Production and Operations Manager

Northeastern offers a rewarding working environment for our students and employees. Our faculty and staff are smart, dedicated people who work to create an excellent urban university experience for bright and motivated students.

Job Summary:

As part of the Student Union, Events and Conference Services department (SUECS), and Production and Technical Services department (PTS), the Production and Operations Manager reports to the Production Director and is responsible for managing event production and operations at NEIU El Centro in the first floor lobby, first floor community room, third floor meeting space and third floor conference rooms, as well as providing production and operations support for other PTS-supported events in other spaces at El Centro, at CCICS, at the north campus, Board of Trustees meetings, and NEIU commencements.

Responsibilities include planning staffing, operations, and production services with SUECS staff, student groups, faculty, staff, rental groups, and other clients, managing student staff, freelance staff, and contractors, advancing internal, hosted, and rental events, executing equipment setups, live sound engineering, lighting design and operation, AV recording, and web conferencing equipment setup and operation.

Job Description:

• Manages production and operations for scheduled events at NEIU El Centro in the first floor lobby, first floor community room, third floor meeting space and third floor conference rooms, and for other PTS-supported events in support of all concerts, conferences, lectures, third-party and rental events occurring in these spaces. 
• Advances all event needs with NEIU faculty, staff, and external partners, renters, and other event organizers.  
• Supervises, manages, and carries out duties for the the following service areas: setup and strike of tables, chairs, portable staging, lecterns, live sound amplification systems, and other event equipment, the configuration and operation of conference room AV technology including live sound amplification, projections, and remote conference technologies such as Zoom, coordination of event equipment loans.
• Hires, trains, supervises staff, including student workers, freelance employees, and contractors to meet the production and operations needs of events at NEIU El Centro.  Schedules staff for event support, production, and venue management.   Covers their duties in their absence.  
• In collaboration with the Production Director, participates in identifying and executing departmental objectives and the development of long-range planning. 
• Identifies and leads special projects, including capital improvement projects as well as staffing leadership and development opportunities in support of successful program administration.
• Creates training and protocol documentation.  Creates and improves administrative systems in support of departmental responsibilities. 
• Enforces University policy, and creates and revises policy for the Production Unit in conjunction with the Production Director.
• Maintains equipment and records, including creating reports, troubleshooting, cleaning and repairing audio, video, lighting, and control equipment, verifying and updating inventory documentation, creating and updating technical venue documentation, updating firmware for equipment, and notifying the Production Director of any issues outside of this scope. 
• Recommends capital equipment purchases and other services in order to maintain and improve venue safety and functionality. 
• Reports facilities maintenance requests for the El Centro first floor lobby, first floor community room, third floor meeting space and third floor conference rooms to Facilities Management and tracks progress.
• Administrates event space calendars via the University scheduling system. 
• Ensures activities in venues are accurately reflected in the scheduling system.
• Provides production and operational support as needed for other PTS-supported events on all campuses.
• Advises and educates faculty, staff, rental clients and others on equipment operations and facilities use. 
• Serves as event liaison to Police, Building Service Workers, University Technology Services, and Parking during SUECS/PTS-supported events.
• Provides administrative support and management for rental events, including meeting with prospective clients, scheduling pre-production meetings for contracted rentals, serving as primary day-of production point-of-contact for NEIU venues, and reporting on space and staff usage for accurate invoicing.
• Participates in the planning and execution of commencement and board meetings, and other off-campus or satellite PTS-supported events.  This includes but is not limited to: organizing equipment, loading trucks, driving trucks, moving furniture, setting up, configuring, and operating AV equipment and conference room technology, and other duties normally performed on-campus.  Participation at all commencement ceremonies is required.
• Performs other related duties as assigned, or as needed.

Minimal Qualifications:

1. Bachelor’s degree.

2. A total of one (1) year (12 months) in education, training and/or work experience in the area of specialization inherent to the position. (Note: Master’s Degree in an area consistent with the duties of the position may be substituted for one (1) year of work experience.)

3. Based on position requirements, additional education, training, and/or work experience in the area of specialization inherent to the position, may be required.

Additional education, training and/or work experience in the area of specialization:

• Diagnosing, troubleshooting, and repairing audio, video, lighting, and networking equipment. (Required)
• Ability to lift up to 70 pounds, work on ladders (up to a 24-foot working height), lifts (up to a 30-foot working height), catwalks and crawl spaces.(Required)

Departmental Preferences:

• Master’s degree in a field related to technical theatre, theatrical design, or AV engineering
• 2 years of experience managing a team
• Knowledge of video recording, livestreaming, and video editing
• Experience managing rental events
• Familiarity with Microsoft Office suite, Google suite, and email correspondence.
• Understanding of event related software, including QLab, CAD and/or Vectorworks. Ability to interpret and implement layouts and diagrams.
• Demonstrated problem solving ability.
• Self-motivated, ability to carry out tasks with minimal direction.
• High attention to details and solid organizational skills.

Schedule: Flexible schedule based on departmental needs and event schedules. Evening and weekend hours may be required.

Location: NEIU El Centro Campus (3390 N Avondale Ave, Chicago, IL 60618). Travel to other NEIU campus locations is required as needed.

Setting: In-office, not eligible for hybrid or remote work.

Applicants must be legally authorized to work for any employer in the United States. This position is not eligible for sponsorship of work visas.

This position requires a background check.

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Salary Range

$60,000

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Benefits

University employees may be eligible for a variety of State of Illinois benefits. These benefits are administered through the Illinois Department of Central Management Service (CMS). Please visit our Employee Benefits page to learn more about our comprehensive benefits package including health, dental, and vision benefits, sick and vacation days, and participation in the State Universities Retirement System.

Northeastern Illinois University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer and invites applications from Women, Minorities, Veterans and Persons with Disabilities, as well as other qualified individuals. Northeastern Illinois University's positions are contingent upon the University's receipt of its State of Illinois appropriation.