Director, Artistic Operations

About The Kennedy Center

“I am certain that after the dust of centuries has passed over our cities, we, too, will be remembered not for victories or defeats in battle or in politics, but for our contribution to the human spirit.” – President John F. Kennedy

The Kennedy Center is the nation’s cultural center and living memorial to President John F. Kennedy. Located on the banks of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., the Center presents performances across all genres, and is also home to artistic affiliates Washington National Opera and National Symphony Orchestra. 

At the Kennedy Center, we strive to foster belonging and empowerment at work. We are able to advance our mission because of our committed and passionate employees. We are fortunate to be able to leverage their diverse perspectives, life experiences and skills to inform how our workplace can be a safe, transparent, and replenishing community. The Kennedy Center is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate against any employee or applicant based on race, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, veteran status, marital status, pregnancy or related condition, or any other basis protected by law. 

Mission Statement: As the nation's performing arts center, and a living memorial to President John F. Kennedy, we are a leader for the arts across America and around the world, reaching and connecting with artists, inspiring and educating communities. We welcome all to create, experience, learn about, and engage with the arts. 

Why Join Us

We offer a comprehensive range of benefits to all full-time employees including: 

• Staff offers for discount tickets
• Retirement plan with organization matching (after 1 year of employment)
• Qualifying employer for the Public Student Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF)
• Commuter programs including pre-tax options for discounted parking and SmartBenefits (WMATA)
• Annual Leave, Sick Leave, and Personal Days available immediately upon hire
• 11 paid holidays per year 
• Medical, Dental, and Vision benefits with FSA and HSA options, and paid FMLA
• Flexible work arrangements
• We like to have fun! Check out the Kennedy Center National Dance Day 2022 staff video!

Job Description

Reporting to the Senior Vice President, Artistic Planning, the Director of Artistic Operations serves in a critical role supporting the Kennedy Center’s mission as the national cultural center to provide world class art to audiences locally, nationally and internationally. 

This role will support the realization of the Center’s artistic vision through project management and oversight for cross-institutional initiatives; leading and representing the programming team throughout the calendar and seasonal planning; ownership of process and protocol implementation, maintenance, and improvements; and budgeting support. The Director will work in close co-operation with Strategic Planning and Campus Planning departments for resource optimization, as well as Development, Education, Marketing and Public Relations for effective ongoing and special cross-divisional projects and partnerships. This role also oversees the Shared Services support team, developing an artistic operations team that balances resources and staffing with artistic and financial goals.

The Director must be able to make decisions and exercise discretion in order to prioritize assignments and work in a fast paced environment, as many projects are time sensitive and involve concurrent deadlines. An eagerness to take initiative, communicate, work independently and in a team setting, and problem solve with a positive attitude is essential.

Key Responsibilities

• Transform artistic vision into operational best practices by managing and driving a broad variety of programming-related projects in a timely and efficient manner. Develop strategy and deliverables, create project and tactical action plans, implement solutions, and achieve measurable project results.
  • Develop schedules, project estimates, resource plans, and budgets providing status reports and recommendations to relevant stakeholders. Set and monitor deadlines, ensure completion of deliverables, and alert team of pending due dates and delinquencies.
  • Drive collaboration across multiple internal and external teams, bringing together the correct audiences at the right time and proactively identifying risks across teams
  • Utilize and manage project management technologies and tools to oversee and administer projects actively and effectively (including, but not limited to, Asana, Excel, SharePoint, Teams). Keep all stakeholders and partner teams informed throughout project process.
  • Build reports, manage metrics for projects, and provide actionable insights for department and other internal and external partners.
  • Assist in measuring and defining capacity of creative teams, managing expectations, and flagging risks for stakeholders
  • Promote an organizational culture that values strategy, planning, collaboration within mission and Center, trust, commitment to the mission, and professional and organizational growth.

• Oversee and lead Programming and Production divisions to develop processes and tools that drive efficiency, visibility, and accountability. Oversee department functions including planning calendars, artistic planning budgets, contracts, and artistic protocols via operations and production. Oversee and develop cross-team economies regarding contract boiler plates, timely negotiation of contract terms, and development of schedules, timetables, and coordination with Legal, Finance, Marketing, PR, Development, Operations and Production
• Direct supervision of the Manager, Shared Services, advising and overseeing shared services support team including department resource allocation, calendar management, and efficiency of all performances, events, and/or activities for the Kennedy Center’s Chamber, Classical New Music, Hip-Hop, Contemporary Music, Jazz, VOICES, Arts and Wellbeing, and Comedy seasons.   
• Manage input and implementation of Center wide systems and processes to support the performance programming (including but not limited to: Finance, Contracting, HRIS, Venue Management, Booking and Human Resources) and overall efficient operation of the Center.
• Lead process improvement efforts including procedures and consistency of post-mortems; identifying learning opportunities and identifying opportunities to streamline processes.
• Oversee department onboarding processes and systems
• Other duties as assigned.

Key Qualifications

• 10+ years performing arts (non-profit or commercial) experience
• 5+ years of Project Management experience working with various levels of leadership, stakeholders, and a variety of teams, such as creative, development, and production
• Bachelor’s Degree required
• Excellent attention to detail and exceptional written communication skillsPMP or direct Project Management experience preferred
• Proven ability to think ahead, problem solve, engage proactively, and take initiative
• Strong process-minded planner who can determine deadlines, logistics, and operational plans for multi-dimensional programs and events
• Manage time wisely and prioritize workload in a creative environment where interruptions are common and adaptability is required
• Deep understanding of project management tools (ex: Asana) and digital organization tools
• Experience transforming artistic vision into operational plans and overseeing execution
• Equally comfortable with strategic thinking and excel pivot tables
• Teambuilding/ability and desire to collaborate and support colleagues across a spectrum of expertise.
• Strong desire to work in the arts and culture space with bias for inclusivity, equity, and joy