The Performing Arts Lab Associate Production Manager’s (PAL APM) primary responsibility is the day-to-day management of all productions and projects taking place in the Performing Arts Lab (PAL) as assigned by the Director of Production, which may include work produced by the undergraduate Theater & Performance Program, the Dance Program and the Music Program as well as Fisher Center Presents, Live Arts Bard and SummerScape. The PAL building is newly completed and will have the Spring 2026 semester for shakeout before it goes into fully scheduled operations in the Fall 2026 semester.

The PAL APM’s primary responsibility during the SummerScape Festival is the Spiegeltent (SPT) venue. SPT is a cabaret-style venue with a morning load in evening performance schedule. Performances include all styles of music, comedy, dance, and periodic theatrical readings.

While this position collaborates with all production departments, the primary support systems in both venues are audio followed by lighting and some projections/video.

The PAL APM reports directly to the Director of Production and works closely with the other members of the Fisher Center Production Department, the Fisher Center Producing Department, and the faculty and students of the Theater & Performance, Dance Programs, and Music Programs to deliver an excellent standard of support that furthers the mission of the Center and Bard College.

This is a full-time, exempt position eligible for Bard College’s group benefits package and compensated at an annual salary range of $62,500 – $67,500, depending on experience. This position will require working some nights and weekends.

Oversee the planning and execution of all production elements of each assigned production, including but not limited to leading production meetings and designer check-ins, supporting all load-ins and strikes, creating and distributing tech schedules, and coordinating with professional designers and students about how best to execute their design/piece.

Assist with the process of getting to know the new PAL and its operational needs. Learn and train on all production elements within the building. Assist in the process of building out the PAL’s systems and

When working with academic shows or projects, work with students and their faculty advisors to lay out concrete timelines and expectations, and schedule meetings as needed to discuss and implement the production elements of their piece.

Assist the Director of Production with planning and advancing production needs for FC Presents and Fisher Center LAB programming and residencies as needed.

Day-to-day production management of FC programming and residencies, rental events, and one-off productions, both professional and academic, as needed.

Assist the Director of Production with the planning and implementation of assigned production elements for the SummerScape Festival, with a focus on Spiegeltent.

Collaborate with the Spiegeltent team, including producer, stage manager, site supervisor, artist services, and FOH services, to advance, plan, tech, and support all productions.

Lead administrative tasks for the production team (along with the production administrator), including purchasing and budget tracking, timesheets, and onboarding of new hires (both student and non-exempt employees).

Provide leadership, support, coordination, organization, problem-solving, and guidance to Production Department colleagues and partner constituents.

Participate in the development of production safety practices.

Maintain a safe, healthy, and inclusive workplace at all times.

Attend weekly production meetings and staff meetings, and represent the Director of Production in meetings when required.

Previous theatrical or live event production management experience; at least two years of professional experience preferred.

Experience collaborating with all production departments.

Hands-on experience with theatrical audio and lighting equipment.

General experience working with students in educational settings. Comfortable working with and guiding students who are brand new to the process of creating theater.

Experience managing budgets, schedules, and calendars.

Basic knowledge of the practices and procedures of all theatrical departments.

Knowledge and ability to instruct others on current industry-standard safety practices and procedures.

Working knowledge of Google Workspace.

Strong with paperwork, especially creating new paperwork to track unique organizational challenges.

Capable of working and multitasking, with patience, on Broadway-bound premieres, non-theatrical college lectures, and varying styles in between.

Comfortable moving projects forward even when there are uncertainties or outstanding questions.

Creative thinker and solution finder, particularly in helping solve logistical problems.

Ability to meet colleagues at their communication styles.

Ability to work evenings and weekends, as determined by production schedules.

Successful candidates possess strong communication skills and keen attention to detail. They are collaborative, self-motivated, and bring a positive, can-do attitude!

Experience opening or working in a newly opened facility.

Experience working with bands, musicians, and other, less theatrically oriented, performance genres.

Previous work in a multidisciplinary performing arts environment.

Occasionally ascending/descending stairs and ladders.

Occasionally moving through work areas that include heights.

Frequently working around loud and sudden sounds

Occasionally lifting up to 40 pounds.

Occasionally working outdoors on grassy terrain.

Ability to work late nights and weekend hours

Bard’s beautiful 1,000-acre campus is situated on the east bank of the Hudson River in Annandale-on Hudson, New York. Community life is defined by numerous cultural and recreational opportunities in the surrounding historic Hudson River Valley and by proximity to New York City. Nearby towns and villages include Rhinebeck, Tivoli, and Red Hook, New York.

Applications for this position will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled.

For any access-related requests, questions, or issues with the application form, please contact [email protected].

Bard College is an equal opportunity employer and we welcome applications from those who contribute to our diversity. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, mental or physical disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, familial status, veteran status, or genetic information. Bard is committed to providing access, equal opportunity, and reasonable accommodation for all individuals in employment practices, services, programs, and activities.

The Fisher Center is a premier professional performing arts center and a hub for research and education that demonstrates Bard College’s commitment to the performing arts as a cultural and educational necessity. To support artists, students, and audiences in the examination of artistic ideas, the Fisher Center develops, produces, and presents performing arts across disciplines through new productions and context-rich programs that challenge and inspire.

Home is the Fisher Center for the Performing Arts, designed by Frank Gehry and located on the campus of Bard College in New York’s Hudson Valley. This world-class theater building will be complemented by a new studio building designed by Maya Lin, scheduled to open in 2026. More than 200 events and 50,000 visitors are hosted at the Fisher Center each year, and over 300 professional artists are employed annually. As a powerful catalyst of art-making regionally, nationally, and worldwide, the Fisher Center produces 8 to 10 major new works in various disciplines every year. The Fisher Center offers outstanding programs to many communities, including the students and faculty of Bard College, and audiences in the Hudson Valley, New York City, across the country, and around the world. Building on a 166-year history as a competitive and innovative undergraduate institution, Bard is committed to enriching culture, public life, and democratic discourse by training tomorrow’s thought leaders.

The Fisher Center was born from the Bard Music Festival, founded in 1990, which, for the first 13 years of its existence, occupied several spaces on campus, including a large tent. Each summer, the Music Festival focuses on the life, work, and influences of one composer, promoting new ways of understanding and presenting the history of music to a contemporary audience. When the Fisher Center and its two theaters opened in 2003, the summer festival expanded to include a fully staged opera, as well as theater and dance performances. The highly acclaimed opera program brings unjustly neglected works to the stage in major productions—often making their US debuts.

Through Fisher Center LAB, the Center’s acclaimed residency and commissioning program, artists are provided with custom-made support toward their innovative projects and their work has been seen in over 100 communities around the world. Resident choreographer Pam Tanowitz’s 2018 Four Quartets was recognized as “the greatest creation of dance theater so far this century” by The New York Times. In 2019, the Fisher Center won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical for Daniel Fish’s production of Oklahoma!, which began life in 2007 as an undergraduate production at Bard and was produced professionally by the Fisher Center in 2015 before transferring to New York City. Illinoise, a 2023 Fisher Center world premiere from artists Sufjan Stevens, Justin Peck, and Jackie Sibblies Drury, was recognized with a Tony Award for Best Choreography following its tour and transfer to Broadway.

The Fisher Center is home to several of Bard’s academic programs in the performing arts. Year-round, it hosts performances by the undergraduate Dance Program and Theater and Performance Program; the US-China Music Institute of the Bard College Conservatory of Music; The Orchestra Now (TŌN), a Bard graduate program that is training the next generation of classical-music ambassadors; and students at the Bard Conservatory, the first (and so far only) conservatory to require all its students to pursue a bachelor of arts degree in a field other than music in addition to their specialized music studies. As a hybrid institution, the Fisher Center brings together professional and academic art-making of the highest caliber, where student and professional artists work side by side, learning from each other and informing one another’s practices.

Founded in 1860, Bard College is a four-year residential college of the liberal arts and sciences located 90 miles north of New York City. With the addition of the Montgomery Place estate, Bard’s campus consists of nearly 1,000 park-like acres in the Hudson River Valley. It offers bachelor of arts, bachelor of science, and bachelor of music degrees, with majors in nearly 40 academic programs, graduate degrees in 11 programs, nine early colleges, and numerous dual-degree programs nationally and internationally. Building on its 166-year history as a competitive and innovative undergraduate institution, Bard College has expanded its mission as a private institution acting in the public interest across the country and around the world to meet broader student needs and increase access to liberal education. The undergraduate program at our main campus in upstate New York has a reputation for scholarly excellence, a focus on the arts, and civic engagement. Bard is committed to enriching culture, public life, and democratic discourse by training tomorrow’s thought leaders. For more information about Bard College, visit bard.edu.