Director of Education & Community Engagement

Anticipated Search | American Shakespeare Center (Staunton, VA)

At the American Shakespeare Center, our mission is to advance understanding, imagination, and community by illuminating Shakespeare through performance, research, and education in the Blackfriars Playhouse and beyond.

The American Shakespeare Center anticipates launching a search in 2026 for a senior leader who will provide strategic direction and stewardship for education and community engagement across the organization.

Grounded in the Blackfriars Playhouse and ASC’s approach to Shakespeare as a living practice, this role connects learning to rehearsal, staging, performance, and direct conversation with audiences, and includes hands-on teaching and facilitation as part of its leadership practice. Experience engaging with Shakespeare’s rehearsal and performance practices can meaningfully inform this work, and candidates may arrive through a range of scholarly, artistic, or pedagogical pathways.

The final title, scope, and compensation range will be finalized through the ASC’s board approval process. In the meantime, we welcome expressions of interest from candidates who may wish to be considered once the search formally opens.

The Director of Education & Community Engagement provides leadership at both the strategic and organizational levels, shaping vision, stewarding resources, and ensuring coherence across ASC’s education and engagement work. Areas of focus are expected to include:

• Strategic Leadership & Planning Contributing to organizational strategic planning; setting annual education and community engagement priorities; developing and overseeing the department’s annual budget and resource allocation in alignment with institutional goals.
• Program Oversight & Integration Providing high-level oversight of youth, student, lifelong learning, and public-facing programs, including Playhouse Tours and Lights On Blackfriars, and ensuring alignment with ASC’s mission and artistic work.
• Artistic & Seasonal Collaboration Collaborating with artistic leadership on season planning and educational alignment; working closely with group sales and marketing teams to coordinate student matinee schedules with academic calendars.
• Conferences & Scholarly Convenings Long-range planning and oversight for scholarly and educational convenings, including the Blackfriars Conference and related seminars, as appropriate to ASC’s future programming.
• Community, Corporate & Institutional Partnerships Cultivating partnerships with community organizations, corporate partners, and educational institutions, including close collaboration with Mary Baldwin University’s Shakespeare & Performance program; overseeing leadership and professional training programs that apply Shakespeare’s plays and performance practices to contemporary organizational and civic contexts.
• Education Personnel & Staffing Oversight Establishing and supporting sustainable staffing structures for education artists and tour guides, including hiring and onboarding, in collaboration with administrative staff who manage daily scheduling and supervision.
• Public Communication & Institutional Representation Serving as a primary point of contact for exploratory conversations and inquiries about new educational and engagement opportunities; representing ASC in public, professional, and partnership settings.
• Archives & Scholarly Resources Overseeing stewardship of physical educational and archival resources, including institutional partnerships related to collections and archives.
• Teaching & Public Practice Teaching and facilitating select programs—such as workshops, tours, talks, and leadership sessions—as a visible expression of ASC’s integrated approach to scholarship, performance, and education.

This role balances vision with execution—setting direction, empowering staff and collaborators, and ensuring education and community engagement remain fully integrated into the ASC’s artistic and institutional life.

We are especially interested in candidates who:

• Bring experience in theatre education, public humanities, or arts leadership
• Are energized by community-facing, relationship-driven work
• Are curious about how rehearsal, staging, and audience interaction shape learning
• Work comfortably across artistic, scholarly, and civic contexts
• Value collaboration, generosity, and ensemble thinking

Individuals may submit a brief statement of interest and résumé or CV using the link below. Submissions will be reviewed on a rolling basis and kept on file as the role is finalized.

Submitting an expression of interest does not constitute a formal application. No interviews or hiring decisions will be made until the search officially opens.