Production Manager

Artistic Operations Department

Production 

THE ORGANIZATION

The San Francisco Symphony is among the most adventurous and innovative arts institutions in the United States, celebrated for its artistic excellence, creative performance concepts, award-winning recordings, and standard-setting education and community engagement programs. Since it was established in 1911, the Symphony has grown in acclaim under a succession of distinguished music directors: Henry Hadley, Alfred Hertz, Basil Cameron, Issay Dobrowen, Pierre Monteux, Enrique Jordá, Josef Krips, Seiji Ozawa, Edo de Waart, Herbert Blomstedt, Michael Tilson Thomas, and Esa-Pekka Salonen.

The San Francisco Symphony presents more than 200 concerts and presentations annually for an audience of nearly 350,000 in its home of Davies Symphony Hall and around the Bay Area. A cornerstone of its mission, the San Francisco Symphony provides some of the most extensive education and community programs offered by any American orchestra. The Symphony’s free music education experiences engage students in grades 1–12 throughout the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD), serving more than 25,000 students annually.

In 2001, the SF Symphony became the first American orchestra to launch its own in-house record label SFS Media. Recorded live in concert and engineered at Davies Symphony Hall, SFS Media recordings showcase music by contemporary composers as well as core classical masterworks. San Francisco Symphony radio broadcasts, the first in the nation to feature symphonic music when they began in 1926, today carry the Orchestra’s concerts across the country. In 2004, the SF Symphony launched the groundbreaking multimedia Keeping Score series on PBS-TV and the web; the series was made available for unlimited free streaming on the Symphony’s YouTube channel in 2020. In 2014, the San Francisco Symphony inaugurated SoundBox, an experimental and eclectic live music series, which takes place in an alternative performance space located backstage at Davies Symphony Hall. In 2023, the San Francisco Symphony partnered with Apple for the launch of a new classical music streaming app, Apple Music Classical, and has since released 15 spatial audio recordings of live concert performances through the app. For its adventurous programming, the Symphony has been honored 19 times by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, and the Symphony’s recordings have garnered France’s Grand Prix du Disque and Britain’s Gramophone Award, as well as 17 Grammy® Awards.

JOB SUMMARY

The Production Manager manages the daily production needs of the San Francisco Symphony, including logistics for all concerts, recitals and special events.  Working closely with the production team and stage crew, this position primarily focuses on managing and implementing the production needs of the San Francisco Symphony in an efficient and timely manner.  The Production Manager has a key role in stagehand payroll, ensuring consistent and accurate payments and coding assisting with the creation and management of production budgets and projections, labor contracts, production logistics, and coordinating stagehand labor.  This position is responsible for managing production logistics and stage crew for special events.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS & RESPONSIBILITIES

Stage Crew Management

• Work with Associate Director, Production & Tours to ensure the smooth operation of production aspects of Symphony concerts and presentations, including instrument tuners and technicians, and activities of stage crew.  
• Manage activities of stage crew, daily schedules (dailies), production schedules, show flows and weekly stage crew schedules. 
• Working with Senior Manager, Media & Special Projects, coordinate and process stage crew payroll to ensure accuracy and compliance with union agreements; consistency with past practices and contract interpretation; accuracy with coding, reconciling and allocating funds; clarity, transparency with stagehands and the accounting payroll team; and accuracy with benefits payments. 
• Function as a resource for staff and extra stagehands regarding workplace flow such as scheduling, hiring logistics, payroll questions, direct deposit, 403b contributions, expense reimbursements, general questions/concerns and special projects. 
• Manage instrument and equipment maintenance and rentals as well as tuning and technicians.  Manage inventory of SFS owned equipment and instruments.
• Oversee teamster calls and warehouse inventory.  Manage inventory of SFS owned equipment and instruments.
• Manage stagehands as needed for a myriad of smaller events and meeting set-ups.
• Ensure compliance with Union labor collective bargaining agreements, including IATSE Stagehands, Wardrobe, Wigs/Makeup, and Teamsters. Knowledge of the CBA with Local 6 American Federation of Musicians and the effect of that agreement on all other agreements and technical aspects.
• Member of Concert Duty team.

Production Management

• Manage production for Opening Gala event: manage Opening Gala event logistics in multiple simultaneous locations to comply with Local 16 CBA, collaborates and serves as liaison with stagehand Technical Director and Special Events colleagues to manage all stagehand labor and logistics.
• Manage production for special events activities (Deck the Hall, Lunar New Year, Dia de los Muertos and others) as well as production-heavy smaller activities (Season Announcement, etc.): oversee stagehands requirements, coordinate with vendors and staff colleagues to ensure event activities are executed as needed and within budget.
• Working with Associate Director, Production & Tours, manage the production aspects of concerts and events as assigned, including covering responsibilities for Associate Director, Production & Tours during tour preparation, tours and time off.
• Manage production projects in lobbies and assists in departmental special projects.

Financial Management

• Pay and track production invoices related to concerts/events/projects.
• Contribute to creation of annual department budget, strawman budgets and projections.
• Analyze and monitor expense budgets for trends and alert Director of Production of negative trends.
• Work with Director of Production and Associate Director, Production & Tours and stagehands to create and implement new policies and procedures within the production department to improve efficiency for the ongoing operations and mission of the Symphony.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• 7-10 years’ experience working in a professional, fast-paced performing arts organization.
• Strong theatre production experience is required.
• Experience working with complex union labor agreements required. 
• Working knowledge of classical music, including terminology, instrumentation, and repertoire is highly desirable; ability to read music is a plus. 
• Experience in both office and artistic environments.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal. 
• Experience with budgeting, projections, and financial management. 
• Ability to professionally and diplomatically communicate and interact with a wide variety of internal and external stakeholders. 
• Strong organizational skills, with ability to work independently and manage highly detailed tasks. 
• Ability to handle multiple tasks and priorities, and meet deadlines in a high-volume, fast-paced environment. 
• Proficiency on PC using Microsoft 365 Suite, Adaptive and Adobe Acrobat. AutoCAD and/or Vectorworks is desirable.
• Strategic thinker and creative problem solver.
• Ability to build and sustain momentum and has an ability to keep an eye on the big picture while managing the details.
• Has a passion for the arts, education and the role the San Francisco Symphony plays in the community.
• Must be able to lift 50 pounds.

WORKING RELATIONSHIPS

The internal and external constituents with whom this position most frequently interacts include:

• Venue Operations team
• Stagehands
• Artistic Operations department (Production, Venue Operations, Orchestra Personnel, and Artistic Planning teams)
• Development/Events, Advocacy & Community Engagement, and Finance/Accounting departments
• Various administrative staff
• Vendors
• Serve as a knowledge resource for staff and stagehands and collaborate with colleagues in all departments