Vice President of Operations in Houston, Texas at The Hobby Center for the Performing Arts

Reports To - President and CEO

Direct Reports - Operations and Production Director, Technology Director, Audience Services Manager

Status - Regular Full-Time Exempt

Location - On site in Downtown Houston, TX, with flexibility for occasional remote work

Schedule - General business hours with some nights and weekends

OVERVIEW

The Vice President of Operations is a senior leadership role holding responsibility for elements of strategic, financial, and operational performance of the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts. Reporting to the President and CEO and serving as a member of the Senior Leadership Team, this position functions as the organization’s operations leader, ensuring that the campus, systems, people, and technology support a best-in-class performing arts experience for artists, audiences, staff and volunteers.

The Vice President of Operations provides leadership across production, audience services, technology, engineering, security, parking, concessions, facility operations, maintenance, and capital projects. The role directly supervises the Operations and Production Director, Technology Director, and Audience Services Manager and indirectly leads a department that has grown to 25 full-time employees and 50+ part-time employees. The successful candidate will be a strategic, collaborative, and execution-oriented leader who can strengthen operational systems, lead high-performing teams, steward major physical assets, and support the continued growth and development of a major nonprofit performing arts center.

MAJOR FUNCTIONS

Leadership and Organizational Strategy

• Serve as a strategic partner to the President and CEO and a member of the Senior Leadership Team, helping define organizational priorities, operational strategy, and long-term institutional capacity.

• Translate strategic goals into practical operating plans, systems, policies, and accountability structures that support a growing, complex performing arts organization.

• Provide operational and financial leadership that ensures reliable daily operations, strong internal coordination, fiscal discipline, and excellent stewardship of organizational resources.

• Represent the operations function in organizational planning, board and committee work, stakeholder engagement, tenant relations, and community or civic partnerships, as needed.

Production and Event Services

• Oversee comprehensive front-of-house and back-of-house operations, including production, stage operations, event services, security, parking, as well as food and beverage operations.

• Ensure the Hobby Center delivers a seamless, safe, welcoming, and high-quality experience for audiences, artists, resident companies, rental clients, volunteers, staff, vendors, and community users.

• Strengthen communication and coordination among operational departments and across the organization to ensure timely response to production needs, event schedules, patron issues, tenant requirements, and facility demands.

• Maintain effective systems for event documentation, facility readiness, incident reporting, event reporting, and post-event evaluation.

Facilities, Safety, Compliance, and Capital Projects

• Oversee all building services including engineering, maintenance, security, and technology.

• Lead long-range capital planning, facility stewardship, preventative maintenance, restoration projects, infrastructure improvements, and major capital initiatives in alignment with organizational priorities.

• Ensure the campus, equipment, building systems, and public spaces are maintained to the highest standards of safety, reliability, accessibility, efficiency, and presentation.

• Implement, evaluate, revise, and enforce safety, emergency preparedness, risk management, accessibility, and security procedures for the venue and garage.

• Partner with appropriate local, state, and federal agencies and consultants to ensure compliance with applicable codes, licenses, permits, fire regulations, life-safety standards, and legal requirements, as well as in planning for major events and any identified security threats.

Financial Management, Contracts, and Vendor Relations

• Develop, manage, and monitor annual department budgets, capital budgets, project budgets, and operational forecasts with attention to cost discipline, service quality, and long-term sustainability.

• Manage, negotiate, and execute contracts for venue operations, maintenance, capital projects, and other operational services in coordination with organizational policies and legal review as needed.

• Oversee key vendor relationships, including parking, security, food and beverage, maintenance, technology, engineering, and other outsourced services.

• Identify opportunities to improve efficiency, strengthen internal controls, enhance service delivery, and support earned revenue opportunities without compromising mission or guest experience.

People Leadership and Culture

• Lead, coach, and develop direct reports and operational teams, setting clear expectations, strengthening accountability, and fostering a collaborative, professional, and safe work environment.

• Carry out supervisory responsibilities in accordance with Hobby Center policies and applicable laws, including interviewing, hiring, training, planning, assigning work, evaluating performance, supporting professional growth, and addressing performance concerns.

• Build positive relationships with staff, resident companies, tenants, vendors, board members, donors, volunteers, patrons, public officials, and community users.

• Model integrity, transparency, sound judgment, calm decision-making, and service-oriented leadership in a dynamic environment that includes performances, rentals, public events, and capital activity.

Responsibilities may be modified as needed to meet the organizational goals and employee strengths.

TRAITS AND CHARACTERISTICS

You Are

• A seasoned operational executive who understands the complexity of a major performing arts venue and can lead both strategy and execution.

• A calm, decisive, and solutions-oriented leader who can manage competing priorities, urgent issues, and high-volume event activity with sound judgment.

• A collaborative partner who builds trust across departments, vendors, artists, tenants, public agencies, board members, donors, patrons, and community stakeholders.

• A strong communicator who can quickly translate needs into action, provide clear direction, and keep teams aligned around shared goals.

• A people-centered manager who develops leaders, holds teams accountable, and creates conditions for staff to do excellent work in a sustainable way.

We Are

• An established, stable, mission-driven nonprofit performing arts center engaged in an exciting period of growth, transformation, and expanded community impact.

• A complex, high-visibility cultural institution with a large annual operating budget, significant public attendance, resident company relationships, touring productions, rentals, educational programs, accessibility initiatives, and major capital priorities.

• Committed to creating a welcoming, inclusive workplace that embraces diversity of people and ideas and fosters a sense of belonging.

• A high-performance, collaborative culture that supports professional growth, accountability, innovation, and operational excellence.

Skills and Qualifications

• Significant senior leadership experience in venue operations, performing arts, live entertainment, hospitality, cultural facilities, convention/event centers, or a similarly complex public-facing operating environment.

• Demonstrated ability to lead large, multi-disciplinary teams and supervise department leaders across production, facilities, audience services, technology, security, parking, concessions, or related functions.

• Experience developing and managing operating and capital budgets, negotiating contracts, overseeing vendors, and exercising strong financial judgment.

• Strong understanding of safety, emergency preparedness, risk management, compliance, accessibility, building systems, event operations, and public assembly venue standards.

• Proven project management skills, including the ability to lead capital improvements, maintenance initiatives, cross-functional projects, and process improvements from planning through completion.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to work effectively with staff, board members, donors, volunteers, patrons, resident companies, rental clients, public officials, and community partners.

• High proficiency with Microsoft Office and comfort using technology, data, and operating systems to support decision-making, communication, reporting, and accountability.

Team members at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts must thrive on challenge and be comfortable working in a dynamic, fast-paced environment. Working with a nimble and efficient team requires that leaders bring an entrepreneurial spirit, a commitment to collaboration, and the ability to provide steady leadership across a broad scope of work.

COMPENSATION

The Hobby Center offers a competitive compensation and benefits package including medical, dental, vision, life, disability, a 403b savings plan with matching employer contributions, mobile phone stipend, parking, and paid time off. The anticipated hiring range for this position is $150,000-$175,000 base compensation annually. A performance-based incentive program is provided as well.

ABOUT THE HOBBY CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

The Hobby Center for the Performing Arts deepens understanding of our shared humanity. By presenting engaging performances and educational programs, we strengthen our sense of belonging and help shape a more cohesive and connected Houston community. Opened in 2002, the Hobby Center campus includes the 2,650-seat Sarofim Hall and the 500-seat Zilkha Hall. Delivering a best-in-class patron experience, the Hobby Center welcomes more than 400,000 audience members annually for high-quality arts programming, including the Memorial Hermann Broadway at the Hobby Center series, a full season of musical theatre produced by Principal Resident Company Theatre Under the Stars, and a wide range of performances from Houston-based and touring artists and companies. Education, accessibility, and community engagement are central to the Hobby Center’s impact through programs such as the ExxonMobil Discovery Series, Sensory Inclusive performances, and exemplary customer service through the Access Team. The organization is implementing a strategic plan that expands its role in the Houston arts community and advances a new era of growth, access, and civic impact.

The Hobby Center for the Performing Arts is an equal opportunity employer where equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility are deeply valued.