FILLED: Technical Associate/House Carpenter - The Den Theatre

Technical Associate/House Carpenter will be responsible for maintaining all set, riser, and building components for all spaces and theaters in the building. They will be in charge of monitoring renters’ Load-ins and Load-outs. They will work directly with the management team, reporting to the Technical Supervisor, to make sure all of the building’s technical projects (regarding either operational or production-based elements) are completed safely, on time, and on budget.

The duties of the Technical Associate/House Carpenter include but are not limited to:
• General building maintenance and repairs (carpentry, paint, drywall, etc.).
• Maintenance of each theatre space’s floors, ceilings, walls, etc.; making repairs as needed; and ensuring spaces maintain ’black box’ status in between renters and productions.
• Maintaining workshop infrastructure, inventory, and equipment.
• Monitoring all renters’ load-ins and load-outs.
• Enforcing and maintaining standard workplace health and safety practices.
• Keeping stage, backstage, and equipment storage areas organized.
• Carrying up to 50 lbs. of materials. Climbing stairs and ladders. Utilizing power tools without supervision.
• This job will be performed on-site at The Den Theatre in Wicker Park, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave.

Required Hard Skills include:
• Carpentry
• Drywall
• Painting
• Proficiency with Google Sheets, Docs, and Drive (for maintaining inventory and rental paperwork)
• A bachelor’s degree in either theatre or a technical field, or equivalent professional experience
*Vaccination against COVID-19, as per CDC guidelines, is required for all employees of entertainment venues.

Required Soft Skills include:
• Communication: Electronic and in-person communication with management and renters
• Time management: Ability to estimate time-to-completion of projects, ability to task switch and gauge priority of different duties, and ability to communicate scheduling needs
• Leadership: Working knowledge of The Den Theatre so as to make appropriate executive decisions/answer questions when executing projects or monitoring load-ins and load-outs.

Schedule:
The Technical Associate/House Carpenter will be a part-time position guaranteed a minimum of 20 hours of work every week. Monday through Wednesday morning/afternoon availability will be required when renters are loading in/loading out so that employee is available to monitor the process and answer renter’s questions. On weeks without load-ins/load-outs, employee will be able to schedule their own hours by requesting approval from the Technical Supervisor two weeks in advanced, and similarly, employee will be given a minimum of two week’s advanced notice of any scheduled load-ins/load-outs. Additional work hours will often be available if employee wishes to be scheduled for more than 20 hours in any given week.

Compensation:
• Part-Time (20 hours per week with the option for more hours when desired)
• $20/hour (A guaranteed 20k/year)
     o Pay periods are the 5th and 20th of each month.
• Optional Health, Vision, and/or Dental Insurance
• Comp Tickets to Productions (number of tickets varying per production type/company/etc.)
• Den Discounts (Merchandise, etc.)

Timeline:
• Candidates should be prepared to interview remotely (via Zoom) between January 10th and January 22nd, 2022, with possible follow-up interviews between 24th and January 29th, 2022.
• Hiring decisions will be made no later than January 31st, 2022
• Hired candidate should be ready to report to work on February 7th, 2022

To Apply:
Must be authorized to work in the US. Please send your cover letter + resume to employment@thedentheatre.com with the subject line “Technical Associate/House Carpenter Application”
Deadline: January 21st, 2021

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At The Den Theatre, we strive to curate a community where diversity is hard-wired into the fabric of our organization. We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and believe that art is stronger and more authentic when we welcome and affirm voices from diverse backgrounds.

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About The Den Theatre:
The company:
A home for every artist. A space for every story.” The Den was founded in 2010 and is a three-floor live entertainment venue in Wicker Park with five intimate and unique rentable theaters ranging from 50 – 300 seats, three different lobbies that are utilized from time to time as rentable event spaces, and a first-floor and second-floor bar open during performances. Two more theater spaces are currently being renovated for future rental. The Den has an in-house workshop and paint shop in the basement with all basic power tools, wood/curtain/paint/etc. inventory, and a willingness to acquire any tools that employees feel are necessary to complete their work. Note that Wicker Park isn't the easiest place to get to in Chicago. There is free parking several blocks north on Paulina or Wood street and free daytime parking on Dean street. The closest CTA is the Blue Line Damen stop a 10-minute walk away.

The renters:
The Den has several resident theatre companies such as Haven, First Floor Theater, Broken Nose Theatre, The New Coordinates, and Comedy Sportz, and numerous other renters that make use of our spaces on a monthly basis. Recently, we have even featured non-performing-arts renters such as the Chicago Farmer’s Market, independent filming artists, etc. The Den has previously self-produced award-winning theatrical productions, but as of 2021, a new push is being made to start heavily featuring well-known comedians (such as Sam Morril, Nick Kroll, Jacqueline Novak, Ramy Youssef, etc.) in our largest rental space. The Den previously had a first-floor lounge that served food and drinks, but in the post-COVID landscape, The Den is initiating construction plans on our first-floor lobby space to completely renovate our bar for improved lobby flow, appearance, and functionality to serve the Heath theatre.

The employees:
The Den currently has around 30 or so employees: eight full-time members of management, three full-time remote booking and marketing employees, and a strong team of part-time box office and bar associates alongside independently hired security experts.

The department:
The technical department, for the majority of The Den’s history, has been only a Technical Supervisor with a carpentry-focused skillset. In 2020, just before the pandemic began, the department was expanded to include an associate proficient in all things electrical. Recently, The Den’s technical supervisor left to pursue other work and the technical associate with a skillset in electrics became the Technical Supervisor, hence the creation of this new part-time position of House Carpenter.

Because the technical department will be only a supervisor and associate with no dedicated overhire, a strong emphasis will continue to be placed on efficient planning and preemptive work. The case does still arise that a project may meet a time crunch or physically require more pairs of hands; in such a case there will be a case-by-case overhire budget for bringing in additional help, and The Den does have a strong list of independent contractors we can reach out to for repairs requiring unique certification (such as HVAC repair, gas line maintenance, etc.). For example, we have recently contracted outside labor to install a building-wide sprinkler system. Building maintenance requires a lot of different areas of expertise and employees, especially in the tech department, are never expected to do more than they are capable of, but a willingness to learn new abilities and assist on projects is strongly preferred due to the independent working nature of such small departments and company size.

Finally, it is worth acknowledging the current wave of COVID-19 as it spikes post-holidays. The Den is still making continual efforts to book comedians and renters and flesh out our 2022 (and 2023) calendar while closely monitoring CDC recommendations. As of now, all performances are still expected to continue and security will continue to check and require audience members’ proof of vaccination prior to checking in for any performances, hence why we feel secure in continuing this job search.

For any questions about this job posting, The Den Theatre, or anything else that’s relevant to a potential application, please feel free to reach out to Blake Cordell (Technical Supervisor/Master Electrician) at blake@thedentheatre.com prior to sending in an application!