Joel Hall Dancers & Center (JHDC) awakens the dancer in everyone’s soul. By highlighting and spotlighting the Black and Brown LGBTQIA+ experience through dance, we provide comprehensive education and artistic dance experiences. We believe dance is a powerful tool to educate and inspire, offering not only instruction in techniques but also deep insights into the history and cultural significance of dance. Our commitment to making dance accessible and affordable helps break down barriers and challenges oppressive systems. By championing Urban Jazz and other forms of dance with performers and audiences, we aim to enhance our collective culture and educate future generations, cultivating a more inclusive and equitable world for all. We seek a Program Manager to support this mission-based work.
Position Overview: JHDC seeks an early-to-mid-career individual to support the JHDC leadership with regard to in-studio and outreach programs. The role includes management of staff for studio classes, in-school opportunities, and community programs. This position plays a key role in the day-to-day life and WERKQ of JHDC, enriching and building the JHDC and Chicago community of dancers and dance lovers.
Status: Employee, Full-Time
Schedule: Monday - Friday, 9 AM - 5 PM; Evenings and Weekends as needed.
Compensation: Salary: $50,000/yr (with benefits)
Location: Joel Hall Dancers & Center [4511 N. Clark, Chicago, IL 60640], local travel (as needed), limited non-local travel.
Position Start Date: January 6, 2025
Reports To: Executive Director
Primary Responsibilities: This is a full-time position that supports JHDC’s goals for programs championing artistic excellence, diversified and authentic creativity, fiscal viability, accessibility, arts leadership cultivation, and community and relationship building. Guided by the Artistic Director and working in close collaboration with the Executive Director, the Program Manager will play an active role in executing programming that energizes staff, artists, and the community.
Specific responsibilities include (but are not limited to):
Staff Management (approx. 30%): At the direction of the Artistic and/or Executive directors, the individual hired for this role will manage JHDC program personnel. Duties will include:
- Manage the communication between JHDC and existing and prospective teaching artists.
- Manage teaching artist class assignments, ensuring all program events and classes have proper and appropriate coverage.
- Support the Executive Director in the management of studio assistants and other program support personnel and volunteers.
- Support the hiring process for program-related and other positions (as requested).
- Support the Artistic and Executive directors in teaching artist performance reviews and evaluations.
Relationship Management (approx. 30%): Working closely with the Executive Director, the person hired for this position will have a key role in managing program partner relationships. This will include:
- Being a point of contact for key program partners (internal and external).
- Being a point of contact for students and the public.
- Support the identification of potential program partners.
Program Design (approx. 20%): The individual hired for this role will support and contribute to the design, launch, and maintenance of new and existing education programming, including:
- Support in-studio, in-school, and community-based program planning and development sessions.
- Support the research, identification, and recruitment of teaching artists.
- Support the development and administration of evaluations of student progress, program success, and teaching artist effectiveness.
Marketing & Communications (approx. 10%): The person hired for this position will work closely with the Executive Director and other members of the JHDC team to support communication work. This will include:
- Support and collaborate on the creation of photos, videos, and written materials for internal and external communications.
- Support the creation and revision of new or existing programs and class descriptions.
Administrative (approx. 10%): The person hired for this position will work closely with the Executive Director and other members of the JHDC team to support various administrative tasks. These may include:
- Grant writing, sponsorship, and donor cultivation efforts.
- Preparation of materials for JHDC Board meetings.
- Filing and record keeping.
Other duties, within reason, may be assigned. JHDC may require occasional work outside the parameters of this job description for limited periods of time.
Essential Skills and Characteristics: The ideal candidate will possess the following:
- Commitment to a full-time administrative position within a teaching and performing arts organization.
- Professional knowledge of the nonprofit dance sector, with working knowledge of dance studio and nonprofit program operations and management.
- Strong and compassionate management skills, leading with a “can do” attitude, eagerness to learn, and a passion for the mission, vision, and cause of Joel Hall Dancers & Center.
- Strong knowledge of the Mindbody platform for class registration and client management.
- Proficiency in Google and Microsoft computing environments.
- Self-motivated and organized, capable of speaking and writing professionally using the Joel Hall Dancers & Center voice of collaboration, teamwork, acceptance, and inclusion.
- A neat, professional, courteous manner and appearance appropriate for a creative arts organization, and comfort interacting with the public - including children.
- Must be able to fluently read, write, speak, and understand the English language. Proficiency in Spanish is desired.
- A minimum of 2 years experience in dance studio administrative work.
JHDC builds upon its longstanding tenets of diversity and accessibility to provide movers of all backgrounds the same diligent commitment to artistry, curiosity, self-expression, and growth. JHDC rejects the idea that high-quality artistic programming should be a privilege; at JHDC, this level of programming is a right. Moreover, this programming is a tool for community building, for fostering creativity, and for having difficult but necessary conversations about how to productively dismantle issues like racism, sexism, transphobia, and homophobia.
We are an Equal Opportunity Employer.
To Apply: Please submit a cover letter, resume, and three references as a single .pdf with your full name in the file name via email to hr@joelhall.org by Noon on December 2, 2024.