Managing Director

Company Overview

PuSh International Performing Arts Festival is one of Vancouver’s signature events. Produced each January, the Festival expands the horizons of Vancouver artists and audiences with work that is visionary, genre-bending, multi-disciplined, startling and original.

The Festival showcases acclaimed international, Canadian and local artists and mixes them together with an alchemy that inspires audiences, rejuvenates artists, stimulates the industry and forges productive relationships around the globe. More than just shows, the Festival is a broker of international partnerships, a meeting place for creative minds, a showcase of Canada’s best and an incubator of brilliant new work.

The PuSh Festival acknowledges that it operates on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territories of the Coast Salish peoples of the xmθkwym (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Slílwta (Tsleil-Waututh) nations. We are grateful to be gathered here and recognize our privileged place on these lands.

Job Description

The PuSh International Performing Arts Festival is seeking an exceptional individual to join our leadership team to help steward the next phase of the Festival.The Managing Director role is ideal for someone excited to cultivate a collaborative vision that prepares PuSh to be resilient, and remain an impactful leader, not just in presenting cutting-edge, world-class art, but in modeling progressive operational and administration practices. PuSh is committed to leadership that amplifies practices of care – for the organization, its staff, the artists it works with, the audiences it serves, and the stakeholders that enable our work to thrive. 

The PuSh Festival board and staff are on a long-term path to create good relations with local Indigenous Host Nations and local Indigenous artists. We are committed to building meaningful relationships and to learning how we can better engage with Indigenous artists and communities in ways that are fuelled by practices of care and respect. The new Managing Director will be someone who is excited about this work and is eager to contribute to integrating Indigenous knowledge into the organization. 

About the Role

The Managing Director reports jointly to the Board with the Artistic Director. The Managing Director leads the fiscal, operational, and administrative direction of PuSh while ensuring the continued vitality, excellence, profile, and financial viability of the organization. Their primary functions are to oversee the financial management, human resources, fundraising activities, marketing and communications, and general operations.

The position shares the responsibility of maintaining and cultivating the organization’s financial health, including revenue generation from public and private sector fundraising with the Artistic Director. The Managing Director supervises numerous contract, part-time and full-time staff; they oversee the Communications, Development and Patron Services departments, and support the programming team to create transformational artistic programming. Core areas that the Managing Director and Artistic Director approach collectively include budgeting, public and private sector funding, staffing, patron experience and engagement, PuSh’s mission and vision, and Festival delivery. 

PuSh Vision, Mission & Values

Vision

We envision a society fully engaged in empathy and the arts and activated by a festival that expands our sense of the world.

Mission

The PuSh Festival creates new possibilities for artistic expression and how we relate to one another. We present a performing arts festival that challenges our assumptions, facilitates deeper understanding, inspires the imagination, and fosters meaningful connections.

 Values

Inter-cultural connection: We connect locally and globally across cultures and contexts to promote collaboration, creative and political stimulation, knowledge transmission, and empathy.

Transformative experiences:  We curate culturally urgent and rigorously realized performing arts to create transformative audience experiences. 

Innovation & experimentation: We celebrate creative risk with artistic programming that pushes the possibility of live art, and organizational practices that are adaptive and forward thinking.

Social justice: In our operations and programming, we use our power and privilege to challenge systemic inequities and to amplify the voices of those who are, or who have been historically, marginalized. 

Care & Reciprocity: We engage with people as humans first, nurturing connections built on mutual respect, dignity, and understanding. We strive for sustainable and reciprocal relationships.

Accountability: Recognizing that innovation carries risk and that we will make mistakes, we foster a culture of psychological safety, continuous learning and accountability.

Highlights of the Position

       Salary $80,000-$85,000

       Extended Health Benefits Package

       3 Weeks’ Vacation plus additional office closure periods

       Relocation Support

       Professional Development Support

Attributes We Seek

       Thrives when working collaboratively

       Highly organized creative-thinker

       Deep enthusiasm for the transformational potential of the arts

       Able to work with complexity and nuance

       Values accountability, scope and understands liability

       Strong attention to detail and high level of thoroughness

       A positive attitude and unflappable ability to manage through competing priorities

       Commitment to equity and social justice 

We seek an individual excited by the creative and transformational potential in the oversight of PuSh’s operations and administration who can prepare us for resilience and success into the future. We invite submissions from individuals from a diversity of arts practices. We seek an experienced people-leader, who leads through motivating, engaging and inspiring.

We seek a leader who embraces change, and who is excited to examine and implement new and better ways of approaching the operational management of an annual Festival, one who cultivates a positive, inclusive, and collaborative organizational culture through expressing oneself honestly, listening to the perspectives of colleagues, demonstrating empathy, embracing productive conflict, and practicing compassion and generosity with others. 

We seek an individual who drives accountability through consultation, is an open communicator and a willing listener, who manages with empathy and compassion, and who approaches working with others through a spirit of generosity. 

Candidate Professional Experience

       3+ years of leadership experience working in and with live performance or in the creative sector, particularly in operations and administration

       Strong understanding of best practices in administration, operations and fiscal management

       Experience working with a board

       Experience working with Indigenous artists and communities

       Strong understanding of, and experience with arts marketing, fundraising, and public sector funding and reporting

       Experience leading teams and recruiting, supervising and developing individuals

       Applicants must be eligible to work in Canada

How to Apply

Interested candidates are encouraged to reach out to hr@pushfestival.ca if they have any questions about this position, or would like further information.

To apply, send a cover letter stating your suitability and values in relation to this posting along with a resume/cv outlining your professional experience. Application deadline 31 December 2024, 5pm PST. 

KEY DATES (subject to change):

31 December 2024                             Application Due Date

January 2025                                      Application review and interview process

February/March 2025                         Candidate begins (optimal start date) 

We strongly encourage applications from members of communities that are marginalized or that experience structural discrimination including those identifying as Indigenous, people of colour, members of non-dominant ethnic, religious, linguistic, and/or cultural groups, women, (im)migrants/newcomers, people with (dis)abilities, and LGBTQ2S+ people, and we strongly encourage applicants to self-identify in their application if they feel comfortable in doing so. In order to achieve a representative team, preference may be given to applicants self-declaring as being a member of one or more of the groups identified above. PuSh believes that a staff that reflects the diversity of the communities we serve strengthens our ability to achieve our mission.

PuSh is committed to full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, we will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations.  If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process and/or to perform essential job functions, please contact hr@pushfestival.ca.

PuSh Managing Director Job Description

This position includes but is not limited to the following responsibilities:

 Planning & Development

       In collaboration with the Board and Artistic Director, develop long term strategies for the organization aligned with the Vision, Mission and Values, to ensure PuSh’s long term vitality and relevance

       Create and monitor annual operations and financial plans in keeping with long term strategy

       With the Board and Artistic Director, build good relations with local Host Nations and Indigenous Communities and Artists

Stakeholder Engagement

       With the Board and Artistic Director, act as a champion of, and advocate for, the Festival locally, nationally, and internationally

       Establish and build healthy relationships with audiences, partners, donors, funders, corporate partners, government agencies and other external stakeholders

       Oversee the development of a clear brand strategy that distinctly and advantageously positions the organization to the various stakeholder groups

Financial Management

       Manage the financial resources in an accountable and transparent manner, monitoring and maintaining appropriate and accurate financial records

       Provide regular and up-to-date financial reporting to the Board, identifying changes in financial forecasts and financial risks

       Lead the development and management of short and long term budgets in consultation with the Artistic Director, collaborate with the Artistic Director on programming budget

       Oversee day-to-day financial activities such as cash flow, borrowing, payables, receivables, payroll, and CRA remittances

       Oversee the annual audit and preparation of financial statements

Board Support & Governance

       With the Artistic Director, provide professional advice and support to the Board with respect to the long and short range strategies, policy and governance.

       Plan and schedule board and committee meetings in consultation with the Board Executive and Artistic Director

       Participate in Board recruitment and onboarding as needed

 Revenue Development

       Work with the fundraising staff to identify and develop innovative and effective strategies and campaigns for increased individual, corporate and foundation giving

       Work with the communications staff to guide the planning and development of Festival and organizational marketing strategies and communications plans with the specific goal of increasing profile and earned revenue

       Collaborate with the Artistic Director on public sector grant application planning, preparation and reporting

Operations

       With the support of the Artistic Director, plan for all staff, operations and administrative requirements for delivery of the Festival, and for year-round operations

       Oversee the Patron Services activities of the organization, upholding high standards of customer service and audience experience

       Support the programming team in managing agreements with community partners

       Participate in the co-operative leadership of The Post facility, working collaboratively with peer organizations 

Human Resources

       Cultivate an organizational culture where people are motivated to do their best to help PuSh achieve its objectives, and personnel are encouraged to apply their diverse skills and perspectives to achieve common goals

       With support of the Artistic Director, lead the recruiting, training, performance management and professional development of the staff and contractors.

       Develop and implement HR policies and procedures and ensure compliance with Worksafe BC regulations

In all aspects, the Managing Director demonstrates inclusive leadership that inspires, motivates, and supports excellence, holds individuals to account, and solicits honest and constructive feedback.