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Director of Production

Chautauqua Institution
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The Director of Production will report to the Senior Vice President & Chief Program Officer to plan and facilitate year-round production in all rehearsal, performance, and program venues. The position includes critical cross-departmental collaboration while striving to centralize production needs, budgets, and schedules for all programs and presentations. A new position for the Institution, the Director of Production will lead an audit of current production processes, consideration of industry best practices, and make recommendations for cost savings measures, revenue generation, coordination of cross-departmental needs as well as improved processes for communication, scheduling, planning, and producing. This position serves as the supervisor for two year-round staff members plus numerous seasonal/part-time employees.
 
Duties and Responsibilities
Production
  • Serve as liaison between Institution departments, CHQ Assembly, and the Athenaeum Hotel in scheduling, planning for, and producing events year-round.
  • Collaborate with Senior Vice President & Chief Program Officer and related department directors to develop cultural residencies and venue rentals through the CHQ Presents, AIR, and CHQ Rents initiatives and provide needed production management.
  • Oversee production needs for events managed directly through the Program departments, and communicating with guest artist management and Institution staff as necessary.
  • Regularly assess Institution wide production crew structure to attain and maintain staffing efficiencies while managing equitable workloads, pay rates, and morale.
  • Communicate needs to appropriate venue crew supervisors (Amphitheater, Production Crews) and Buildings and Grounds staff during the summer season and manage venue needs during the winter season in support of Hotel and Institution events.
  • Develop and manage bid process for procuring Institution (Amp, CHQ Assembly, Opera, CTC, and other departments as they develop), seasonal production equipment (lighting, audio, backline) from slate of vendors including but not limited to Advanced Production Group, PRG, 4Wall, Vincent Lighting, Bauder Audio, Masque Audio, and other external sources as needed.
  • Oversee new use of venues such as Norton Hall, CVA Galleries, and Bratton Theater to plan for all needs in advance of first-time events (i.e. lectures in Norton, visiting artists in Bratton, special events in Galleries).
  • Manage and maintain year round production equipment inventories.
 
Facility Management
  • Oversight of equipment and facilities maintenance of all special events venues, year-round, either via direct oversight or via oversight of (and collaboration with) season-specific venue managers. Venues include Amphitheater, Lenna Hall, Hall of Philosophy, Hall of Christ, Fletcher, McKnight, Norton Hall, Bratton Theater, School of Music buildings and practice cabins.
  • Evaluate facilities for building repairs/improvements during the off-season, during the season, process concerns from production heads of various art companies.
  • Communicate urgent or emergency repair needs to Buildings and Grounds, serve as the facilitator for these requests from arts company/venue production crews.
  • Communicate long term repair/improvement needs for capital expense consideration.
  • Communicate safety concern issues to Buildings and Grounds, PAVA Office with regards to ADA Compliance, medical emergency equipment needs.
  • Coordinate with Director of Security and Safety to gain security and emergency support for large events in the Amphitheater, Hall of Philosophy and other venues as needed.
 
Human Resources
·      Partner with Human Resources and departments requiring production staff to direct the hiring process in UKG Recruitment/Onboarding Software, including the review of applications, conducting interviews and completing corresponding electronic onboarding processes (including verification procedures for Form I-9 using I-9 Advantage/E-Verify). Write and circulate contracts and manuals for crew positions.
  • Hire/support/train all heads of the production crew for each arts company and venue, facilitating production needs as expressed prior to and during the summer festival season.
  • Communicate crew expectations to heads of production crews for each arts company and venue, aligning with customer service excellence standards.
  • Serve as a ‘first point of contact’ for employee performance/concerns and problem resolution in accordance with established Coaching & Corrective Action Procedure at Chautauqua Institution and in partnership with Human Resources. 
  • Monitor and/or complete timely authorization of hours worked for payroll processing in UltiPro HRIS System. Audit areas of responsibility to guarantee compliance with Federal and New York State Labor Laws, Company Policies/Procedures, Standard Operating Procedures, and Guest Service Standards. 
  • Support procedures for Public Health/Safety, including but not limited to Occupational Health & Safety Act (OSHA) Regulations, Fire/Evacuation Procedures, Employee/Guest Injury Documentation, and Worker’s Compensation.
 
Scheduling
  • Coordinate scheduling of events on Arts Vision between all event venues and departments/organizations booking events, both internally and externally, year-round.
  • Coordinate efforts of multiple arts company/venue production crews when events warrant collaboration between crews.
  • Communicate production and related needs to appropriate crews to facilitate efficient crew scheduling.
  • Schedule use of the lift truck and other CI vehicles to ensure production needs are met efficiently.
  • Schedule use of AV equipment, chairs/other needs to ensure availability and set-up/tear-down time.
  • Coordinate weekly production meetings with appropriate staff.
  • Offer training in Arts Vision as needed for staff.
 
 
Financial Management
  • Coordinate expenses of venues within budgets provided for other program departments including Education, Religion, Marketing, Hotel, and Community Groups.
  • Manage production budgets for Performing and Visual Arts.
  • Collaborate with department heads to create appropriate budgets for each venue/crew.
  • Pro-actively seek out cost savings within various department production budgets, including potential collaborations between programs/staff and potential restructuring of budgets/applicable resources.
  • In collaboration with Campus Planning & Operations, track capital projects and budget items to ensure timely completion and accurate budgeting.
 
Facility Maximization and Revenue Stream Generation
  • Assess regional needs for facility usage in public and private sectors, as assigned.
  • Collaborate with the Athenaeum Hotel to create environments in which needs may be met.
  • Collaborate with Hotel and Marketing to devise plans to reach out to regional partners to maximize use and generate revenue from facilities including Norton Hall, School of Music venues, and the Amphitheater.
  • As assigned by the VP of PAVA to negotiate various union negotiations and contracts such as IATSE.
  • Manage production-related contracts, researching competitor products, services, and leases.
 
Education and Experience
·      5+ years in arts events production management, preferably within non-profit or arts organizations.
·      Experience managing ArtsVision or similar event/venue management software.
·      Experience in creating and managing production/operations budgets.
·      Successful history of union (IATSE) negotiations.
 
Skills and Abilities
·      Project management capabilities and initiative to navigate multiple projects, full cycle, simultaneously with experience planning, executing, controlling, closing, and assessing results.
·      Technical savvy to utilize software and mobilized technology solutions organization-wide.
·      Creative, innovative thinking and fluency of ideas to lead strategic initiatives and be a key collaborator in business requirements analysis and data analysis methodologies to support all business objectives.
·      Systems thinking to understand data relationships and reporting within complex software systems.
  • Logic and reasoning to understand data structures, theories, principles, and practices to extract relevant information and apply that information to strategies for successful operations.
·      Problem-solving capabilities to identify complex problems, use critical thinking, logic, reasoning, and relevant information to evaluate options, and develop appropriate, effective solutions.
·      Relationship-building expertise and leadership disposition to provide direction or support across interworking teams. Consultative and collaborative approach to problem-resolution in teams.
·      Self-starter who will be a dependable strategic partner focused on work that builds a foundation of process and procedure, accomplishes routine responsibilities, plans for the future, and meets shared goals. 
·      A life-long learner who is eager to maintain technical knowledge, establish professional networks, participating in industry-specific organizations, and attending conferences.
·      Personal integrity and ethics when dealing with confidential and sensitive information.
Schedule and Travel
·      The work schedule requires a full-time commitment of a minimum of 35-hours/week with flexibility to work evenings, weekends and holidays as required and a willingness to flex up in scheduled work hours (based on business need)–particularly during summer seasonal operations.
 
Supervision and Guidance
Internal
  • Senior Vice President & Chief Program Officer, Chautauqua Institution
  • Executive, Senior and Management Teams at Chautauqua Institution
·      Department Leadership, including Director of Religion and Manager of Community Education
·      Entire PAVA Office Team
·      Hotel General Manager, Lodging Manager, Director of Food & Beverage, Director of Specialist Events & Conferences, and Hotel Team
·      Arts Company Production and Venue Managers
  • Human Resources Director and Payroll Manager, Chautauqua Institution
 
External
  • Artistic Professionals (Visiting and ‘In Residence’)
  • Chautauqua Community Members
  • Guests and Visitors to Chautauqua Institution
·      Broader Chautauqua and Western New York Communities
Comprehensive Benefits
Chautauqua Institution’s competitive benefits suite includes health insurance, dental insurance, flexible spend (or health savings) account options, vision insurance, complimentary life insurance, access to various fitness and wellness programs, and employee-paid supplemental life insurance and long-term disability options. We help our employees plan for the future through a discretionary employer pension contribution, which has recently been (10%) of gross compensation following a designated service period. The Employee Assistance Program provides virtual access to a network of free services including counseling sessions, legal counsel, financial advisors, and childcare and eldercare referrals. 
 
Discovering Your Chautauqua Experience
There are countless ways that our talent will engage with our mission, vision, and diverse communities, and you are invited to immerse yourself in our programming as a gateway to this experience. 
Employees will receive the traditional Chautauqua gate pass, which provides access to all Amphitheater programs except popular entertainment (up to two nights a week) and lawn seating for all performing arts events at the Pratt Avenue performance pavilion, a new, temporary venue for 2021. Designated popular entertainment events in the Amphitheater will require a separate ticket purchase, if tickets are available.
In addition to a traditional gate pass, employees and their families will receive full access to our current and historical programs online at CHQ Assembly.