General Management Assistant

Full time / $50,500 annually / Ars Nova / New York, NY

Ars Nova seeks an industrious General Management (GM) Assistant who is a thoughtful communicator with exceptional attention to detail, strong information retention and excellent organizational skills. Reporting to Managing Director Casey York, and closely collaborating with the Business Manager, the GM Assistant will help the management team efficiently coordinate a high volume of artistic programs and programming, and the smooth flow of resources – contracts, money, schedules, policies- for the entire team. This includes lots and lots of contract drafting, theatrical union compliance, production expense related bookkeeping and cash management as well as administrative and clerical support duties.

https://arsnovanyc.com/work-with-us/

Requirements

KEY PURPOSE OF POSITION/GOALS:
The GM Assistant will serve as the right hand helper for a bustling management, operations & finance team, overseeing and optimizing a wide range of projects and tasks supporting high levels of artistic programming by ensuring our resources (financial, physical, human) are best flexibly and sustainably utilized to support this mission-centric activity.

SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES AND COMPETENCIES:
The responsibilities, competencies and expectations outlined below are representative, not exhaustive. Responsibilities may shift as needed to best align with organizational needs.

GENERAL MANAGEMENT, PRODUCING, & ARTIST SUPPORT:
Assisting the Managing Director who serves as the General Manager for our Off-Broadway productions, and becoming the GM Representative for our one-night-only discovery & development programming including:
– Serving as our main “Contract Draftsperson” for a high volume of vendor and artist contracts, specifically for actors & designers & assistants on productions; resident artist seasonal agreements as needed; presenting agreements for all of our one-night shows; and more;
– Communicating with artists and agents about their contracts and paperwork, fielding their questions and staying on top of their correspondence;
– Tracking all of those contracts and submitting payment requests, ensuring timely payments to all artists of fees, wages, box office splits, and union benefits as applicable;
– Assisting with union compliance for all workshops and Off-Broadway productions, managing the bonding process, and preparing all weekly union reports, cover letters, and communication;
– Preparing ticket sales settlement reports on a weekly basis for royalties, box office splits, co-producers and union reporting and helping reconcile the sales reports from House Management and our sales and donation database/CRM tool;
– Maintaining the accuracy of the production calendar details and ensuring our shared Google Calendars are up to date as details shift or clarify;
– Creating and maintaining contact sheets for all workshops and productions, ensuring complete and accurate information is stored and archived;
– Supporting the Company Management efforts including occasionally hand-delivering paychecks to artists at the theaters, fielding questions from actors and crew including union related queries, tracking covid-19 testing plans, injury reports, and more;
– Helping oversee artist space cleanliness, readiness and hospitality; purchasing, stocking & managing the storage of supplies as needed;
– Assisting & coordinating the planning of production related events & parties, working with a cross-team group of collaborators to execute and track ticket lists, catering, staffing, venues and of course: the party budget!

ADMINISTRATIVE & FINANCE SUPPORT:
Manage the logistical aspects of the day-to-day office for the general management and finance team, maintaining confidentiality and discretion. Including:
– Light Bookkeeping duties, including data entry and reconciliations for credit card charges, and document collection for the annual audit; Cash Management, including preparing and tracking cash banks for box office and bar sales during programming;
– Budget & Financial Tracking, including revenue analytics and projections, and weekly ticket sales settlement preparation for Rental productions;
– Attending meetings as necessary, creating agendas, taking notes, and ensuring follow-through on tasks resulting from these conversations;
– Plugging into our web of office management by sorting the incoming mail for all staff into their respective mailboxes, and occasionally helping field incoming phone calls and welcome guests & deliveries;
– Fulfill our internal mantra that #EveryoneIsOnTeamFundraising by supporting our fundraising efforts for our annual NovaBall by leading a team (such as staff hospitality, volunteer coordination, strike, etc for our big blowout gala);
– Completing special projects as assigned, which may include serving as administrative lead on long-term cross-team management projects, research and data analysis, and inquiring and reporting on issues impacting the field.

ABOUT YOU:
– You have 1-2 years of training and/or prior experience in the fields of arts administration, theater management, live performance producing, venue management, company management, artist relations, non-profit bookkeeping (or transferrable/equivalent);
– You are a self-motivated, determined, positive-thinker with a proactive work ethic who is able to anticipate needs and “manage up”;
– You actually enjoy number-crunching, math, spreadsheets, calculations, and that moment when it all adds up and balances out and the final penny is counted;
– You are excited about the idea of supporting the creation and presentation of live entertainment by keeping an eye on all the little administrative details, having them at the ready at the moment they’re needed;
– You are careful and trustworthy with sensitive information;
– You like solving puzzles and seeing how all the details fit together, you are a creative problem solver, adaptable to new responsibilities and retain new information quickly;
– You share our commitment to anti-racism and creating and maintaining an inclusive environment, are excited about joining our efforts to make Ars Nova a more just and equitable place to work and make work, and have the ability to interact effectively with people of different cultures and socio-economic backgrounds.

BONUS IF:
– You are already comfortable representing Ars Nova, its mission, programs, and core values to the broader community;
– You enjoy and have comfort reading contracts and decoding/translating dense writing or legalese into plain-speak;
– You have a passion for theater, for artists of all stripes, and love connecting communities to each other and to live entertainment;
– You are fluid with Google Suite, Quickbooks, and have a comfortability with project based software, specifically Asana;
– You have experience as a Stage Manager, Production Manager and/or aspire to be a General Manager or Producer;
– Going one step further: Extra-Extra-bonus if you’re well-versed in Actor’s Equity Association contracts/ rulebooks, and especially the Off-Broadway League’s Collectively Bargained Agreements (but don’t be discouraged if you don’t, as this can absolutely be learned on the job!);