Cleveland Public Theatre (CPT) is hiring a Tech Director/Co-Lead Teaching Artist for our nationally recognized Student Theatre Enrichment Program (STEP) Tech Ensemble for the 2025 cycle. This role is a temporary, full-time position beginning June 2, 2025 and ending no later than August 8, 2025. The STEP Technical Director/Co-Lead Teacher earns $850/week.

JOB DESCRIPTION

STEP Technical Director and Co-Lead Teaching Artist: With another Co-Lead Teaching Artist, the person in this role supervises a group of teenage Tech Ensemble members in implementing the set and sound needs for the STEP outdoor touring production, including the use of a basic sound system and a 16’ x 20’ stage. This artist gives six hours of daily instruction in basic technical theatre skills and supervises teens as the team works to build scenic elements. The position requires extended hours closer to production but will average 40–45 hours a week. This role reports to the Director of Education.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION 

CPT’s Student Theatre Enrichment Program (STEP) is an arts-based job training program that engages Cleveland teens in a powerful, eight-week intensive (four weeks for Technical Ensemble) that focuses on excellence in performance, play creation, physical theatre, writing, production, and set design/construction. Students ages 14–19, presenting a wide range of performance experience, are eligible for participation and earn money while learning and practicing valuable job skills such as timeliness, communication, commitment, and teamwork. Under the guidance of CPT artists, teens develop an original play and then tour it to public greenspaces, theatres, and community organizations throughout the city of Cleveland. Since its beginning in 1994, STEP has received multiple awards and recognitions, including those from the City of Cleveland, The President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Celebrating over 30 years of empowering artmaking, STEP is the longest-running arts-based job training program in Cleveland and has been used as an international model for engaging youth. STEP ensembles, comprised primarily of Black and brown artists, see themselves as a positive and inspirational force and are able to witness their work’s invaluable impact on the larger Cleveland community. Youth are onsite approximately six hours a day during creation and work through an adjusted schedule while on tour.

STEP TECHNICAL DIRECTOR/CO-LEAD TEACHING ARTIST RESPONSIBILITIES INCLUDE:

• Collaborating with full STEP creative team and CPT Staff from applicable departments to successfully present outdoor performances during a two-week tour with teen artists 

• Complete training (June 2–6, 9am–5pm) *This represents the STEP Teaching Artist Training Schedule. The STEP Technical Director will join a portion of this training with additional time for lesson creation and shop setup during this week.  
• Leading/supporting the management of a two-week local tour with teens
• Creating and implementing curriculum providing foundational instruction on set design, set construction, properties work, lighting, sound, and stage setup to teen artists from June 30 to no later than August 8, 9:30am–5:30pm, M–F
  • Hours will shift when on tour (July 24–August 3) and are TBD until the performance schedule is finalized. Performances typically take place during afternoon and evening hours. 

• Serving as a strong role model for youth 

• Sharing relevant communication with parents/guardians

• Leading and assisting in production needs, including but not limited to set design, set construction, prop gathering/creation, sound support, set up and strike of stage platforms 

• Driving tour production truck (small box truck—no special license required) and/or operating minivan or 12-passenger van to transport materials and/or STEP artists to and from performance sites

• Create lesson plans, attendance records, and session progress notes for the program as indicated by Director of Education 

• Attending meetings with Director of Education and wider STEP Team to share outline highlights, session progress, questions and challenges of program implementation  

• This position earns $850/week.

Additional Information: 

• Beginning July 7, youth are onsite approximately six hours a day, Monday–Friday (11:00am–5:00pm), with adjusted hours during the tour. The last day of the program for youth will be August 3, 2025. 

• Following CDC guidelines, we will determine health protocols for youth and staff as we receive information about infection numbers.

TO APPLY:

Interested STEP Technical Director/Co-Lead Teaching Artist candidates should email a cover letter of interest, a résumé, and three references to Nicole Sumlin, Director of Education, nsumlin@cptonline.org. The subject header should read: [LAST NAME], STEP Technical Director/Co-Lead Teaching Artist. No phone calls, please.

CPT STAFF DESCRIPTION 

CPT cares passionately about reflecting our community and pursuing equity at all levels of the organization. We value hard work, kindness, generosity, grace, and passion. A majority of plays produced at CPT are by Black, Indigenous, and People of Color artists, and in the past four years, CPT has undertaken work to accelerate and formalize its growth to become a fully anti-racist organization.

CPT’S CORE EDUCATION PRINCIPLES 

CPT education programs follow four guiding principles that reflect our pedagogical, political, and aesthetic approaches to education, and are deeply interrelated.

Empowerment

Together we create original works of theatre, and our participants contribute to the spoken words, the movement, and the production elements. This layered approach engages participants dynamically, resulting in pride and ownership of the final product.

Equity

We strive to bridge the gap between the heard and the unheard by centering rarely shared stories with a wider audience. Our work brings awareness to issues such as racial and economic justice, nurturing relationships that cross the invisible boundaries of race and class. We believe representation matters, and we are committed to engaging Teaching Artists who are representative of the communities with whom we collaborate.

Excellence

We encourage the development of the whole artist, nurturing an artist’s personal, interpersonal, and artistic growth. This environment of self-mastery calls participants to own their greatness with pride, be accountable to their peers, and be engaged, curious, and connected to their community

Enthusiasm

We approach the artistic process with openness, rigor, intention, and joy! Our programs cultivate an enthusiastic learning environment that supports creative expression while nurturing a high degree of discipline and focus. We encourage our participants’ creativity, and we also challenge them to explore as many levels of their creative potential as possible. 

CPT is a nationally recognized center for contemporary performance. Its mission is to raise consciousness and nurture compassion through groundbreaking theatre and life-changing education programs. CPT implements this mission through its annual theatrical season, featuring between eight to ten adventurous professional productions and a robust series of new play development programs that support writers and devisers at multiple points in the creative process. CPT’s acclaimed education programs engage communities in devising new works that speak to contemporary issues and empower participants to work for positive change in our community. CPT is home to resident community ensembles Teatro Público de Cleveland and Masrah Cleveland Al-Arabi, and CPT annually presents Station Hope, a large-scale community arts festival. CPT’s annual budget is around $3 million a year. CPT has 24 full-time staff members.