Theatre Technical and Production Coordinator, Theatre Arts Program

Job Description Summary

The Theatre Technical and Production Coordinator will have primary responsibility for technical direction and production management of the Theatre Arts Program's season, including two mainstage productions, an annual performance festival and other productions in the Theatre Arts season (workshops, staged readings, etc.). The role includes supervising and mentoring undergraduate students, supporting the development of their technical theater and skills along with some basic theatre electrical skills, and ensuring the safe and skillful execution of designs. This position includes construction and fabrication of scenic elements; helping to schedule and help execute light hangs, purchasing and payments; routine maintenance of spaces including restoring theatres after use; and coordination with faculty, students, and Penn Live Arts staff.

This is a full-time position for 10 months per year (i.e., "limited service") to begin August, 2026.

Job Description

The University of Pennsylvania's Theatre Arts Program is a small theatre, dance and performance program within a large research institution. We offer a major and minor, and teach students from many disciplines, studying theatre, dance and performance as part of a liberal arts education. Our faculty and guest-directed productions are taught as courses for credit. Our performance festival is a collaboration across the campus - but is produced by Theatre Arts. Additional events and performances are often done in collaboration with other departments, programs, or centers with which we are affiliated across the university.

Penn's Theatre Arts Program is currently revamping our efforts to expand our curriculum and production schedule to include Dance and Performance. This is a small program with a focus on collaboration across arts on campus. We have few majors and minors, but focus on making Theatre, Dance and Performance a central part of the campus arts ecosystem. We work closely with our majors to help them grow in their interests and to expand their skills and curiosities. We are invested in meeting students where they are and helping them to grow their practices as makers.

Job Responsibilities

The Theatre Technical and Production Coordinator will have primary responsibility for technical direction and production management of the Theatre Arts Program's season, including two mainstage productions, an annual performance festival and other productions in the Theatre Arts season, such as workshops, staged readings, and ad hoc events.

The Technical and Production Coordinator should be capable of exercising ingenuity with limited resources, possess a willingness to take on multiple production tasks simultaneously, and an eagerness to collaborate and support colleagues and students alike. The ideal candidate will have a genuine desire to learn, grow, and work in new and possibly unconventional ways within theatre production. Duties will include the scheduling, supervision, and training of one or more work-study students and other student production crews; budgeting for and purchasing various production elements; maintenance of various types of theatrical equipment, inventories, as well as rehearsal and performance spaces; creation of technical drawings; hands-on construction; supervision of fabrication of all kinds, as well as load-in, tech rehearsals, and strike.

The Technical Coordinator will be expected to maintain a high level of support for the artistic production and academic goals of the program, including mentoring students, and providing an educationally sound, safe, and satisfying experience for all Theatre Arts participants.

The Technical and Production Coordinator is a full-time salaried position, with frequent required night and weekend work to support productions. Flexibility in schedule from week-to-week is essential, while maintaining a regular presence during business hours. The person hired is expected to be a regularly present member of the team. We seek not only an excellent collaborator and colleague, but also a self-starter who is willing and able to work independently (sometimes without assistance), possesses a strong work ethic, as well as an unfailing commitment to getting the job done.

Qualifications

Bachelor's degree and 3 to 5 years of professional experience, or an equivalent combination of education and experience, is required. Essential skills include: all aspects of technical direction, carpentry, stage electrics, and rigging, as well as the desire and ability to teach, supervise, and inspire students to learn all aspects of theatre craft. We expect candidates to have an up-to-date knowledge of theater technology and to maintain professional relationships in the city of Philadelphia and surrounding areas so you can both hire over-hire, help hire designers for projects, and help students build contacts in the field.

This position will also require skills associated with production management, including: working with budgets, co-facilitating production meetings, coordinating the work of designers, setting schedules, and creating deadlines for deliverables.

Preferred but not required: Master's degree; ME experience; professional design experience.

This is a full-time position for 10 months per year (i.e., "limited service") to begin August 1, 2026.

Job Location - City, State

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Department / School

School of Arts and Sciences

Pay Range

$64,500.00 - $66,000.00 Annual Rate