number of women (15-20%) take classes at PTSW. As part of our mission, we successfully recruit many students from under-resourced groups in our broader community, enabling them to develop new skills and share in our passion for woodworking.
To achieve these goals, PTSW needs to build programs, provide scholarships, and offer housing assistance so that all students can join our courses. This work is ongoing. In 2017, PTSW completed a facility expansion that more than doubled usable teaching space by adding a second benchroom and an adjacent woodworking machine shop. This expansion allowed for more furniture-making courses and classes in timber framing. Future expansion plans include a 3rd shop and bench room, and administrative and meeting spaces, allowing us to also promote the artistic side of our craft, alongside other nationally recognized woodworking centers.
The Position
Summary
The School seeks a visionary and experienced nonprofit leader for the full-time position of Executive Director. The Executive Director reports to the Board of Directors.
Key Responsibilities
Financial Leadership: Guide the School to long-term financial sustainability. You will develop a strong, long-term revenue plan and craft the annual budget. You are skilled at fundraising and grant writing.
Educational Leadership: Support the School’s progressive educational practices. You will help instructors and staff strengthen our tradition of student-centered instruction in a safe learning environment.
Team Building: Attract, develop, and retain talented people from diverse backgrounds. You are skilled at recruiting, engaging, motivating, and empowering instructors, staff and students.
Community Building: Build and maintain strategic partnerships with alumni, the board, donors, related organizations, and the local and regional communities.
Innovation: Embrace innovative approaches to the School’s programming. You are responsive to new developments in organizing and funding craft education and to student suggestions.
Desired Qualifications
Experience in a dynamic leadership role, ideally in a non-profit, craft, or educational institution.
Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience in education, business administration, or nonprofit management.
Experience in non-profit finances and budgeting with a proven track record of fundraising, grant writing, and community engagement.
Deep commitment to equity and social justice work.
Passion for woodworking and the value of a craft education.
Core Competencies
Listening: As an active listener, you will be responsive to students, faculty, staff, community needs and trends in education.
Consensus building: Develop trust, commitment and alignment with a diversity of voices. Maintain and grow momentum in service of our mission. You will help us ensure that participants feel valued and heard.
Communicating: With excellent interpersonal and communication skills, you will help us deepen relationships with alumni, students, staff and instructors, and community partners.
Strengthening our workplace culture: Identify and help us avoid systemic inequities by promoting a workplace based on inclusive practices and empowering historically marginalized voices. You will be responsible for further developing a culture of professionalism, humility, transparency, and equity.
Compensation
Salary range: $80-92K per annum.
Benefits: 20 days paid vacation per year, sick pay, health, vision and dental insurance.
Start Date: September 2025
We expect that this salary will increase over time, commensurate with program growth, greater philanthropic support and the financial stability of the School.
How to Apply
Candidates of all backgrounds who think they can be successful in this role should consider applying, even if you don’t meet all the Desired Qualifications and Core competencies. We encourage members of communities that are traditionally underrepresented in the woodworking education field, such as women, 2SLGBTQ+ and people of color, to apply.
Please send a brief letter of interest and a resume to claudia@full-circlehr.com. Your letter should tell us about your background, experience, skills, and especially why you think your passion and expertise align with the School’s vision.
Questions about the position? Please email the Search Committee Chair, Tim Lawson (lawson.tim@gmail.com), to arrange a time and date for a call or a visit.
Find us online at www.ptwoodschool.org or on Instagram at @ptwoodschool.
The Port Townsend School of Woodworking is an equal opportunity employer.