Assistant Production Lead

Please see Special Instructions for more details.

H-1B sponsorship is not available for this position.

One of the best college towns and best places to live in the United States, Chapel Hill has diverse social, cultural, recreation and professional opportunities that span the campus and community.

University employees can choose from a wide range of professional training opportunities for career growth, skill development and lifelong learning and enjoy exclusive perks that include numerous retail and restaurant discounts, savings on local child care centers and special rates for performing arts events.

Primary Purpose of Organizational Unit

The mission of Carolina Performing Arts ( CPA ) is to spark curiosity, inspiring all members of our community to discover and more fully engage with the world. We collaborate with dynamic and compelling artists from across the globe to create novel, mission-driven performing arts experiences in partnership with our community. We also open our venues to others to explore, create, and celebrate their own work.

Through the Office of the Executive Director for the Arts ( EDA ), CPA oversees all artistic programming, campus and community engagement, marketing and fundraising for its presented, commissioned and produced work, and manages all operations of its venues including facility rentals, technical production, audience services and ticketing.
Carolina Performing Arts thrives because of our collaborations with a diverse cohort of partners that create deeper understanding for our audiences and enable us to be empathetic visionaries. As our campus, state, nation, and world continue to reckon with systemic injustices, we are committed to being an agent for change and making certain that our internal practices reflect the values that are made visible on the stage.

Our work is made possible and made better through the contributions of team members from a wide array of backgrounds, experiences, and identities. We seek to recruit and develop staff to create a welcoming, and inclusive organization.

Position Summary

The Assistant Production Lead for Carolina Performing Arts ( CPA ) reports to the Production Manager and is responsible for providing technical support and leadership to the venue and production operations during event set-ups, rehangs, load-ins, rehearsals, workshops and load-outs in Memorial Hall, CURRENT Art Space + Studio, Gerrard Hall, and Moeser Auditorium. This position routinely works with the CPA Production team, including Production Management and the Lighting Lead and Audio Lead to coordinate event technology arrangements, and partake in the setup and operation for a variety of events.

The Assistant Production Lead may be asked to focus on a variety of production technologies, and may need to manage equipment and operations in the absence of the Department Leads or Production Management. This position may act as the main point of contact for artists or clients in residency rehearsals or workshop settings. This role may organize and delegate operational workflows and staff assignments with the input from Department Leads or Production Management.

The Assistant Production Lead may also work show calls as needed for CPA performances as well as for events hosted by student groups, campus departments, and community groups in our venues, as availability allows.

• Lead crew calls and coordinate safe operations of event preparations and processes with direction from the Department Leads and/or Production Management
• Provide specialized technical support as the knowledgeable professional, which will include basic staging, theatrical rigging, and fly-system operation
• Provide on-site supervision of technical support needs for events, rehearsals and workshops

• Export and interpret lighting plots, audio and video plots, cabling plan to implement into event shifts
• Keep documentation of shift operations, process updates, and schedule changes in event shift-reports, production reports, or organization-wide daily event reports

• First call as a consistent programmer and/or operator (in lighting, video, and/or…