Type: Full-Time, Permanent, Exempt.

Employment start date: July 2026

Salary: $70,000 - $80,000 annually, paid bi-weekly

 

Red Bull Theater seeks a personable, enthusiastic, and skilled relationship builder to warmly and intentionally connect with our community across the full spectrum of their touch points with us – from first impressions, to event attendance, and eventually to meaningful support of our mission and activities. The Audience Engagement & Advancement Manager will thoughtfully engage with patrons, as well as actively prospect, cultivate, and solicit individual donors as they become more deeply involved and invested in our programming, helping to nurture and grow our community for the long term.

 

ABOUT RED BULL THEATER

Red Bull Theater, “the most exciting classical theater in New York” (Time Out) and “a dynamic producer of classic plays” (New York Times), brings rarely seen classic works to new life for contemporary audiences. We take our name from the rowdy Jacobean playhouse that illegally performed plays in England during the years of Puritan rule. This bold spirit is central to our identity. Red Bull Theater is New York City’s destination for dynamic performances of great plays that stand the test of time. Recent and celebrated productions include Titus Andronicus with Patrick Page, Richard II with Michael Urie, Luis Quintero’s Medea: Re-Versed with Sarin Monae West, The Imaginary Invalid with Mark Linn-Baker, and Jacob Ming-Trent’s How Shakespeare Saved My Life.

 

Red Bull Theater is dedicated to Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility across our organization. We are an equal opportunity, antiracist employer. Red Bull Theater does not discriminate in practices or employment opportunities on the basis of an individual’s race, color, national or ethnic origin, religion, age, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, veteran status, disability, or any other category. People of color, and/or from diverse backgrounds or underrepresented groups are strongly encouraged to apply. 

 

The Audience Engagement & Advancement Manager joins a ‘small but fierce’ team who is passionately leading Red Bull through an exciting time of growth. With an annual budget of $3M and average annual audience of 15,000, a season at Red Bull Theater includes Off-Broadway Productions, Staged Readings, and targeted Engagement, Education and Training programs. Our annual individual fundraising goal, including board giving and special events, is $850K. Additionally, we are currently engaged in a capacity building campaign to raise $7M, which we anticipate completing by the end of FY27. With a committed Board of 16 trustees, a solid patron base, and a dedicated core of artistic associates, Red Bull Theater is poised for sustainable growth – with a strong Audience Engagement & Advancement Manager – as it enters an exciting third decade of sharing great classic stories.

 

KEY PURPOSE OF THE POSITION: 

The Audience Engagement & Advancement Manager shepherds all of Red Bull’s patrons along a spectrum of engagement from first-timers, to loyal attendees, to passionate supporters by:

• ensuring each experience with us - whether in person or remote – is positive, 

• providing high-touch customer service full of care, and

• listening closely for opportunities to create mutually beneficial and ever-deepening relationships. 

 

The Audience Engagement & Advancement Manager will drive Red Bull’s individual fundraising and event-based cultivation strategy. This role leads the Friends Circle, manages a key portfolio of donors, and keeps an eye on overall giving and “managing up” to help the Producing Artistic Director maintain and engage his major donor portfolio. 

 

The Audience Engagement and Advancement Manager will be entrusted with a great deal of autonomy, encouraged to think creatively and propose strategies to optimize the synergy between our audience and donor relationship-building. ​

 

SPECIFIC TASKS/RESPONSIBILITIES: 

• Manage audience relations from their first interactions with the company with delight, introducing them to who we are, and stewarding them towards further engagement.

• Work the front lines of communication with patrons with enthusiasm: answering phone calls, emails, ticket sales, etc., proactively providing personalized customer service to our community of audience and patrons.

• Identify, qualify, cultivate, solicit and steward a personal portfolio of individual donors and prospects.

• Create individual engagement, stewardship plans, and giving goals for each individual donor based on giving history, relationship, and the organization’s knowledge of the donor’s giving potential.

• Develop new methods of donor cultivation and outreach to help fulfill Red Bull Theater’s mission and vision.

• Identify and manage opportunities to include Board members and colleagues from across the organization in donor cultivation efforts.

• Craft effective proposals, reports, acknowledgements, and other donor-related and/or board-facing communications.

• Create Moves Management system and participate in maintaining an organized system for donor stewardship by updating constituent records as needed.

• Take the lead in donor acknowledgement for all lower-tier levels, including hand-written thank-you notes, phone calls, and other systems that may be devised.

• Track and provide support and materials for Producing Artistic Director donor acknowledgements at the higher-tier levels, including trustees, major institutional and individual donors, etc.

• Greet patrons at most, if not all, Red Bull Theater events and performances.

• Collaborate in a leadership role on our annual membership drive, end-of-year letters, gala invitations, including crafting letters, creating segments, and pulling patron data from our CRM.

• Collaborate with the team taking a leadership role on all fundraising and cultivation events, including our annual gala.

 

ABOUT YOU: 

• You are service- and team-oriented, and approach your work with curiosity and humanity;

• You believe in Red Bull’s mission and values, and are comfortable serving as an advocate, cheerleader, and representative for programs;

• You are a self-starter with a strong work ethic and a fine-tuned attention to detail who can work independently and with a team to set priorities, plan for, manage, and quickly adapt as necessary to support and implement a wide range of projects and tasks;

• You have the flexibility to work some nights and weekends as needed to engage with audiences and supporters at shows and events;

• You are comfortable drafting compelling copy, tracking data in spreadsheets and databases, and holding conversations with strangers and stakeholders;

• You are an enthusiastic, outgoing person who enjoys engaging in conversation with many different kinds of people on a variety of topics.

 

BONUS IF: 

• You have proficiency with one or more CRM’s;

• You have progressive experience and/or a proven track record of building momentum and resources towards ambitious goals;

• You thrive in an “all hands on deck” culture, and enjoy collaborating with colleagues to discover new ideas, tactics and strategies;

• You love working with and around theater patrons and theater artists;

• You are passionate about Shakespeare and the classical plays at the heart of our mission​

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​We know there are candidates who may not have all of the qualifications listed above but possess intuitive knowledge or other transferable skills. If that’s you, don’t hesitate to apply and tell us about yourself.​

 

COMPENSATION

This is a full-time, permanent, exempt, salaried position with salary range of $70,000 - $80,000 as well as a generous benefits package including health and dental insurance reimbursement, up to 15 days of paid time off plus most federal holidays, and an opt-in 401k with a match after one year. 

 

Our current full-time staff of four work together in a small and temporary shared co-working office space, while our new 1,000 square-foot offices in Chelsea are retrofitted for our use. Remote work is part of our operational routine as needed; a minimum of 20 hours of shared in-office time for all FT employees is expected. Additionally, as a theater company, a fair number of evening and weekend hours are part of the natural expectation for all employees.

 

HOW TO APPLY

Please submit a resume with 3 references and a personal statement to jobs@redbulltheater.com. For the personal statement, ditch the “cover letter” and speak from the heart about what excites you about this job opportunity. While we ask that resumes be submitted in written form, we invite applicants to submit their personal statement via a written piece, audio or video recording – whatever form best supports your self-expression. If you choose to submit an audio or video recording, please keep it under 2 minutes.

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APPLICATION PROCESS

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis through June 1, 2026. Selected candidates will have a first round video interview with Red Bull Theater’s Producing Artistic Director Jesse Berger. Second Round Interviews will be in-person with Jesse and Managing Director Sherri Kotimsky. Finalists will meet with the full staff in panel format, will be asked to complete a project and present their work, and may meet with some members of the Board. References will then be checked and an offer is expected to be made in late June/early July, with a start date soon thereafter. 

 

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

Red Bull Theater is an equal opportunity employer and makes employment decisions based on qualifications. We do not allow employment decisions to be made on the basis of actual or perceived race, color, religion, creed, sex, gender, gender identity, transgender status, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, predisposing genetic characteristics, genetic information, sexual orientation, marital status, citizenship status, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical condition, partnership status, unemployment status, domestic victim status, veteran status, uniformed service, protected activity (i.e., opposition to prohibited discrimination or participation in proceedings covered by the anti-discrimination statuses) or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, and local law. All employment-related activities are conducted on a non-discriminatory basis and in full compliance with any federal, state, and local laws prohibiting discrimination in employment. Violations of this policy are strictly prohibited. Every employee undertakes, through such an employee’s employment, to comply with this policy. ​​