IT/Systems Manager

The Fisher Center at Bard is building a team to support, maintain, and enhance its technology systems. While this team will inherit a wide and varied body of existing systems and practices that have been built over time, this role will support the Fisher Center and Bard IT’s efforts to streamline, create efficiency, mitigate risk, and strategize with organization capacity and sustainability in mind, including moving to Cloud resources for critical infrastructure. As the Fisher Center approaches its 20th anniversary of producing and supporting high caliber performing arts productions, this role will be particularly crucial in strategizing systems management that will support expanding programmatic activities.
This role will lead in strategic decision-making and gathering stakeholder input, and together with the IT/Systems Associate, will collaborate to maintain, execute, and implement systems and processes.

This position reports to the Fisher Center’s General Manager, supervises the IT/Systems Associate and will work closely with various Fisher Center staff members, in addition to frequently liaising/coordinating with Bard IT.
This is a full-time, exempt position eligible for Bard College’s group benefits package. Relocation support will be provided, if applicable. This position will require working some nights and weekends.

More details about benefits can be found on Bard’s Benefits Resource page and Employee Handbook.

Resources Page: https://www.bard.edu/humanresources/benefits/
Employee Handbook: https://bit.ly/bc-handbook

RESPONSIBILITIES

• The Fisher Center IT team is responsible for the technology that powers the Fisher Center’s organizational mission.
• The IT/Systems Manager will oversee, strategize, and provide analysis in the following four key areas:
• Oversee administration and customization of core line of business technology used by the ticketing, fundraising, and audience services team. -This includes a CRM platform with a website e-commerce component (Tessitura), a virtual box office call center, front-of-house hardware, and related systems.
• Manage integration of internal and external services which support the administrative teams. This includes internal tools such as Confluence, Slack, Airtable, and Bard College’s Google Workspace, and architectural leadership for the agency-developed, WordPress-powered marketing -website.
• Oversee general user services and infrastructure in collaboration with, and to supplement those provided by Bard IT. This includes user hardware service, configuration, and deployment using MDM and Active Directory GPO, ad-hoc networking, and overall infrastructure strategy.
• Strategize on development of new in-house tools and creative solutions after identifying opportunities for streamlining Fisher Center processes or in response to current events and programming, as well as exploring Cloud resources for critical infrastructure.
• Some recent IT/Systems projects that exemplify practical applications above include:
• In collaboration with Bard IT, architecting a wi-fi deployment that is resilient enough to maintain connectivity for staff devices and mobile ticket scanners during a sold-out performance with 800+ attendees
• Writing a simple but full-stack web application for internal use to facilitate COVID rapid testing by integrating Airtable, Twilio Programmable Messaging, and 2D barcode scanners
• Writing internal documentation for templates and functionality to the Fisher Center’s marketing website delivered by a vendor web design agency
• Troubleshooting and diagnosing an intermittent hardware edge case affecting the Fisher Center’s thermal ticket printers
• Integrating a payment processor and credit card terminal hardware into the Fisher Center’s POS and accounting systems
• Customizing Tessitura (the Fisher Center’s CRM, Ticketing, and Fundraising database) to better integrate with Bard College’s finance and fundraising systems

QUALIFICATIONS

• Ideal candidates will be excited to join our team and demonstrate strong technical fundamental skills and practices. Candidates are not expected to have exhaustive knowledge of any of the sector-specific subject areas discussed above. Ideal candidates will possess the following:
• At least 4 years professional experience working in an IT/Systems capacity including some supervisory experience; experience working in this capacity within a start-up, non-profit, or the arts is a plus but not required
• Experience working with and managing people; ability to oversee the day-to-day operations while keeping larger institutional picture and priorities in mind
• Alignment with the engineering values imbued in the existing systems and software that you will be working with
• Affinity for learning new tools and systems; capability to test one’s own assumptions and ask effective questions to clarify one’s mental model of a tool or system
• Proficiency with the Git version control system (not necessarily the git -command line tool) and at least one of the major git hosting providers (GitHub, Bitbucket, or GitLab)
• Deep proficiency with at least one programming language plus working knowledge of at least two additional programming languages
• Strong fundamental IT skills including hardware, operating systems, security, identity, applications, networking, the Internet, and the web platform
• Strong interpersonal skills, namely discovering project requirements in collaboration with stakeholders, communicating progress to stakeholders as a project progresses, and translating technical circumstances and limitations for a non-technical audience
• Successful candidates possess strong communication skills and keen attention to detail. They are collaborative, self-motivated, and bring a positive, can-do attitude! While some duties may be performed remotely, this position will require on-site and physical presence at the Fisher Center.

LOCATION

Bard’s beautiful 1,000-acre campus is situated on the east bank of the Hudson River, in Annandale-on Hudson, New York. Community life is defined by numerous cultural and recreational opportunities in the surrounding historic Hudson River Valley and by proximity to New York City. Nearby towns and villages include Rhinebeck, Tivoli, and Red Hook, New York.

TO APPLY

Complete the application form here: https://formfaca.de/sm/w7UHML4yA.

Applications for this position will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled.

Bard College is an equal opportunity employer and we welcome applications from those who contribute to our diversity. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, mental, or physical disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, familial status, veteran status, or genetic information. Bard is committed to providing access, equal opportunity, and reasonable accommodation for all individuals in employment practices, services, programs, and activities.

ABOUT THE FISHER CENTER

The Fisher Center develops, produces, and presents performing arts across disciplines through new productions and context-rich programs that challenge and inspire. As a premier professional performing arts center and a hub for research and education, the Fisher Center supports artists, students, and audiences in the development and examination of artistic ideas, offering perspectives from the past and present, as well as visions of the future.

Presenting more than 200 world-class events and welcoming 50,000 visitors each year, the Fisher Center supports artists at all stages of their careers and employs more than 300 professional artists annually. The Fisher Center is a powerful catalyst of art-making regionally, nationally, and worldwide. Every year it produces 8 to 10 major new works in various disciplines. Over the past five years, its commissioned productions have been seen in more than 100 communities around the world. During the 2018-19 season, six Fisher Center productions toured nationally and internationally. In 2019, the Fisher Center won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical for Daniel Fish’s production of Oklahoma! which began life in 2007 as an undergraduate production at Bard and was produced professionally in the Fisher Center’s SummerScape Festival in 2015 before transferring to New York City.

The Fisher Center demonstrates Bard’s commitment to the performing arts as a cultural and educational necessity. Home is the Fisher Center for the Performing Arts, designed by Frank Gehry and located on the campus of Bard College in New York’s Hudson Valley. Building on a 162-year history as a competitive and innovative undergraduate institution, Bard is committed to enriching culture, public life, and democratic discourse by training tomorrow’s thought leaders.

ABOUT THE SUMMERSCAPE FESTIVAL

SummerScape is a world-renowned multi-arts festival presented by the Fisher Center at Bard. Over eight weeks this summer (June–August), Bard SummerScape returns with a full season of dance, theater, opera, music, and the beloved Spiegeltent, culminating in the 32nd annual Bard Music Festival, Sergei Rachmaninoff and His World. Productions will be staged in Bard’s Frank Gehry-designed Fisher Center for the Performing Arts, adhering to rigorous health and safety protocols while celebrating the joys of live performance.

ABOUT BARD COLLEGE

Founded in 1860, Bard College is a four-year residential college of the liberal arts and sciences located 90 miles north of New York City. With the addition of the Montgomery Place estate, Bard’s campus consists of nearly 1,000 park-like acres in the Hudson River Valley. It offers bachelor of arts, bachelor of science, and bachelor of music degrees, with majors in nearly 40 academic programs; graduate degrees in 13 programs; nine early colleges; and numerous dual-degree programs nationally and internationally. Building on its 162-year history as a competitive and innovative undergraduate institution, Bard College has expanded its mission as a private institution acting in the public interest across the country and around the world to meet broader student needs and increase access to liberal education. The undergraduate program at our main campus in upstate New York has a reputation for scholarly excellence, a focus on the arts, and civic engagement. Bard is committed to enriching culture, public life, and democratic discourse by training tomorrow’s thought leaders. For more information about Bard College, visit bard.edu.