MCC Theater is an award-winning off-Broadway theater company. Our mission is to provoke conversations that have never happened and otherwise never would. We are dedicated to producing work that pushes audiences, artists, and students alike to confront and consider preconceived notions about contemporary social issues. We fulfill our mission across four program areas: annual productions of new plays and musicals; artistic development; deep and enriching public engagement programs; and in-school and after-school educational programs that foster in high school students the desire to be heard and the courage to speak out. With the opening of the $20 million state-of-the-art Robert W. Wilson MCC Theater Space on West 52nd Street in January 2019, MCC brought all programming and administrative operations under one roof for the first time in its history. The space features two state-of-the-art theaters, the Newman Mills Theater (245 seats) and the Susan & Ronald Frankel Theater (100+ seats, flexible configuration), two studios and ample public space. Notable recent productions include Space Dogs, The Wrong Man, BLKS, All the Natalie Portmans, School Girls; or The African Mean Girls Play, The Legend of Georgia McBride, Hand to God, Charm, Punk Rock, and many others over its 30+ years.

MCC THEATER seeks a dynamic and experienced Director of Public Engagement & Education to lead organizational initiatives that will ensure robust community and student engagement with MCC’s productions and programs. The ideal candidate will bring the ambition and proven track-record to develop and execute public engagement and education programming, while always strengthening the connection between a diverse constituency of students, educators, audiences, and the MCC Theater mission. This role requires a collaborative relationship-builder, a consummate advocate for youth development, an ability to sustain and eventually grow our vision for equitable access to the arts for all the communities we serve, and a commitment to MCC’s Core Values.

MCC’s home at The Robert W. Wilson MCC Theater Space gives MCC and the new Director of Public Engagement & Education an unprecedented opportunity to expand and enrich public engagement and education programming in a centralized location housing all of the theater’s activities and their participants. The Director of Public Engagement & Education is a member of MCC’s senior leadership team, reports directly to the Executive Director, and works closely with MCC’s three Artistic Directors. Direct reports include the full time Manager of Education Programs, as well as a part-time Education & Public Engagement Assistant and a team of eight teaching artists, and coordinates the external relationships with New York City public schools and a number of cultural institutions, social service organizations, and community partners.

COMPENSATION: This is a full-time, exempt position. Salary is commensurate with experience ranging $80,000-$90,000/yr plus health, dental and vision benefits, opt-in 403(b), paid time off, and other benefits. This is an in-person position. Benefits include medical, dental, vision, and generous paid time off, and available work-from-home hours.

The Director of Public Engagement & Education will direct all community partnerships and engagement activities and MCC’s extensive education programming. In addition to leading strategy development and execution with the department, this position will ensure a consistent mission-driven focus on all engagement activities and education programs and galvanize collaborative participation of all departments toward this goal.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Safeguard and execute vision and goals for MCC’s robust education and public engagement programming, coming out of a virtual, hybrid, and return to in-person programming process
• Collaborate with artistic and executive directors to set annual goals and facilitate achievement of those goals

Education

• Oversee team of teaching artists across all programs; hire and train new teaching artists; foster a community/team spirit
• Produce all culminating Youth Company productions, including UNCENSORED in the spring and FreshPlay in the summer (including hiring the creative teams and artists, booking space, creating and overseeing the calendars, and communicating with all parties)
• Provide and execute group show-going opportunities for Youth Company
• Oversee the Student Matinee program – from setting the calendar, recruiting school partners and student audiences, creating study guides, conducting post-show conversations and coordinating appropriate classroom visits • Create, oversee, and co-facilitate MCC’s Ambassador leadership programming including planning, scheduling sessions and field trips/outings

Community Partnerships & Audience Cultivation

• Facilitate and maintain productive relationships with community organizations and peer theaters to share resources, engage in dialogue, support the cultivation of new audiences, and create sustainable partnerships
• Collaborate with Marketing and Artistic departments on the development and execution of audience cultivation events, engaging with populations across the city to come to MCC for the first time and to keep returning
• Maintain relationships with Youth Company alumni for a robust network, particularly those pursuing careers in theater, and maximizing opportunities for them to develop their work with support from MCC

Let’s Talk Series

• Oversee and expand MCC’s TalkBack program (which includes TalkBacks with artists, Audience Conversations, expert panels) in collaboration with the artistic department and aligned with institutional and audience development goals
• Conceive and implement programming for panels and forum conversations to take place with various communities in connection to mainstage work/themes and current events
• Facilitate and seek out/train facilitators for all TalkBack programming

Leadership

• Lead, supervise and contribute to the professional development of one full time Manager of Educational Programs, one part time Education & Public Engagement Assistant, and teaching artist/talkback team of approximately ten people
• Oversee all departmental budgets; from development of seasonal budget in collaboration with Director of Finance and General Manager to execution
• Collaborate with development department to steward program-specific donor relationships, including the collaborative creation of proposals for institutional funders
• Develop and maintain relationships with Board of Directors and the Public Engagement & Education and make meeting presentations as needed
• Be a contributing member of the senior leadership team helping to set and implement strategic plans and maintain a collegial and constructive work environment

DESIRED SKILLS & QUALIFICATIONS

The ideal candidate will be a confident, strategic, and creative thinker with 4-5 years of arts education experience (theater strongly preferred). This should include at least 2 years of experience managing direct-reports, and/or teaching artists and consultants, and experience with the NYC DOE application and administrative processes. This individual will bring an understanding of not-for-profit structure, an ability to build internal and external stakeholder relationships to support and advocate for education and public engagement initiatives, and possess strong leadership skills and capability. Excellent writing/communication skills are required, as well as strong organizational skills and ability to multi-task effectively.

MCC seeks team members with an eagerness to be an active participant in and meaningful contributor to our ongoing work on creating and nurturing a culture of belonging rooted in equity, diversity and inclusion and apply EDI principles to their scope of work.

Proof of vaccination and boosting against COVID-19 required.

To apply, please email your cover letter and resume as a single PDF file to jobs@mcctheater.org with EDU SEARCH in the subject line. Please use your cover letter to outline or illuminate relevant experience, and tell us how you became aware of the position and any direct experience you have had with MCC Theater and its productions and education programs. No mail or phone calls please.