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Job Description / Duties

The Shaw Festival is seeking applications for a seasonal, full time Design Coordinator. This is a newly created position, aimed at providing design assistants, incoming and returning Designers a facilitator, advocate and support person to field coordination and organization of the assistant designer assignments and production department communication.
Start date March 2022. This will be a seasonal position typically between mid-January and mid-November (this will vary based on programming). Weekly commitment is based on a 40-hour work week. It is understood that the weekly workload will vary related to the nature of the job responsibilities and production scheduling.
The Design Coordinator is part of the Design and Production department and reports to the Production Director. The Design Coordinator would work closely with the Set and Costume Designers engaged for the current season and Seasonal Design Mentors, Creative Management, Lighting Design Director, and all Production departments. The Design Coordinator would be directly responsible for the design assistant program and its development in ongoing discussion with Production Director and Creative Management and the in ongoing consultation with Design Mentors and seasonally engaged Designers.

Responsibilities include:

• Creating a welcoming and supportive work environment with the physical hub being the design department office at The Shaw Festival
• Coordinate show assignments for current design assistants in discussion with designers and design assistants. This maybe partially complete for the regular 2022 season but will be required for the winter season and upcoming 2023 season.
• Coordinate and plan weekly salon check ins with design assistants to facilitate and aid in community building, open discussion around show assignments, personal artistic goals and potential pathways for development.
• Coordinate and facilitate ongoing needs with the season designers /production staff, design assistants and their productions.
• Facilitate skill development for design assistants using Shaw Festival resources. This could include but is not limited to: CADD / Vectorworks,3D printing, scenic painting, materials and resource library building, set construction understanding/automation/rep related materials and techniques. The potential format for this would be scheduled discussions and/ or workshops with invited guests or current Shaw festival staff.
• Mentor and support design assistant project assignments.
• Plan and execute current and future orientations and introductions with Festival production staff, Shaw Festival staff at large and the design community. This could include but is not limited to: updating current orientation for designers and assistant designers, engaging with current design programs and ADC to bring awareness to the opportunities at Shaw and being part of the hiring committee to hire new design assistants for future seasons.
• Develop improved methods to support Shaw Festival production

Qualifications / Required Skills

Qualifications include:

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, written and oral. An ability to build positive personnel relationships.
• Proficient abilities interpreting set/props and costume drawings and drafting for theatre and an understanding of method and materials used to execute set/props and costume designs.
• An excellent knowledge of theatre production processes with a focus on the set and costume design process, operational knowledge of theatre systems, practices and protocols with a minimum of 5 years’ experience in professional theatre.
• Good knowledge of theatre design and production in repertory theatre.
• Proven time management and organizational skills with attention to detail and accuracy
• Proficiency with computer software, typically, Microsoft Office, abilities with CAD/Vectorworks and Photoshop would be considered an asset
• Ontario Class G or equivalent driver license with a clean driving record

Additional Information

Please Note* All new hires must provide Proof of Full Vaccination Status prior to their first day of work.

Salary: Salary range: $1,000. - $1,100. weekly

Contact Information

Interested candidates should submit a cover letter and resume by 4:00 pm February 4, 2022 to:

Human Resources, Director
Shaw Festival Theatre
10 Queen’s Parade, Box 774
Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON L0S 1J0

Email: dlg@shawfest.com

While all responses are appreciated, only those selected for an interview will be contacted

Employer Profile

As one of the world’s leading theatre companies and Niagara’s 20 largest employers, The Shaw is dedicated to an ongoing process of increasing diversity and inclusion in our audiences, our programs, and in all of our hiring for staff, artists, and in the recruiting of board members. The Shaw is committed to a future when our theatres joyously draw on and include all peoples, fully reflective of the world around us. As such, the Shaw Festival is an equal opportunity employer committed to a barrier-free recruitment and selection process. We encourage and invite applications from applicants who identify as Indigenous, Black or as persons of colour (IBPOC), the LGBTQ2+ communities and those identifying as gender female. In accordance with Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), and in keeping with our wish to ensure a fully inclusive environment, please advise Human Resources if you require an accommodation throughout the recruitment process. We will be happy to assist.
We acknowledge and honour the land upon which we gather as the historic and traditional territory of First Nations peoples. In particular we recognize and thank the Neutral Nation, the Mississauga and the Haudenosaunee for their stewardship of these lands over millennia