General Manager

General Manager – Studebaker Theater 

Fine Arts Building, a historic landmarked building located at 410 S. Michigan Ave, home of the Studebaker Theater (a 600 seat proscenium), is seeking a dynamic individual to join our leadership team.

At Fine Arts Building and Studebaker, we view our employees and co-workers as equals who deserve our respect, and are subsequently building a talent pool to support the company’s growth. Our team aims to represent the communities we serve, and it is of utmost importance that we create and foster an affirming space for our employees to be seen as their full selves. We are seeking a passionate arts leader who embodies these core values, and is excited about joining a thriving community within a historic arts building.

Reporting directly to the Managing Artistic Director, the General Manager leads the day to day operations of the organization. Serving as a senior member of the leadership team, the General Manager is the bridge between the renters of the Studebaker and the administrative team. While supervising the Front of House Manager, Box Office Manager and Assistant General Manager, you must be someone who is excited about managing a team that balances strong client relations while ensuring a superior guest experience. The ideal candidate is someone who is passionate about Chicago’s arts and culture sector and who leads strategically with empathy and curiosity. You are someone who enjoys working collaboratively as much as independently while maintaining strong administrative systems.

The Studebaker, being primarily a rental venue, hosts clients with very wide ranging needs and budgets. Fluency in both non-profit and commercial producing models is critical. You will usher our renters from contract to final settlement with grace and patience while managing organizational oversight. While the Studebaker enters a new phase of growth, genuine interest and flexibility within co-producing models is required. We seek individuals who are detail-oriented, enthusiastic, and are excited about joining a young company that is still growing.

Candidates with previous experience in General Management and/or Administrative Leadership in the arts are strongly encouraged to apply.

Key Responsibilities:

• Manage full-scale operations of high-traffic live events while overseeing organizational logistics, renter relations, and audience experience.
• Maintain operational systems and workflows that improve efficiency and elevate overall organizational performance.
• Responsible for leading the contracting process, fee tracking, billing and maintaining clear records to ensure timely deliverables.
• Preparing Weekly Settlement Statements for our renters ensuring accuracy while in collaboration with our accounting department making sure our renters receive their settlements on-time.
• Support annual budget planning, quarterly department budget tracking, including revenue forecasting, expense control, and vendor cost to ensure financial sustainability and growth.
• Maintain up to date business records and business licences.
• Strong collaboration skills, empathetic leadership, and effective communication with clients that have a wide range of production experience and expectations, and who come from a variety of  diverse backgrounds.
• Attend community meetings and events, expanding public engagement and reinforcing building’s and theater’s local reputation.
• Maintains full ownership of theater operations and scheduling, ensuring consistent coverage and operational continuity.
• Serves as the primary point of contact for team support and escalations, including during off-hours, as needed. Accountable for addressing urgent operational or facility issues to support the safety, functionality, and overall success of the theater.
• Oversee safety, security, and accessibility initiatives, ensuring compliance with regulations while leading managers who are prioritizing inclusive and welcoming experiences for all visitors.
• Demonstrates working knowledge of employee relations practices, with the ability to recognize, document, and appropriately escalate workplace issues to HR while maintaining professionalism and consistency in day-to-day management.
• Demonstrates knowledge of finance and accounting principles including forecasting, cost analysis, payables and receivables to aid in our accountants bookkeeping.

Ideal Candidate Requirements: 

• Degree in Arts Administration or equivalent professional experience.
• Proficiency with both non-profit and commercial producing models.
• A background in front of house procedures enabling confident leadership of our guest services management team.
• Ability to work efficiently under pressure and respond quickly and strategically to dynamic situations and multiple stakeholder priorities.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Flexibility to work some evenings, weekends, and holidays.
• Passionately brings an appreciation of inclusivity to their role.
• Proficiency with Google Workspace and Microsoft Office Suites
• Experience with Airtable a plus
• Ability to lift up-to 40lbs; stand, walk for extended periods; and navigate multi-tier, historic complex
• Values accessibility, supporting public audiences who will express a range and variation of physical ability: wheelchairs, assisted listening devices, canes, walkers, blind, deaf, captions, ASL
• Will elevate anti-racist practices and assist our team in dismantling the systemic racism perpetuated within arts and culture

Compensation:

The position pays a salary range of $95,000 – $115,000, along with a benefits package including health, vision, dental, and life insurance, a generous PTO policy, transit FSA, and a 401k with employer match.

Application Process:

Interested applicants should submit a resume, cover letter, and three professional references to jobs@fineartsbuilding.com. Please format the subject line as follows:

• Your Name: General Manager
• Example: “Jane Doe: General Manager”

We will begin scheduling first interviews in mid-May. 

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Please note that Fine Arts Building joins the coalition of Chicago theaters in implementing safety policies and guidelines for our staff and audience to protect against the spread of Covid-19. Full vaccination is required to be considered for employment.

The Fine Arts Building was built in 1885, originally designed as the carriage assembly and showroom for the Studebaker Company. Situated on Michigan Avenue overlooking Grant Park, the building was immediately hailed as one of “Chicago’s architectural jewels.” In 1898, the building was repurposed to become the Fine Arts Building, Chicago’s first fine arts colony. From the beginning, the building attracted influential artists from all creative disciplines, becoming a cultural hub for some of the most acclaimed visionaries of their time – A home for art in all forms.

The Fine Arts Building acknowledges its place on the traditional unceded homelands of the Council of the Three Fires: the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi Nations. Many other tribes such as the Miami, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Sac, and Fox also historically called this area home.

The Fine Arts Building strives to be an organization which embraces a commitment to Indigenous rights, racial justice, and cultural equity. As a home to some of Chicago’s most prominent artists, the Fine Arts Building strongly believes that art is for everyone and aims to be a driving force in showcasing art that is accessible to all. The Studebaker Theater, while not a producing organization, is committed to building, fostering, and maintaining an inclusive, accessible, affirming, diverse workplace that is an equitable and anti-racist environment for artists to thrive. By honoring our past as a home for art in all forms, we carry that legacy into the future through articulating these core values. This vision of being an intersectional home to today’s artists shapes the organization’s decision-making and institutional policies.

Fine Arts Building is an equal opportunity employer where all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, disability, age, genetic information, veteran status, ancestry, or national or ethnic origin.