Technical Director​

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DEPARTMENT: Production

POSITION: Technical Director

REPORTS TO: Director of Production

JOB TYPE: Full Time, Exempt

START DATE: ASAP

SALARY RANGE: $66,000-75,000

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE AVAILABLE

BENEFITS:  

• Choice of two health insurance plans (see benefits guide below). CPH pays up to 83% of medical insurance premium. Ability to add spouse or children at own cost.

• Group disability insurance coverage providing a benefit, after ninety (90) days of disability, equal to sixty percent (60%) of employee’s salary.

• Life insurance matching employee salary up to $100,000

• Two (2) weeks of paid vacation

• In addition to paid vacation, 7 company holidays, 9 paid-time-off (PTO) days, 2 discretionary holidays

• Option of contributing to CPH’s 401(k) plan

• Comps to all CPH productions. Discounted tickets to Playhouse Square touring shows as available.​

• For complete health benefits package please see this guide

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Position Summary

The Technical Director leads the scene shop, carpenters and build process for a 8-9 play season. Responsibilities include analyzing scripts and designer drawings, estimating build costs, creating build and install schedules, make construction drawings, communicate with designers and director, and cultivate a collaborative, inclusive and anti-racist culture.

 

Essential Duties

• Leadership and Supervision:

  • ​Partner with the Associate Technical Director (ATD) to hire, train and supervise IATSE Scene Shop Head Carpenter, Deck Carpenter, four Scenic Carpenters, and occasional Overhire Carpenters; CPH is an IATSE apprentice house

  • Work closely with Paint Shop Charge Scenic Artist to plan shared work

  • Cultivate a collaborative, inclusive, and anti-racist culture in the scene shop by building culturally competent and generative relationships among staff, and immediately addressing instances of micro aggressive or harmful language or behavior

  • Support scene shop staff participation in CPH learning opportunities

  • Attend and run department meetings

  • Manage direct-report timesheets and personnel records

  • Maintain a safe and healthy work environment

• Designer Support and Collaboration:

  • Communicate with Designers to support and execute designs with a high artistic standard within resources of time, labor, materials, and budget

  • Ensure design changes are communicated to production team

  • Foster a design process that includes accessibility and cultural competency

  • Communicate with Stage Manager and Designer on rehearsal and tech notes

• Scenic Construction/Install/Tech Process:

  • Estimate materials and labor costs from Designer’s preliminary drawings; refine estimates with final drawings to ensure efficiency, cost-effectiveness and safety, while maintaining the design vision

  • Create Vectorworks and CAD construction drawings from Designer’s plates

  • Source and purchase materials in a timely, resource-efficient way, prioritizing local, diverse and socially responsible vendors

  • Work with all production departments to create build, load-in and strike schedules

  • Manage construction, load in, installation, tech rehearsal and strike of all scenery

  • Train Run Crew in moving scenery

• Shop Maintenance:

  • Maintain shop, tools, equipment, stage rigging, theatrical systems, and stock

  • Recycle and reuse material as is possible and cost effective

  • Manage Scenic capital improvements

• Administration:

  • Maintain updated and accurate theatre plans

  • Maintain timely and up to date scenic expense tracking

  • Collaborate in policy setting, season planning, script reading and budgeting

  • Uphold CPH policies and procedures

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Skills and Qualifications

• Ability to lead and manage a team

• Ability to draft with Vectorworks and CAD programs

• Ability to analyze scripts, designs, technical drawings and other information to summarize, organize and apply to planning and budgeting

• Ability to establish and maintain communication in person, via email, phone, Zoom and other means clearly, accurately and identify and share key information with those who need it

• Knowledge of scenic construction techniques and materials

• Knowledge of welding techniques

• Knowledge of pneumatics

• Knowledge of motion control construction and operation, use of automation controls; CPH uses Creative Connors

• Knowledge of stage rigging techniques

• Ability to estimate materials costs and develop and adhere to schedules

• Ability to become familiar with IATSE, USA, AEA and other union agreements

• Demonstrated leadership in accessibility, racial equity, and mentorship

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About Cleveland Play House

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Cleveland Play House, founded in 1915 and recipient of the 2015 Regional Theatre Tony Award, is America's first professional regional theatre. Throughout its rich history, CPH has remained dedicated to its mission to inspire, stimulate and entertain diverse audiences in Northeast Ohio by producing plays and theatre education programs of the highest professional standards. CPH has produced more than 100 world and/or American premieres, and over its long history more than 12 million people have attended over 1,600 productions. Today, Cleveland Play House celebrates the beginning of its second century of service while performing in three state-of-the art venues at Playhouse Square in downtown Cleveland.

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Mission

To inspire, stimulate and entertain diverse audiences across Northeast Ohio by producing plays and theatre education programs of the highest professional standards.

 

Vision

To be a premier American regional theatre that is welcoming, diverse, distinctive, bold, thrilling and essential to our community.

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Core Values

 

Artistry

As the flagship theatre of Northeast Ohio, our primary purpose is to create consistently high-quality, entertaining productions worthy of a premier American regional theatre. We are driven by excellence and lead the region with a diverse repertoire. Collaboration is our methodology, as we seize opportunities to work with top-flight artists and organizations, both nationally and within Northeast Ohio.

 

Community

CPH acts as an indispensable resource for our Northeast Ohio community. We believe that a non-profit theatre should seek to reflect and connect with the community that it serves, both through its programming and its people. We are outward-looking, continually seeking to create and deepen relationships with current and future audiences, collaborate with local organizations, and partner with educational institutions. Our institutional strength is rooted in embracing diversity in our programming, staffing, governance, and among those we serve. CPH is committed to an expansive definition of diversity that encompasses ability, race, gender, faith, age, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, and varying points of view. Our purpose is to produce plays and education programs that are meaningful in the context of our community, and to do so in a manner that is welcoming to all who choose to participate.

 

Lifelong Learning

We value theatre as essential throughout one's life for developing empathy, broadening understanding, and heightening awareness of the communal nature of our existence. Our educational programming is a critical component in creating meaningful artistic connections among children, youth, and adults. CPH recognizes that rich relationships among artists, staff members, board members, and the community are the very essence of a premier American regional theatre. As such, CPH strives to connect the community with its work, and its work with the community, through programs that foster civic dialogue, fuel intellectual curiosity, and welcome new audiences to the theatre.

 

 

 

Anti-Racism Statement and Action Steps

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CPH Statement April 2, 2021

For more than a century, Cleveland Play House (CPH) has proudly served our community and addressed important social issues through our artistic and educational programming. However, the events of the past year — most notably the social justice movement brought to the forefront by Black Lives Matter — have prompted our staff and board to take a closer look at our systems, policies, and procedures as they pertain to anti-racism and equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI). Upon deep self reflection, we see that there is more work to be done in order to fully bring our practices in line with our principles and become the anti-racist organization, in both word and action, we strive to be.

 

We are grateful to the We See You White American Theater collective for bringing public awareness to inequities and racism throughout the theatre industry. We are also particularly thankful to the Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) members of our CPH staff who have thoughtfully and personally detailed concerns about ways in which unconscious bias has prevented CPH from fully including all members of our community. Our BIPOC staff has suggested ways to combat systemic racism and more fully integrate EDI and anti-racism. With this new awareness, all of us at CPH know that changes must be made. We embrace this opportunity and are committed to taking immediate and ongoing action to improve.

 

We have made steady progress since issuing our Solidarity and Acknowledgement statements in May/June. Both staff and board have devoted countless hours to studying our internal practices and procedures, providing anti-racism training, and developing action plans to better reflect and serve our CPH family and the community. The results of this ongoing work will inform and guide all of our decisions moving forward.

 

While the following action items are not an exhaustive list of all the anti-racist practices and policies we are examining, we want to share current action steps. We know there is more work to be done.

 

Ongoing action items to be handled by board and/or staff, as appropriate, for the 2020/21 Season:

• Establish a joint board/staff task force to define and promote conditions that advance equity, justice, and belonging company-wide.

• Establish a human resources department.

• Create an organizational standard for grievance reporting.

• Commit to a workplace culture that both attracts and retains highly qualified BIPOC candidates at all levels.

• Hire BIPOC staff and artists with decision-making influence and include them in full season planning.

• Increase apprentice stipend to a living wage.

• Encourage our educational partners to understand and participate in our anti-racist core values and embrace our trauma-informed care and restorative-practices approach to the classroom.

• Provide anti-racist onboarding and ongoing training for all board members and staff.

• Commit to fully supporting CPH employee resource groups.

• Fairly compensate employees for English-to-Spanish translation.

• Include quality-of-life measures in all production schedules including rehearsals, tech rehearsals, and build schedules.

• Create a preferred vendor list of local, regional, and national vendors that support our values of equity, diversity, and inclusion.

• Dedicate a budget line item for equity, diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism education at the organizational level.

• Implement a standing EDI agenda item for board meetings.

• Develop and implement strategies to cultivate broad and diverse sources of funding.

 

Thank you for holding us accountable.

-Cleveland Play House

 

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Covid Safety Policy

 

We currently do not require proof of vaccination, masking or testing. CPH provides masks and tests for anyone who desires them, and urges testing whenever someone feels ill.