Theater and New Dance, Assistant Professor
About The Position
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona) invites applications for a tenure-track faculty position in the Department of Theatre & New Dance. This position is for an Assistant Professor of Production and Stage Management, beginning in the 2027-2028 academic year. The role involves serving as Production Manager for the department's production season, mentoring and supervising student stage managers, and teaching stage management and production practicum courses, as well as other courses based on departmental needs and faculty expertise. The successful candidate will collaborate with faculty, staff, and guest artists, manage production budgets, obtain show rights, oversee spending, schedule production dates and deadlines, lead production meetings and technical rehearsals, supervise student stage managers, designers, and technicians, enforce deadlines, track and grade crew assignments, ensure safe practices, support creative problem-solving for budget and resources, and initiate improvements to production systems. Responsibilities also include university, college, and department service, academic advising, mentorship, committee work, budget proposals, grant writing, and maintaining a portfolio of scholarly and/or creative activities aligned with departmental promotion criteria. Applicants must demonstrate a commitment to serving a diverse student body and advancing the educational equity goals of the university.
Requirements
- M.F.A. in Production Management, Stage Management or a closely related field; or other equivalent terminal degree conferred by the start date of the position
- Previous professional production management experience
- Demonstrated potential for excellence in university-level teaching in stage management and other areas depending on department need and candidate expertise
- Demonstrated potential to proactively mentor students with a broad range of experience, theatre knowledge, backgrounds and socio-economic status in an undergraduate B.A. theatre program setting
- Demonstrated experience coordinating with permanent professional theatrical production staff
- An active and ongoing professional practice
- Capacity to connect students to an expansive network of job opportunities
- Strength in proactive team leadership
- Adaptability to evolving timelines and resource availability
- Familiarity with one or more adjacent fields, such as dance, opera, circus, themed entertainment, film, TV, event management, etc. and demonstrated potential to mentor students interested in one or more of these areas
- Collegiality and amiability among a diverse range of students and colleagues
- Ability to lead in a variety of production models (e.g. Devised theatre, LORT model)
Nice To Haves
- Two or more years of university-level teaching experience
- Active participation in national professional organizations, such as USITT and/or PMF, and/or Union membership such as AEA
- Secondary area of expertise and ability to mentor in additional areas such as sound or video design
- Experience supervising student shop crews and run crews
Responsibilities
- Serve as Production Manager for the Department’s production season
- Mentor and supervise student stage managers
- Teach stage management courses, production practicum courses and other courses based on department need and the faculty’s area/s of expertise
- Work closely with faculty, staff and guest artists
- Propose and re-line annual production budget allocations
- Obtain show rights and distribute scripts
- Oversee production spending and petty cash distribution
- Schedule all production dates and deadlines in keeping with instructional needs
- Maintain all production calendars
- Schedule spaces involved in production and instruction
- Lead all production meetings and technical rehearsals for theatre and dance productions
- Supervise and mentor student stage managers, designers and technicians
- Enforce deadlines and facilitate communication between production teams and staff
- Make, track and grade production crew assignments for shop crews and show crews
- Honor and enforce safe practices in rehearsals and performances including facilitating the hiring of intimacy directors and fight choreographers as needed and actively modeling community guidelines
- Support creative problem solving around budget and resources including non-traditional materials, rentals and community resources
- Initiate and implement improvements to production systems as needed
- Participation in university, college and department level service and governance
- Academic advising, mentorship, committee work, annual and ongoing budget proposals and grants
- Maintaining a portfolio of scholarly and/or creative activities aligning with Department Reappointment, Tenure, and Promotion criteria
Benefits
- Tenure Track Faculty Position
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Entry Level
