Program Manager, Pops & Presentations

Program Manager, Pops and Presentations
Artistic Planning Department

ORGANIZATIONAL PROFILE

The San Francisco Symphony is widely considered to be among the most artistically adventurous and innovative arts institutions in the United States, celebrated for its artistic excellence, creative performance concepts, active touring, award-winning recordings, and standard-setting education programs. In the 2020–21 season, the San Francisco Symphony welcomed conductor and composer Esa-Pekka Salonen as its twelfth Music Director and embarked on a new vision for the present and future of the orchestral landscape. This exciting artistic future builds on the remarkable 25-year tenure of Michael Tilson Thomas as the San Francisco Symphony’s Music Director. Tilson Thomas continues his rich relationship with the Symphony as its first Music Director Laureate. In their inaugural season together, Esa-Pekka Salonen and the San Francisco Symphony have introduced a groundbreaking artistic leadership model anchored by eight Collaborative Partners from a variety of cultural disciplines: Nicholas Britell, Julia Bullock, Claire Chase, Bryce Dessner, Pekka Kuusisto, Nico Muhly, Carol Reiley, and Esperanza Spalding. This group of visionary artists, thinkers, and doers joins with Salonen and the San Francisco Symphony to chart a new course of experimentation by collaborating on new ideas, breaking conventional rules, and creating unique and powerful experiences. The San Francisco Symphony presents more than 220 concerts and presentations annually for an audience of nearly 450,000 in its home of Davies Symphony Hall and through its national and international touring. A cornerstone of the organization's mission, the San Francisco Symphony's education programs are the most extensive offered by any American orchestra today, providing free comprehensive music education to every first- through fifth- grade student in the San Francisco public schools, and serving more than 75,000 children, students, educators, and families annually.

The San Francisco Symphony’s recordings have won such awards as France's Grand Prix du Disque and Britain's Gramophone Award, as well as 16 Grammy Awards. 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 SFS launched the multimedia Keeping Score on PBS-TV and online and in 2014, the San Francisco Symphony inaugurated SoundBox, an experimental performance venue and music series located backstage at Davies Symphony Hall. February 2021 saw the launch of SFSymphony+, the San Francisco Symphony’s on-demand video streaming service. For more information, visit sfsymphony.org.

JOB SUMMARY

The Program Manager, Pops and Presentations is an integral part of the artistic department and is responsible for developing the programming and the execution of non-classical programming including Holiday, Summer, Film, Special Events and Presentations.   The Program Manager, Pops and Presentations works closely with both artistic and marketing departments to bring in a broad range of talent in the pops and presentations field.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS & RESPONSIBILITIES

Artistic Planning:

• Program and engage artists for Holiday concerts.
• Program and engage artists for Pops concerts.
• Program and engage artists for Film Series.
• Program and engage artists for Special Events (such as New Year’s Eve concert)
• Program and engage artists for non-classical Presentations.

Administrative:

• Issue program updates for Holiday, Summer, Film, Special Events, Presentations.
• Oversee ArtsVision data entry for Holiday, Summer, Film, Special Events, Presentations.
• Proof content for Holiday, Summer, Film, Special Events, Presentations.
• Serve as part of the budget team for the seasons programming.
• Coordinate and execute contracts for Holiday, Summer, Film, Special Events, Presentations.
• Oversee check requests for artist fees and payments and reimbursements as required by artist contracts for Holiday, Summer, Film, Special Events, Presentations.
• Serve as primary liaison to artist management for the coordination of logistical details for guest artists for Holiday, Summer, Film, Special Events, Presentations.
• Serve as part of concert duty rotation.
• Conduct job functions and activities in alignment with the principles of the SFS’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) work, and support the organization’s DEI work through participation in working groups and other initiatives as possible.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

• 5-7 years’ experience working in a performing arts organization, preferably with a musical slant.
• Excellent knowledge of popular performing artists, bands and films and the ability to search out exciting new talent.
• Good working relationships with artists and managers.
• An interest and commitment to diversifying repertoire and artists from underrepresented minorities.
• Excellent computer skills, including Microsoft Word, Excel, Access and PowerPoint.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Ability to professionally and diplomatically communicate and interact with a wide variety of internal and external stakeholders.
• Ability to collaborate effectively in a team environment.
• Strong situational awareness; able to work discreetly, independently and display good judgment in dealing with diverse personalities and potentially difficult situations. 
• Valid California driver’s license and satisfactory results of a complete background investigation.
• Must be available to regularly work flexible hours, particularly weekends and evenings.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES

None

WORKING RELATIONSHIPS

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

• Artistic Planning team
• Marketing team
• Operations and Orchestra Personnel departments
• Education and Development departments
• Orchestra
• Guest artists and their managers and agents
• Film studios and management companies