Associate General Manager
One day it’s a budget, the next it’s a designer’s agent, and the next it’s a half-finished web app that needs a critical eye.
- RemoteAnywhere in the US
- 4 daysa week
- $60,000a year
One day it’s a budget, the next it’s a designer’s agent, and the next it’s a half-finished web app that needs a critical eye.
Substructure makes the work simpler for nonprofit theatres. We bring deep theatre experience to designing, building, and maintaining the systems that connect an organization, so its people have room to do the work they came here for.
We help in two ways:
We learn how a theatre’s work actually moves, such as an artist’s first form through to their final payment, then build custom tools that carry it from step to step. The data entry, the chasing, and the follow-up happen on their own, and staff have nothing new to learn.
More on our site →Contracts, negotiations, CBAs, budgets, and payroll, for theatres that can’t hire that expertise or have other roles to fill first. We currently handle general management for Indiana Repertory Theatre and Geva Theatre.
More on our site →Drew Kowalkowski founded Substructure after nearly 20 years in almost every corner of commercial and nonprofit theatre, from stage management and lighting design to producing, finance, and general management.
Drew KowalkowskiFounder
Indianapolis, IN
Rochester, NYMost days will start with a short check-in: what needs attention, what you can take off the list, and what needs a second opinion. Then you’ll run with it.
Then you’ll run with it.
One day it’s a budget, the next it’s a designer’s agent, and the next it’s a half-finished web app that needs a critical eye.
Technology runs through our work, but this isn’t a coding job. The right person doesn’t need to know how to code (or want to learn), but is comfortable with technology and genuinely enjoys figuring out a new tool or system. We believe technology should adapt to people, not the other way around.
We’re looking for someone whose curiosity starts with how a theatre works and extends naturally to how it could work better.
Substructure is, by definition and design, building the playbook as we go. There usually isn’t a finished process waiting to be handed over.
You’ll often hear: here’s the goal, here’s what’s been done, and here’s what probably comes next. From there, try something.
A useful draft beats a perfect idea that never leaves your head.
This role is for someone who likes figuring things out, can move comfortably among different kinds of work, and wants a hand in shaping a young company as it grows.
If you prefer a job with clear, repeatable processes, or you do your best work independently, this may not be the right fit.
You care deeply about this field, you’re invested in its future, and you want to change the way things are done.
You’re curious about management. Maybe it’s budgets, contracts, union rules, negotiations, organizational puzzles, or all of the above. You’ve fallen down a Wikipedia rabbit hole or two because you needed to understand how something worked.
You like experimenting and tweaking. A new tool is something to explore, not avoid. You are willing to try an approach, learn that it doesn’t work, and try something else. And you’re happy knowing that tomorrow may look nothing like today.
You believe in continuous improvement. When a process is clunky, you fix it or flag it, and once something works, you keep making it better.
Quick check. If you know the answers to these questions without looking them up, you probably meet the basic qualifications for the role!
Raises the money: individual donors, foundations, corporate sponsors, and government grants.
Social Security and Medicare taxes, withheld from every paycheck and matched by the employer.
Directors and choreographers. It’s the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.
You do not need to arrive knowing how to do everything on the list. You should be resourceful and comfortable knowing when to make the call yourself and when to pull someone else in.
Per year.
Four-day workweek. Flexible schedule.
Fully remote, anywhere in the US. Occasional travel may be required.
You’ll be a standard W-2 employee, paid weekly.
Substructure cannot yet offer health insurance or retirement benefits. The position includes state-required benefits. Substructure will provide the necessary technology and subsidize home internet and cell phone bills.
Send your résumé and answer a few short questions about yourself. No cover letter needed.
Start your applicationIf you’ve built, fixed, or run something you’re proud of, we’d be glad to hear about that too.