Fisher Center at Bard

THE POSITION The Director of Finance and Administration will manage the financial, human resources and administrative activities of The Fisher Center. This newly created position will report to the Chief Operating Officer and work collaboratively across the senior staff and the entire organization, providing hads on management for finance, human resources, administration and information systems ensuring greater cohesion, communication and transparency between The Fisher Center’s administrative operations and programs, while maintaining close working relationships with the Bard Controller’s Office and Human Resources Office to ensure efficient and effective management. RESPONSIBILITIES The Director of Finance and Administration will have ongoing responsibility for the following: Finance Manage the day to day financial function of The Fisher Center, including but not limited to: -Work with the COO, Artistic Director/Chief Executive, and Department Heads to manage the annual budget process across; manage its assembly for review by Bard’s CFO and the Advisory Board; -Provide proactive and regular financial information to the COO and Artistic Director/Chief Executive to ensure the understanding of the financial implications of The Fisher Center’s programmatic decisions; -Manage fiscal year reconciliation with Bard’s general ledger; -Prepare P&L reports and accompanying narratives for board meetings; -Assist in creation of budgets for grant proposals and final reports; -Oversee A/P and A/R across all departments; maintain accurate and ongoing cashflow assessments to better forecast vendor/payment priorities and work with Bard Finance on check release schedule; -Oversee corporate card expense reconciliation; -Coordinate payment priorities across all departments; -In coordination with Bard Finance, monitor and manage The Fisher Center’s endowment portfolio. Human Resources With the support of Bard HR and in consultation with the COO, develop more streamlined HR policies and payroll systems across the organization acting as an advocate for staff and be prepared to translate Bard’s policies, when appropriate: -With the COO, develop consistent hiring procedures, performance review, and exit interview processes across The Fisher Center and maintain equitable pay scales across departments; -With Bard HR coordination and approval, oversee drafting job descriptions and finalizing hire letters; -Oversee on-boarding paperwork for casual hourly, seasonal, and full-time hires; -Support departments with trouble-shooting employee paperwork/timesheet; -With the COO, address personnel issues as they arise; liaising with Bard HR and Title IX offices as necessary. Administration and Information Systems Work as a conduit and facilitator for greater transparency and sharing of resources across the organization, including but not limited to the following: -Coordinate building usage/ resources between academic programs, facilities management and Fisher Center professional programs; -Contract Management: -Draft and maintain template agreements, amend as necessary, manage equitable and consistent contract execution across programs -With the ED, review contracts for non-artistic independent contractors; forward to Controller’s office as needed; -Develop outside rental policies and procedures for the FC and Spiegeltent with the COO; -Attend weekly planning, production, and staff meetings and lead supplemental operations meetings as necessary; -Coordinate annual and special events alcohol licensing; -Support ongoing efforts to strengthen and integrate information systems; working collaboratively with the organization and the IT department to assess ongoing system needs, share information, and clearly communicate recommendations; -Assist the COO and Artistic Director/Chief Executive with special projects as they arise, i.e capital needs assessment of the Fisher Center, new building planning. IDEAL EXPERIENCE AND PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS The Director of Finance and Administration will have or be the following: -Substantial, relevant experience in positions of progressive responsibility with organizations of similar scope and ambition; -Financially skillful and seasoned with a strong business acumen and experience as a financial manager with exposure to all core financial functions; -Experience working with, leading, and managing personnel and providing and receiving evaluative feedback; ability to oversee the day-to-day operations while keeping larger institutional picture and priorities in mind; -Thrive in a deadline-driven environment; -Great attention to detail with a hands - on attitude; -Flexible, empathetic, collaborative, and driven by a strong sense of personal integrity and accountability; -Passion for assessing organizational structures, design, and realignment, with keen observational analysis and interest in enacting ongoing positive systems improvement; -Strong communication skills with a positive can-do approach; -Aligned with the mission and vision of The Fisher Center; -Experience in the not-for-profit sector, working in the arts, a plus; -High proficiency in Google Suite, required. The Fisher Center is currently undergoing an organization-wide process of change toward becoming an anti-racist, multicultural institution. All on staff are expected to: -Commit to anti-racism and inclusivity at The Fisher Center. This includes participating in any trainings when scheduled, supporting departmental, company-wide, and cross-departmental collaboration in issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and furthering your own independent journey with anti-racism -Contribute in meaningful ways to the organizational culture. This is a full-time, exempt position eligible for Bard College’s group benefits package, compensated at an annual salary range of $80– $85,000, depending on experience. Relocation support will be provided, if applicable. This position will require working some nights and weekends. While some duties may be performed remotely, this position will require on-site and physical presence at The Fisher Center. More details about benefits can be found on Bard’s Benefits Resource page and Employee Handbook. Resources Page:   https://www.bard.edu/humanresources/benefits/ Employee Handbook:   https://bit.ly/bc-handbook BACKGROUND The Fisher Center at Bard develops, produces, and presents performing arts across disciplines through new productions and context-rich programs that challenge and inspire. At once a premier professional performing arts center and a hub for research and education, The Fisher Center supports artists, students, and audiences in the development and exploration of artistic ideas and perspectives from the past, present, and future. Designed by architect Frank Gehry and opened in 2003, The Fisher Center is the most ambitious capital project in Bard’s history, and embodies the College’s commitment to the arts as a cultural and educational necessity. The Center presents more than 200 world-class events and welcomes 50,000 visitors each year. It supports artists at all stages of their careers and employs more than 300 professional artists annually. The Fisher Center is a powerful catalyst of art-making regionally, nationally, and worldwide, with a strong emphasis on development, research, innovation, and rediscovery. Every year, the Fisher Center produces eight to 10 major new works across disciplines, including opera, classical music, theater, dance, performance art, and cabaret. Over the past ten years, its commissioned productions have been seen in more than 100 communities and at leading arts centers around the world. 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 in The Fisher Center’s SummerScape Festival in 2015 before transferring to New York City. The Fisher Center houses two theaters: Sosnoff Theater, which seats approximately 800 people and features a proscenium stage with a concert shell insert that accommodates opera, music, dance, and theater; and LUMA Theater, a fully flexible venue which seats up to 200 people. The Fisher Center also comprises rehearsal studios, production facilities, offices, and alternative performance spaces. In the summer, The Fisher Center operates the Spiegeltent, a freestanding cabaret venue which has delighted SummerScape audiences for more than a decade. In October 2022 Bard announced that Maya Lin has been chosen to design a new performing arts studio building for The Fisher Center, in partnership with architects Bialosky and Partners and theater and acoustic consultants Charcoalblue. Situated in meadows to the west of the Fisher Center and overlooking woodlands and the Catskill mountains, the building will provide a home for Fisher Center LAB, the center’s acclaimed residency and commissioning program for professional artists. It will also house rehearsal and teaching facilities for Bard’s undergraduate programs in Dance and in Theater and Performance. The 25,000-square-foot building will contain five state-of-the-art studios for artist residencies, rehearsals, informal performances, and dance and theater classes, which will be connected by gathering hubs. It will function as a laboratory for the performing arts, where students and professional artists work side by side, informing each other’s practices and sharing their discoveries and works-in-progress with audiences from the Bard community and the public. Groundbreaking for the $42 million studio building will take place in 2023, during the celebration of The Fisher Center’s 20th anniversary. Once completed, the building will expand The Fisher Center’s identity beyond the walls of Gehry’s stunning landmark, to become a cultural campus comprising both the Gehry and Lin buildings. The Fisher Center offers outstanding programs to many communities, including the students and faculty of Bard, and audiences in the Hudson Valley, New York City, across the country, and around the world. The Center’s major professional programs include: -Bard SummerScape – One of the most ambitious and highly anticipated performing arts festivals in the country. In July and August, SummerScape comprises the annual Bard Music Festival (BMF), now in its 34th year, and seven weeks of opera, dance, music, theater, cabaret, and film. SummerScape has been acclaimed by London’s Times Literary Supplement as “the most intellectually ambitious of America’s summer music festivals” and described by the International Herald Tribune as “seven weeks of cultural delight.” -Fisher Center LAB – The Fisher Center’s artist residency and commissioning program, provides custom-made and meaningful support for innovative artists across disciplines. Since its launch in 2012, LAB has supported residencies, workshops, and performances for hundreds of artists, incubating new projects and engaging audiences, students, faculty, and staff in the process of creating contemporary performances. LAB strives to provide artists with the environment, resources, and funding they need to experiment, dream, and fully realize their artistic potential. Where possible, Fisher Center LAB builds long-term relationships for artists, powering their work by taking on administrative and producing support of their practices and companies. Productions developed by Fisher Center LAB often premiere in the annual Bard SummerScape festival and frequently tour around the country and across the world. Artists currently under commission from Fisher Center LAB include Pam Tanowitz, Suzan-Lori Parks, Lileana Blain-Cruz, SITI Company, Justin Vivian Bond and Anthony Roth Costanzo, Raja Feather Kelly, Paul Soileau, Beth Gill, Justin Peck, and Daaimah Mubashshir. The Fisher Center is also home to the Dance and Theater and Performance Programs in Bard’s undergraduate Division of the Arts, and works closely with the Conservatory of Music, The Orchestra Now, and the Vocal Arts Program, among other excellent and diverse arts programs at Bard. ABOUT BARD COLLEGE 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 159-year history as a competitive and innovative undergraduate institution, Bard 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 the 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, visit   http://www.bard.edu/ . The Fisher Center is an Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE) and does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership, parental status, military status, or any other non-merit factor.