| Job Description: |
The University of Florida School of Theatre and Dance seeks a highly skilled and motivated Lighting and Digital Media Manager (UF official title: Fine Arts Production Specialist) to join our team. This position requires leadership with expertise in theatrical lighting, projections, rigging, and a passion for creative problem-solving. The ideal candidate will be instrumental in ensuring the efficient operation of the Electrics and Digital Media Area, overseeing the installation and maintenance of lighting and digital media equipment, managing budgets and schedules, and serving as a leader. This role centers around close collaboration with students, faculty, staff, and guest artists to support three to five productions per semester (fall and spring) and one to two summer productions. Electrics and digital media production activities take place in the school’s proscenium theatre, black box theatre, a versatile dance studio that doubles as a performance space, the electrics shop, and a dedicated lighting lab. This position reports to the Producing Director and supervises lighting graduate assistants and one part-time student assistant.
The School of Theatre and Dance intends to engage in people-centered production practices. We work collaboratively to encourage healthy work-life integration and believe in fostering a positive work atmosphere that recognizes and appreciates the contributions of all of our team members.
The University of Florida College of the Arts intends to be a transformative community, responding to and generating foundational shifts in the arts and beyond. As business and academic professionals, artists, scholars, advisors, and teachers, we, the staff of the College, embrace the complexity of our evolving human experience and seek to empower our colleagues, students, and faculty to respond to and shape that experience fearlessly through critical thinking, creativity, constructive questioning, and respectful dialogue. We seek a colleague who engages with openness and enthusiasm for the work and the mission of the college. We seek a colleague who identifies as a trusted steward of resources, balancing institutional requirements and the demand for innovative solutions.
The University of Florida is an equal opportunity institution.
Responsibilities:
Daily Operations and Equipment Management (approximately 30% of the job)
- Leads day-to-day operations of the Electrics and Digital Media Area, including maintenance, installation, organization, cleanliness, storage, and troubleshooting of lighting and digital media equipment.
- Coordinates Electrics and Digital Media area production schedules and communications.
- Oversees inventory, equipment purchases, rentals (including shipping), and invoice processing, creating and maintaining the related institutional documentation, as needed.
- Manages the annual shop budget and individual production budgets.
- Ensures equipment and materials are maintained for safe and efficient use.
Design Realization and Technical Supervision (approximately 30% of the job)
- Collaborates with student, faculty and guest lighting designers, digital media designers, and production teams to realize designs within budget, labor, and time constraints.
- Reviews, interprets, and provides feedback on lighting plots, system diagrams, and related paperwork.
- Responsible for completing the implementation of lighting and digital media designs for all school productions by supervising load-ins, hangs, focus calls, tech rehearsals, strikes, and production work calls.
- Oversees production work in various venues including the school’s proscenium theatre, black box theatre, a versatile dance studio that doubles as a performance space, and a dedicated lighting lab.
- Provides technical support including addressing unexpected equipment malfunctions and minor repairs during the production process.
- Attends and contributes to production meetings, occasional design meetings, and participates in production scope assessments with the Producing Director.
Student Supervision, Mentorship and Training (approximately 25% of the job)
- Supervises graduate assistant employees.
- Supervises and instructs undergraduate and graduate students with production assignments/lab work in the electrics and digital media shop.
- Hires, trains and supervises one part-time student employee.
- Fosters a positive and productive learning environment and models timeliness, helpfulness and efficiency in communication, creative problem-solving, and collaboration.
- Attends a crew watch/crew orientation for each production to train electrics and digital media student crew members.
Safety and Compliance – (approximately 15% of the job)
- Ensures compliance with electrical and rigging safety standards during all lighting and digital media activities.
- Collaborates with faculty and staff to document, communicate, and implement safety practices and protocols.
- Professional Development and additional duties, as needed. Professional development for this position could include attending UF specific and live entertainment industry safety courses, leadership courses, and workshops in emerging technologies.
Other Characteristics of the Position: This type of work includes working at heights and in hard-to-reach places (ladders, lifts, catwalks, scaffolding), with the physical ability to lift and carry up to 50 pounds, with assistance as needed, and perform various physical tasks such as climbing ladders, sitting, standing, kneeling, and pushing/pulling. A post-offer health assessment is required for this position.
Location and Schedule:
Normal working hours are Monday through Friday 8:30am-5:30pm. Please note that this position involves engaging in considerable after-hours and weekend activities. Adjustments to the normal working schedule can be made to accommodate these requirements.
This position is expected to perform their duties on the UF main campus in Gainesville, Florida.
SCHOOL OF THEATRE + DANCE: The light-filled Nadine McGuire Theatre and Dance Pavilion is home to the School of Theatre + Dance (SoTD). The School’s international full-time faculty of 35 recognized artists and researchers, complemented by adjunct and guest faculty and staff, including full- and part-time professionals. The School offers MFA curricula in acting and in design, which includes scene design, lighting design and costume design; BFA programs in acting, musical theatre, and theatrical production with concentrations in costume, digital media, lighting, scenic, and sound; and a BA with concentrations in general theatre, stage management, and theatre management. The School features two degree programs in dance designed to develop the individual voice of the dance artist, a BFA and a BA. Approximately 200 students major in the artistically diverse curricula of the School of Theatre + Dance. Through its production program, outreach and innovative programming, the School of Theatre + Dance provides multiple cultural opportunities annually to thousands of members of the University and the greater community. The University of Florida is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges and is an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Dance and the National Association of Schools of Theatre. For more information, visit www.arts.ufl.edu/theatreanddance.
THE COLLEGE OF THE ARTS: The mission of the College of the Arts is to be a transformative community, responding to and generating paradigmatic shifts in the arts and beyond. We achieve the university’s mission by training professionals and educating students as artists and scholars, while developing their capacities for critical study, creative practice, and provocation. The College offers baccalaureate, masters, and doctoral degrees. Approximately 1,700 students are pursuing majors in degrees offered by the College of the Arts under the direction of 135 faculty members in its three accredited schools— the School of Art + Art History, the School of Music, and the School of Theatre + Dance, and in the Center for Arts in Medicine, the Digital Worlds Institute, and the Center for Arts, Migration, and Entrepreneurship. In addition, the college comprises the University Galleries, and the University level of the New World School of the Arts in Miami.
The University of Florida: The University of Florida is a comprehensive learning institution built on a land grant foundation, ranked one of the top five best public universities in the nation in U.S. News & World Report. We are The Gator Nation, a diverse community dedicated to excellence in education and research and shaping a better future for Florida, the nation and the world. Our mission is to enable our students to lead and influence the next generation and beyond for economic, cultural and societal benefit. UF is a graduate research institution with more than 50,000 students and membership in the prestigious Association of American Universities. Gainesville, which is consistently ranked as one of the nation’s most livable cities, is located midway between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. Together, the University and the community comprise the educational, medical and cultural center of North Central Florida, with outstanding resources such as the University of Florida Performing Arts (Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, the Squitieri Studio Theatre, the Baughman Center, University Auditorium), the Harn Museum of Art, the Florida Museum of Natural History and in the community, the Hippodrome State Theatre and Dance Alive National Ballet.
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