About

TITLE: Box Office & Volunteer Manager

STATUS: Part Time – 20 hours per week

PAY RANGE: $22.00/hour

SUPERVISOR: Managing Director

APPLICATION DEADLINE: Sunday, July 10, 2022

ABOUT THE POSITION

The Box Office and Volunteer Manager is the face of ArtsWest for our patrons and volunteers. As such, it is essential that this position provides exemplary customer service and great care in providing the best patron and volunteer experience possible, with clear focus on upholding ArtsWest’s values. The position oversees the day-to-day functioning of the Box Office and Volunteer Program including the supervision of front of house staff.

TYPICAL DUTIES MAY INCLUDE:

Box Office:

• Assures a high-quality experience for ArtsWest’s patrons by supporting the professional operation of the front of house, including but not limited to selling tickets and subscriptions to patrons over the phone and in-person, resolving ticketing and patron seating issues, assessing and providing complimentary tickets, and other accommodations.
• Updates patron contact information in Patron Manager, uploads patron content to our patron databases.
• Prepares Patron Manager reports as needed, to support marketing, development, and management needs.
• Oversees the subscription process each season, which includes ticketing through Patron Manager, seating subscribers, tracking new orders, sending out tickets and vouchers

through letters and being available by phone and email during box office hours to assists our patrons.

• Builds events and subscriptions in Patron Manager, keeping ticketing page on Patron Manager up to date.
• Supports subscriber loyalty through the preparation and dissemination of subscriber pre-show emails.  Supports the Marketing Manager in the execution of surveys or other forms of subscriber reporting
• Assures that the Box Office, Gallery, concessions, and theater house are safe, clean and inviting through self-work and through the supervision of front of house staff.
• Prepares, updates, and disseminates front of house schedules for performances and events.
• Performs house manager and bartender duties as required.
• Assures that the front of house staff maintains up to date food handlers and bartender’s licenses.
• Ensures that the cash flow processes, and risk management systems are being adhered to by front of house staff.
• Tracks status of concessions supplies and assures that adequate stock is maintained, and the concessions room is neat and tidy.

Volunteer Program:

• Oversees a volunteer program that is accessible, expedient, and meets legal requirements for both the volunteers and organization while maintaining AW values.
• Works with the Relationship Manager to support volunteer recruitment, training, and recognition.
• Works with all departments – production, marketing, and development to match volunteers with organizational needs.
• Collects, processes, and maintains volunteer registration forms, including conducting WA State background checks.
• Maintains volunteer tracking of hours.

SKILLS, ABILITIES, AND/OR KNOWLEDGE PREFERRED

• Excellent organization, communication, and customer service skills.
• A history of work or lived experience with customer service.
• A self-starter that sees opportunities to improve situations and can problem solve along the way.
• Needs to have a sense of humor and find joy in handling customer interactions.
• A self-directed, diplomatic individual who can stay on top of their own work, but also intersect with all members of the ArtsWest staff.
• Familiarity with Patron Manager or other donor/client-based software is preferred but not necessary. Familiarity with Microsoft Office and Outlook a plus.
• Experience working in a theater or performing arts organization and/or demonstrated affinity for the performing arts desired.

HOURS AND COMPENSATION

The Box Office & Volunteer Manager is a part-time position that is compensated at $22/hour and follows all City of Seattle and State employment laws regarding sick leave, FMLA leave, etc.

The majority of this work is done during evening hours and weekends.  Our current box office hours are Thursdays and Fridays 4-7PM and Sundays 11AM-3PM. Hours in addition to these open public hours would be a mix of onsite and/or remote work checking emails, attending staff meetings, shopping for concessions.  There are weeks where the hours may exceed 20 hour and those will be planned with the Box Office & Volunteer Manager’s availability in mind.

LOCATION

ArtsWest is located at 4711 California Ave. SW in the heart of West Seattle’s Alaska Junction.  There is paid parking behind the building, with free parking available on residential streets within 4 blocks west and south of the theater.  King County Metro has a stop for the C Line on the same block as the building.

APPLICATION DETAILS AND DEADLINE

To apply, please submit a resume and a cover letter in PDF format, that outlines how your related experience and skills qualifies you for the position, to resumes@artswest.org. Applications will be accepted through Sunday, July 10, 2022.  Applications will be reviewed after the posting closes. Interviews will be scheduled in late July with an estimated start date of Thursday, August 4, 2022.

As a historically white-led organization, ArtsWest is committed to operating as an anti-racist institution throughout all of its operations.  You can read more about our anti-racist commitments here.

Our policies regarding hiring and employment at ArtsWest are designed to make it clear on all levels of the organization that we honor and value lived experience and the truths of the human beings and the energies and talents they bring to their work.  A broad range of lived experiences are welcomed.  We invite those whose goal is to create an environment of abundant and creative space, especially for those whose intersecting identities and voices have been historically excluded, marginalized, or erased.

QUESTIONS?

For more information on our mission, values, hiring practices, production practices and more, please visit https://www.artswest.org/about/work-with-us/, and feel free to reach out to Laura Lee, Managing Director at laural@artswest.org

Who We Are: ArtsWest is a theatre and gallery that produces artistic events that provoke conversation, incite the imagination and use live theater as a powerful agent of change. We are dedicated to creating an inclusive atmosphere of openness, transparency, honesty and respect. ArtsWest is committed to becoming an anti-racist organization and recognize that it an active and on-going process.

General Responsibilities: Sets up, manages and closes the lobby bar during performances and special events. This position is responsible for selling snacks and selling and serving drinks to patrons. This position coordinates with the House Manager in training and managing Volunteer Ushers before and during performances, and acts as a greeter and liaison with the public when the House Manager is elsewhere.

Hours: Part-time, evenings and some weekend matinees with shifts ranging from 2-4 hours depending on the length of the production run. Shifts are on a sign up, first-reply first scheduled basis. This position is seasonal – November thru August as dictated by our theater season calendar.

Supervision: This position reports to the Box Office Manager & Volunteer Coordinator.

Salary: $17.60/hr or Seattle City minimum wage.

Basic Responsibilities:

● Opening, managing and closing the Bar for performances, special events and rentals.

● Maintain a clean, professional and inviting bar area for all Patrons

● Act as an agent of ArtsWest for the public by engaging with them courteously and promptly plus set a professional tone for all, whether patrons or volunteers

● Creating the ideal conditions for their enjoyment of ArtsWest’s programs

● Work with House Manager to avoid late starts and seat latecomers

● Monitor and report on bar and concessions inventory with House Manager

● Count/reconcile cash tills with House Manager

● Work with House Manager to manage emergency situations involving audience members and the public

● Work with House Manager to train / orient the Volunteer Ushers for each performance

● Complete intersectional anti-racism training as a part of the on-boarding process

● Bartenders may be asked to cross-train in house managing and box office.

Qualifications:

● A smiling team player with the ability to work with minimal supervision and to remain calm under pressure.

● Successful applicant must possess excellent customer service skills and attention to details and meet

Washington State Patrol criminal background check prior to employment.

● Practical experience in hospitality, bar services and experience as a volunteer are a plus

● First aid training is helpful.

Note: Washington MAST license, liquor and food handling training and certification are required – the fee and time spent in class are paid for by ArtsWest. Employees must be fully vaccinated.

The application will remain open until the position is filled. Please send a cover letter and resume to resumes@artswest.org

Who We Are: ArtsWest is a theatre and gallery that produces artistic events that provoke conversation, incite the imagination and use live theater as a powerful agent of change. We are dedicated to creating an inclusive atmosphere of openness, transparency, honesty and respect. ArtsWest is committed to becoming an anti-racist organization and recognize that it an active and on-going process.

General Responsibilities: Provides supervision of the front of house during performances and special events. This position is responsible for audience seating, customer service, hospitality and maintaining audience and volunteer safety at all times. This position coordinates with the Production Stage Manager during performances and acts as shift supervisor for all front of house paid staff and volunteers.

Hours: Part-time, evenings and some weekend matinees with shifts ranging from 2-4 hours depending on the length of the production run. Shifts are on a sign up, first-reply first scheduled basis. This position is seasonal – November thru August as dictated by our theater season calendar.

Supervision: This position reports to the Box Office Manager & Volunteer Coordinator.

Salary: $17.60/hr or Seattle City minimum wage.

Specific Responsibilities:

● Opening and closing the theater for performances, special events and rentals.

● Maintaining the safety and comfort of the public at all times.

● Creating the ideal conditions for their enjoyment of ArtsWest’s programs

● Assist the public with special needs (including early seating for injured or disabled persons) and train ushers in matters of audience safety and emergency evacuation.

● Act as liaison between ArtsWest and the public in addressing their concerns courteously and promptly plus set a professional tone for all publics, whether patrons or volunteers

● Count/reconcile cash tills to concession reports

● Work with Box Office to seat latecomers

● Provide lobby security during performances and other events

● Manage emergency situations involving audience members and the public

● Works in consultation with Production Stage Management to hand over a seated audience ready for the performance.

● Complete intersectional anti-racism training as a part of the on-boarding process

House Managers may be asked to cross-train in box office and bartending.

Qualifications:

● A smiling team player with the ability to work with minimal supervision and to remain calm under pressure.

● Successful applicant must possess excellent customer service skills and attention to details and meet

Washington State Patrol criminal background check prior to employment.

● Practical experience in hospitality, audience services and experience as a volunteer are a plus

● Basic proficiency in Microsoft Office – word, excel; experience with ticketing systems a plus

● First aid training is helpful.

Note: Washington liquor and food handling training and certification are required – the fee and time spent in class are paid for by ArtsWest. Employees must be fully vaccinated.

The application will remain open until the position is filled. Please send a cover letter and resume to resumes@artswest.org

ArtsWest’s mission is to produce theater that provokes conversation, incites the imagination and uses live theater as a powerful agent of change.  Fulfilling this mission often leads us to produce disruptive work that responds to what’s happening in our world and challenges the status quo.  For the past several years, ArtsWest mainstage seasons have been comprised of at least 50% BIPOC playwrights and stories.  In 2021 and beyond, we have instituted a series of practices to further support the artists telling these stories and the audiences who experience them. 

In 2021, we began programming our seasons collaboratively with a collective of ArtsWest Associate Artists.  The group was created as a new power-sharing method of season curation.  Rather than limiting the minds and voices involved to those of ArtsWest leadership, the group adds new interdisciplinary, majority BIPOC theater artists into the conversation each year.  In collaboration with ArtsWest leadership, the Associate Artists source, discuss, debate and program as a collective the material for our mainstage season. 

Each season at ArtsWest is programmed around a “theme,” though the season seeks to go much deeper than the word implies.  Each season has at its heart a deep and pressing question that arises from the world the season finds itself in.  This question is explored through six widely different lenses over the course of a year-long season of theater and visual art exhibits, placing the theater we make in solid conversation with the world around it. 

ArtsWest seeks to create a nourishing home for artists where they can show up as their authentic selves and find the support necessary to create visionary work. The following policies and practices have been created with two goals in mind – to open our doors, inviting artists who have never worked at ArtsWest before to join us for the first time; and to continue to develop ongoing and long-term creative relationships with artists who find an artistic home at ArtsWest.  Since 2017, at least 40% of artists employed by ArtsWest each year have been BIPOC, and at least 50% of the plays produced each year have been written by BIPOC playwrights.  In 2021 and forward, at least 50% of the artists we work with will be BIPOC and plays by BIPOC playwrights will continue to constitute at least 50% of our work.  However, BIPOC artists are valued not just for one aspect of their identity, but as artists full stop.  For that reason BIPOC artists work on shows throughout the season, not just on BIPOC plays.

Beginning in 2021, each year we will hold an open submission process to get to know stage managers, crew members, designers, and other creatives who have never worked at ArtsWest before.  Interested artists are invited to submit work samples on a rolling basis, and to come in for an annual day of conversations with a committee consisting of ArtsWest’s Artistic Director and fellow community artists.  Below are more details specific to each discipline.

New non-union stage managers and assistant stage managers are invited to submit resumes, work samples, or simply letters of interest at any time, which we will receive and collect throughout the year. Each year, we schedule a day of 10-minute appointments for interested stage managers to meet with a committee consisting of ArtsWest’s Artistic Director, a fellow stage manager, and an actor from the community.

Each season we employ six Production Stage Managers. At least one will be new to ArtsWest, with two positions reserved for pre-existing partnerships with directors, and three reserved to continue fostering ongoing creative relationships with ArtsWest. 

Our crew consists of non-union run crew, wardrobe, board ops, master electricians, carpenters, and/or scenic charge artists, depending on the needs of each production.  Each year, at least 40% of these positions will be reserved for those new to ArtsWest. 

Each year, we schedule a day of 10-minute appointments for interested technical crew members to meet with a committee consisting of ArtsWest’s Artistic Director, Technical Director, and a designer or two from the community.

New directors, designers, and other creatives are invited to submit resumes, work samples, or simply letters of interest at any time, which we will receive and collect throughout the year. Each year, we will schedule a day of 10-minute appointments for interested artists to meet with a committee consisting of ArtsWest’s Artistic Director, a director with an ongoing relationship to ArtsWest, and a designer from the community.  

Each season, at least 30% of the designers and other creatives will be new to ArtsWest, with 30% reserved for pre-existing partnerships with directors, and 40% reserved to continue fostering ongoing creative relationships with ArtsWest.  A minimum of one director new to ArtsWest will be brought onboard each season.

At this time, ArtsWest has no new works program.  Typically our seasons are programmed from published plays with prior productions that are licensable through licensing houses or the playwrights themselves.  Occasionally we will produce the first production of plays that have been fully workshopped and are not in need of any additional development process.  Playwrights interested in pitching such plays are invited to submit them year-round via this form (coming soon).  We will not be able to respond to every inquiry, but you can rest assured that your work will be seen by ArtsWest staff.

While there are constraints and limitations in all producing settings, ArtsWest works to give as much agency and support as possible to artists to create work that is authentic to them, especially when it comes to centering BIPOC artists in the telling of their own stories.  Solutions to producing challenges are found through creative collaboration and a people-first approach, rather than through organizational overrides, and we will always be prepared to support and defend the artistic choices of the creative team to the public. 

As the team is assembled, we ensure competent, proficient and accessible walkthroughs of inventory and spatial configurations for all new and returning designers and creative team members. In 2021, we will begin a practice of disclosing who else is on the project when offers are made, and keeping the team updated as additional members are brought on. 

Also beginning in 2021, identity conscious casting and storytelling will become a central part of the discussion in early creative and production meetings, and be returned to throughout the design process, adding into the mix any racial equity or cultural consultants involved with the project.  In all cases, the ways in which race and other forms of oppression manifest in the narrative will be named and discussed from the early stages of the process onward. 

Specific needs of each project will be anticipated and attended to early on.  An example of this practice is BIPOC hair and makeup design, especially in regard to Black hair styling, which is to be designed in collaboration with the actor, in consultation with properly trained designers, and budgeted for by the organization.  These specific needs will also have impact in such areas as lighting and costume design, and will be anticipated and accounted for early on.

SCHEDULES 

Rehearsal schedules at ArtsWest are malleable and developed on a per-project basis to suit the needs of the project and the people working on it.  This can look like a mix of daytimes, evenings, and/or weekends, all constructed based on the needs and schedules of the humans involved.  The majority of rehearsals outside of tech are no more than six hours long.  Rehearsal processes are generally 4-5 weeks long, including tech.  Beginning in 2021, ArtsWest has eliminated 10/12s, opting for 8-hour days over a longer timeframe.   

FIRST REHEARSAL 

A substantial portion of time on first rehearsal is dedicated to introducing the cast and creatives to each other, the staff of ArtsWest, and acclimating all to the space which will become their home over the next several weeks. 

Practices such as stating pronouns, inquiring about access needs, and forming community agreements are strongly encouraged in all rehearsal settings.  Beginning in 2021, a statement of values will be read and distributed at first rehearsal which addresses such things as: land acknowledgement, racism, sexism, and all other forms of oppression, and ends with a commitment to prioritizing the needs of and celebrating the work of those whose voices have been historically excluded in the curation, creation, and presentation of our work. 

ArtsWest’s grievance process will also be reviewed and distributed at first rehearsal.  The process includes multiple choices of who to speak with, and prioritizes the ability of each individual to express their concerns to someone they feel comfortable with.  Responsibility to then resolve these concerns fully lies with the leadership of the organization and not with the affected person. 

WORKING REHEARSALS 

The goal of working rehearsals is to create an environment that is transparent, open, safe and brave.  ArtsWest seeks to provide the maximum level of support to the rehearsal room through a variety of means.  Funding is provided in every production for a consultant or consultants to support exploration of the intersecting identities and issues in the play.  Past examples of this have included cultural consultants, gender consultants, racial equity consultants, and more. 

In addition, ArtsWest now has a reciprocal relationship with SOUND, a mental health organization, which will make available therapists to the cast and creative team when we are producing content that deals with racial and other forms of trauma. 

In the first working rehearsals, it is expected that the ways in which race and other forms of oppression manifest in the narrative will be named and discussed by the cast, creative team and consultants in a way that feels necessary and productive to each particular group’s process. 

Shows at ArtsWest are typically scheduled for a 3-5 week run, with performances Wednesday or Thursday through Saturday at 7:30pm and Sundays at 3pm. 

The goal during the run is to continue the level of support and responsiveness experienced from the creative process onward, adding the audience into this mix.  Shows with challenging themes are always presented with context for the audience through content in the lobby, content in the program, curtain speeches, and post-show or ancillary programming such as talk-backs and panels.  Beginning in 2021, a statement of inclusion for BIPOC audience cultural practices will be included in programs, displayed in the lobby, and covered in the onboarding and training of Front of House volunteers and staff. 

Beginning in 2021, ArtsWest will redouble efforts to support the audience for which BIPOC artistic work is intended.  Initial steps toward this goal include providing a welcoming space for BIPOC audiences, continuing to foster collective organizational cross-racial relationships, and investing in reciprocal relationships with BIPOC communities via our ArtsWest Voices program.   

The artists involved in the production are not called upon to be the facilitators of talkbacks or ancillary programming unless there’s a specific desire or reason to do so on their part.  In all cases we will ensure all artists are compensated for appearances at ancillary events, including talkbacks and donor events, and are never asked to volunteer their time.  Beginning in 2021, ArtsWest will ensure that all talkbacks and panels are moderated by culturally competent facilitators who are fluent in bystander intervention techniques. 

ArtsWest has developed a process for artist approval and compensation for use of their image in marketing and fundraising materials for any use after the season in which the production was presented.  This will appear in every contract beginning with the first production of the 2021-2022 season. 

All production processes end with the opportunity for all involved to share post-mortem learnings as we work to incorporate progress made and lessons learned into our processes moving forward.

ArtsWest is committed to equitable hiring practices that center the matching of skills, interests and learned experience over education requirements and previous employment.    

All job openings will be posted with a salary attached and an expected timeframe for the process.   

Our hiring is done by a committee of at least three individuals with global majority representation.  The committee will explore their own biases before the interview process so that this awareness can be factored in our hiring process.  The committee will establish the criteria for the position and create a rubric to mark candidates during the hiring process.  All candidates will be reviewed anonymously by the committee as decisions are made to move candidates to the interview portion of the process.    

During an interview, a candidate can expect a conversational, non-confrontational environment focused on questions that speak to experiences. We do not want any barriers to interviewing for our candidates and as such, interviews can be in person or over zoom, and at a time of day that works for the candidate. We will ask about and will meet accessibility needs.   Following an interview process, every candidate interviewed will receive a phone call to share the outcome.