POSITION TITLE: Assistant Technical Director
REPORTS TO: Technical Director
WORK SCHEDULE: Full time, some evenings and weekends required
WORK LOCATION: Downtown Los Angeles, Culver City, Boyle Heights, and remotely
STATUS: Exempt
COMPENSATION: Salaried. Starts at $62,000 annually.
BENEFIT STATUS: Eligible
DEPARTMENT: Production
ABOUT THE COMPANY
At Center Theatre Group, we believe theatre creates an extraordinary connection between artists and audiences. As one of the nation’s most influential non-profit theatre companies, we provide the broadest range of theatrical entertainment in the country at the Ahmanson Theatre, the Mark Taper Forum, and the Kirk Douglas Theatre. Whether it’s producing new work through our robust artistic development programs or engaging people of all ages and backgrounds across Los Angeles through our community and education programs, we put theatre at the center of it all.
Center Theatre Group commits to creating a safe space where the values of diversity, equity, access, and inclusion are rooted in all levels and aspects of our work. We aim to attract, nurture, and retain staff in a supportive home where we can be our best selves. We celebrate our commonalities and embrace our differences in order to ensure that everyone has access to our work onstage, behind the scenes and in the community.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Assistant Technical Director (ATD), under the supervision of the Technical Director, is responsible for the preparation, organization, and safe execution of the scenery for Center Theatre Group’s three theaters – The Mark Taper Forum, Kirk Douglas Theatre, and The Ahmanson Theatre. The ATD works with union and non-union stagehands, the CTG Scene Shop and Production Department employees, commercial scene shops, and various vendors to ensure that all scenic elements are executed on time, on budget, and in alignment with and in service to CTG’s artistic mission.
PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES
• Work with the Technical Director in budgeting scenery on all assigned projects based on designer drawings, using creativity to present adjustments and options to designers and artistic staff to maximize resources while adhering to the allotted budget.
• Under the supervision of the Technical Director, bid shows to commercial scenery shops, supervise the technical design process, and provide quality control.
• Collaborate with the design team and other production departments to engineer and construct scenery.
• Maintain and promote a safe work environment by following and enforcing all safety regulations, providing safety equipment, training employees on safe practices, reporting incidents, managing record keeping, staying up to date on safety issues and advising on safety related policy and decisions.
• Draft construction and technical drawings for all assigned productions and provide quality control for drawings drafted by commercial shops.
• Purchase materials on behalf of the Technical Direction Department, establishing and maintaining good relationships with vendors. Will be entrusted with a company credit card and responsible for tracking and coding expenditures in a prompt fashion.
• Supervise the build of scenery at CTG’s offsite Warehouse located in Boyle Heights.
• Work with the Technical Director to prepare a build, load-in, and strike schedule for all assigned productions based on the availability of labor, space, and the calendar issued by the Production Manager.
• Estimate and track scenic labor and material costs for assigned productions.
• Advise Production Management of the potential consequences of any proposed design change to allow informed decisions to be made about possible added costs.
• Collaborate with Head Carpenters to execute the load-in and strike of productions at the Mark Taper Forum and Ahmanson Theatre in accordance with the applicable IATSE Local 33 contracts.
• Supervise non-union stagehands in load-in and strikes of Kirk Douglas Theatre productions and outside events.
• Attend production meetings, load-ins, technical rehearsals, and previews as needed. Keep the Technical Director informed of important developments.
• Collaborate with all staff in the furtherance of Center Theatre Group’s goal of being an anti- racist theatre working towards Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion for all. Encourage and empower everyone to speak out against racist workplace practices and policies. Participate in organization-wide anti-racism work and incorporate an anti-racist lens into daily practice.
• Support the Education and Community Partnerships, Institutional Advancement and Marketing departments in furthering their work. This could include teaching workshops, leading tours, discussing behind the scenes activities, or taking on interns or apprentices.
Center Theatre Group provides a dynamic working environment in which duties and responsibilities may change. Employees are expected to be flexible and responsive to changes in the scope of their duties.
QUALIFICATIONS
• Ability to communicate and collaborate with people that are mixed across lines of differences such as race, gender-identity, sexual orientation, religion, ability, age, class, and immigrant status.
• A broad skill base and knowledge in areas such as carpentry, welding, engineering, and automation.
• Familiarity with theatrical rigging practices, chain motors, counterweight systems, load tolerances, and rigging safety procedures.
• Knowledge of standard theatrical scenic construction methods to use in technical designs.
• Ability to quickly solve problems that may arise unexpectedly to get work done efficiently and safely.
• Skilled in preparing budgets and labor estimates that maintain a high standard of work in the allotted time frame and budgetary scope.
• Familiarity with Microsoft Office and CAD software, especially AutoCAD or Vectorworks, to create plans and drawings for scenic construction.
• Ability to remain centered and respectful during sensitive situations, guiding teams to consensus in a holistic manner.
• Demonstrable understanding of the production process from both a creative and technical viewpoint to negotiate a clear path to success for any given production.
• With advanced notice, ability to work a flexible schedule including morning, evening, and weekend hours.
COMPENSATION
CTG offers a comprehensive compensation and benefits package including retirement plan options, escalating paid vacation, sick, personal days and holidays and health benefits including medical, dental, vision, life and long-term disability insurance, flexible spending accounts and employee assistance program.
All employees are required to pass a background check.
It is CTG’s intention to have a workforce which is fully vaccinated against COVID-19. New employees will be required to provide proof of full vaccination prior to the first date of employment.
HOW TO APPLY
Tell us why you are the ideal person for this job.
Please send your resume and cover letter to csmith@ctgla.org. Please be sure to include the position title in the subject line of the email. Due to the heavy volume of resumes received, emails that do not include the job title in the subject line of the email may not be considered. In the cover letter, please indicate how you became aware of this position, e.g., name of website, current employee, other source.
No phone calls please. We will contact qualified individuals to set up interviews.
Center Theatre Group is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate against any applicant on the basis of race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, color, ancestry, disability, age, national origin, pregnancy, veteran/military status, genetic information or any other basis prohibited by law. CTG will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance. We support, promote and embrace a diverse workforce.
Type: Full-time.
To apply, please e-mail your resume to csmith@ctgla.org .