Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts

Director of Production

Employer Website: http://apply.interfolio.com/119791
The Director of Production is a member of the Fisher Center’s senior management team and leads the Center’s production staff and production operations. The Director of Production is responsible for the planning, fiscal management, staffing, and execution of the technical and stage operations for all productions, residencies, concerts, and special events (both on- and off-site) produced or presented by the Fisher Center and its programs, including Fisher Center LAB, Bard’s Theater & Performance and Dance Programs, Bard SummerScape/Bard Music Festival, The Orchestra Now, Bard College Conservatory of Music, and rental/partnership programs. The Director of Production directs the Center’s production facilities, personnel, and resources to deliver an excellent standard of support that furthers the mission of the Center and Bard College. The Director of Production will also be centrally involved in the planning, implementation, and operation of a new studio building for the Fisher Center, designed by world-renowned artist Maya Lin.

The Director of Production reports to the Chief Operating Officer and supervises the Fisher Center production team, including full-time, over-hire, seasonal, and student crew members.
This is a salaried, full-time position eligible for Bard College’s group benefits package, compensated at an annual salary range of $90,000– $95,000.

The salary will be set based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to departmental budgets, qualifications, experience, education, licenses, specialty, and training.

Essential Duties

Personnel Management

• Hire and supervise the technical staff including full-time, seasonal, and over-hire positions; maintain a culture of client and artist-centered services, flexibility, attention to detail, and fiscal responsibility; conduct annual personnel reviews for full-time production staff; develop and manage the building-wide production labor plan
• Participate in professional development activities and training as available; keep current in industry practices and production technology; determine and advance the professional development needs of Center production staff

Project Management

• Develop and manage general and project-specific production budgets in coordination with the Center’s Producing Office; prepare cost estimates for internal and external projects; negotiate project requirements to adhere to budget; develop and maintain vendor relationships; coordinate production purchasing, payables, and petty cash/cash advance needs with the Director of Finance and Administration; track and report production budget vs. actuals; prepare regular financial reports 
• Develop and manage general and project-specific production schedules in coordination with the Center’s Producing Office; negotiate scheduling requirements to adhere to house, union, and College work rules
• Serve as primary liaison to guest designers; communicate production parameters to guest companies, artists, and partners
• Determine, negotiate, and fulfill technical requirements and stage designs for all projects; negotiate requirements to adhere to budget and protect the Center’s facilities and equipment; provide design support when necessary; promote an aesthetic of high-quality production designs across programs
• Work closely with the leadership of the academic programs in Dance and Theater & Performance to develop and implement productions, workshops, dance concerts, and festivals that are central to the programs’ pedagogical missions
• Coordinate and fulfill the technical requirements of rental clients; conduct prospective client backstage tours and site visits
• Coordinate and advance technical requirements with external partners for Fisher Center productions on tour and productions that will transfer to other venues
• Develop and manage the building-wide space scheduling plan, in coordination with the Center’s Producing Office, in a manner that balances the needs of all programs and projects taking place in or produced by the Center
• Work closely with the Producing and Audience Services teams to create safe, comfortable, and convenient artist and audience experiences
• Serve as the production lead on all projects; attend work calls, load-ins, changeovers, load-outs, rehearsals, technical rehearsals, residencies, and performances as necessary to oversee and support production staff

Infrastructure Management

• Ensure a safe working environment and compliance with industry and legal standards for stage operations; develop and manage the safety and risk assessment plan; ensure that safety practices are adhered to for all production activities including NFPA 70E, NFPA 101, OSHA 29 CFR 1910 & 1926; coordinate safety and security issues with the Center’s Facilities Manager and Bard’s Director of Security
• Develop and manage the Center’s production infrastructure and equipment acquisition, maintenance, allocation, and replacement plans; coordinate infrastructure and equipment maintenance and storage with the Facilities Manager
• Maintain appropriate records, database, and filing system for all information related to production operations including personnel records, rental agreements, venue specifications, materials and equipment inventories, production note history, etc. 

General

• ​​​​​​​Participate in strategic planning and implementation on issues such as space use, storage, safety, budgeting, maintenance, capital projects, staff and student training, new technology, and programmatic initiatives 
• Develop and maintain strong relationships with Bard departments that support the Fisher Center’s work, such as Buildings & Grounds, Environmental Services, the Office of Special Events, and others
• Attend weekly production, senior staff, and general staff meetings
• Serve as a resource to the campus on theatrical production matters

Other duties as assigned

Company-Wide Responsibilities:
The Fisher Center is currently undergoing an organization-wide process of change toward becoming an anti-racist, multicultural institution. All on staff are expected to:

• Commit to anti-racism and inclusivity at the Fisher Center. This includes participating in any trainings when scheduled, supporting departmental, company-wide, and cross-departmental collaboration in issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and furthering your own independent journey with anti-racism
• Contribute in meaningful ways to the organizational culture

Required Qualifications

Experience

• Ideal candidates will have had 5-10 years of production experience at a senior level

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• The successful candidate will be a dedicated, enthusiastic individual who works well under pressure in a team-driven environment
• Exceptional organization and problem-solving skills are a must, along with a positive, collaborative approach to artistic creation
• Outstanding communication skills, superior attention to detail
• A valid driver's license 
• Must be able to work evenings and weekends as needed 
• Experience with the Google App Suite, AutoCAD, and Vectorworks is a must

​​​​​​​Working Conditions

• ​​​​​​​All Bard employees must be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 (including booster) unless qualifying for a religious or medical exemption
• The ability to lift up to 45 pounds is required​​​​​​​

Preferred Qualifications

• An appreciation and knowledge of the multi-disciplinary arts community domestically and abroad is a plus

To Apply

Please upload a cover letter, resume, and three professional contact references to Interfolio at: http://apply.interfolio.com/119791
Applications for this position will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled.
Please direct questions about the position to [email protected]

Location

Bard’s beautiful 1,000-acre campus is situated on the east bank of the Hudson River, in Annandale-on- Hudson, New York. Community life is defined by numerous cultural and recreational opportunities in the surrounding historic Hudson River Valley and by proximity to New York City. Nearby towns and villages include Rhinebeck, Tivoli, and Red Hook, New York.

About The Fisher Center

The Fisher Center at Bard develops, produces, and presents performing arts across disciplines through new productions and context-rich programs that challenge and inspire. At once a premier professional performing arts center and a hub for research and education, the Fisher Center supports artists, students, and audiences in the development and exploration of artistic ideas and perspectives from the past, present, and future.
 
Designed by architect Frank Gehry and opened in 2003, the Fisher Center is the most ambitious capital project in Bard’s history, and embodies the College’s commitment to the arts as a cultural and educational necessity. The Center presents more than 200 world-class events and welcomes 50,000 visitors each year. It supports artists at all stages of their careers and employs more than 300 professional artists annually.  
 
The Fisher Center is a powerful catalyst of art-making regionally, nationally, and worldwide, with a strong emphasis on development, research, innovation, and rediscovery. Every year, the Fisher Center produces eight to 10 major new works across disciplines, including opera, classical music, theater, dance, performance art, and cabaret. Over the past five years, its commissioned productions have been seen in more than 100 communities and at leading arts centers around the world. In 2019, the Fisher Center won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical for Daniel Fish’s production of Oklahoma! which began life in 2007 as an undergraduate production at Bard and was produced professionally in the Fisher Center’s SummerScape Festival in 2015 before transferring to New York City. 
 
The Fisher Center houses two theaters: Sosnoff Theater, which seats approximately 800 people and features a proscenium stage with a concert shell insert that accommodates opera, music, dance, and theater; and LUMA Theater, a fully flexible venue which seats up to 200 people. The Fisher Center also comprises rehearsal studios, production facilities, offices, and alternative performance spaces. In the summer, the Fisher Center operates the Spiegeltent, a freestanding cabaret venue which has delighted SummerScape audiences for more than a decade. In fall 2023, construction will begin on a new studio building, designed by Maya Lin, scheduled to be completed late in 2025. The studio building will provide much-needed additional rehearsal, development, and teaching spaces, as well as informal performance venues, for the Fisher Center’s academic and professional programs in theater and dance.
 
The Fisher Center offers outstanding programs to many communities, including the students and faculty of Bard, and audiences in the Hudson Valley, New York City, across the country, and around the world. The Center’s major professional programs are:
 
Bard SummerScape – One of the most ambitious and highly anticipated performing arts festivals in the country. In July and August, SummerScape comprises the annual Bard Music Festival (BMF), now in its 34th year, and seven weeks of opera, dance, music, theater, cabaret, and film related to the BMF’s theme, focusing on a different composer each year. SummerScape has been acclaimed by London’s Times Literary Supplement as “the most intellectually ambitious of America’s summer music festivals” and described by the International Herald Tribune as “seven weeks of cultural delight.”
 
Fisher Center LAB – The Fisher Center’s interdisciplinary residency and commissioning program, LAB provides long-term support for cutting-edge American artists and ensembles to develop new work. Many LAB performances premiere at the Center before going on tour. Current and recent LAB artists include Tania El Khoury, Beth Gill, Sarah Michelson, Claudia Rankine, Will Rawls, Emilio Rojas, and Pam Tanowitz (currently the Fisher Center’s Choreographer in Residence). LAB also produces a biennial festival, thematically programmed and interdisciplinary in nature, which creates broad engagement across the Bard campus and network and in local and national communities.  
 
The Fisher Center is also home to the Dance and Theater and Performance Programs in Bard’s undergraduate Division of the Arts, and works closely with the Conservatory of Music, The Orchestra Now, and the Vocal Arts Program, among other excellent and diverse arts programs at Bard.
 
About Bard College

Founded in 1860, Bard College is a four-year residential college of the liberal arts and sciences located 90 miles north of New York City.  With the addition of the Montgomery Place estate, Bard’s campus consists of nearly 1000 park-like acres in the Hudson River Valley. It offers bachelor of arts, bachelor of science, and bachelor of music degrees, with majors in nearly 40 academic programs; graduate degrees in 11 programs; nine early colleges; and numerous dual-degree programs nationally and internationally. Building on its 163-year history as a competitive and innovative undergraduate institution, Bard College has expanded its mission as a private institution acting in the public interest across the country and around the world to meet broader student needs and increase access to liberal education. The undergraduate program at our main campus in upstate New York has a reputation for scholarly excellence, a focus on the arts, and civic engagement. Bard is committed to enriching culture, public life, and democratic discourse by training tomorrow’s thought leaders. For more information about Bard College, visit https://bard.edu.

AA/EOE