opportunities

Elevator Repair Service – Development Director

Elevator Repair Service Theater (ERS) is seeking a highly-organized, creative, and collaborative Development Director (DD) to lead fundraising initiatives, events, and oversee all streams of contributed income. The DD will work to establish and meet organizational contributed income goals – annually as well as longer-term. The DD is also responsible for leading the planning and execution of ERS’s annual spring gala, production-specific fundraising and cultivation events, as well as interfacing with funders, individual donors, and the 16-member ERS Board of Directors. Working in close collaboration with the Artistic Director and Producing Director on fundraising strategies and institutional budgeting, the DD will also manage the Production and Administrative Associate on grant writing and oversee day-to-day development operations. A creative and strategic thinker with a strong work ethic, the DD is an integral member of ERS’s nimble and highly-collaborative full-time staff of five.

Responsibilities:

Institutional Giving

- Maintain grants calendar
- Supervise the writing and submission of government and foundation grant proposals and reports (approximately 20 proposals along with any subsequent necessary reports per year), including some grant proposal writing
- Coordinate funder meetings
- Collaborate on prospecting and research on future funding opportunities

Individual Giving

- Plan strategy and execution of individual giving campaigns, including end of calendar year and summer giving campaigns
- Oversee donor database maintenance (Bloomerang)

Board Relations

- Attend full board and executive committee meetings
  - 3-4 annual meetings
- Oversee scheduling of board meetings
- Serve as main point of contact for the board

Special Events

- Lead planning and execution of special events, including annual spring gala, donor cultivation events, and production-specific fundraising events (typically 2-3 events per year, including gala)
  - Includes occasional nights and/or weekend engagements
- Create and oversee budgets for gala and special events
- Oversee development and deployment of digital strategy and marketing for events
  - Email blasts, social media, and website updates

Administration

- Supervise and work closely with Production and Administration Associate
  - Collaborate on organizational budgeting for individual giving, institutional giving, and fundraising events
- Some general finance responsibilities: (deposit checks, reconcile petty cash)

Member of Full-Time Leadership Team

The five full-time positions at ERS comprise an essential leadership team. This small group of five staff members are expected to offer flexibility and active participation in creative problem-solving during (but not limited to) times of transition or unique opportunities to expand and develop the company’s activities. This is and has been a core aspect of the organization’s ethos since inception. All full-time staff members are expected to honor this expectation in good faith. The Development Director will have significant authority and hands-on involvement as a member of this team.

Experience:

- 3+ years of work or other commensurate experience working in fundraising or non-profit development position
- Familiarity with grant writing and submissions
- Excellent computer/technology skills, especially in GSuite, Word, and Excel
- Experience using a CRM database (Tessitura, Bloomerang, or similar software)
- Experience in a management role is a plus, but not required
- Familiarity with or interest in experimental theater, performance and/or Off-Broadway theater is a plus, but not required

Compensation and Benefits:

Salary: $70,000-80,000 commensurate with experience. This is a permanent, full-time (10:00 am – 6:00 pm), non-exempt position in New York City at ERS’s office in NoHo/East Village with some schedule flexibility to support hybrid work.

Opportunities for advancement and growth in the role.

ERS has a robust benefits package including:

● Health, Dental and Vision with 10% employee contribution, plus a $1,000 flexible health spending account to help cover co-pays and deductibles
● 3 weeks paid vacation, plus paid weeks off at Thanksgiving and New Year’s
● 9 paid federal holidays
● 10 sick days and 5 personal days
● Summer Fridays: the office closes at 1:00 pm all Fridays between Memorial Day and Labor Day
● Paid Family Leave
● 403(b) plan is also available

To apply, send a resume and cover letter describing your interest and qualifications to hr@elevator.org with Development Director in the subject line.

Applications will be accepted until this role is filled, with an anticipated start date of September 2, 2025. Initial interviews will take place by phone; finalists will be interviewed in-person at the ERS office or over video conference. All applicants will receive a response regarding the consideration and status of their candidacy. No phone calls, please.

ERS recognizes that people may acquire the necessary skills and experience for this position in a variety of ways and welcomes candidates from all backgrounds. BIPOC candidates and those who have not historically been represented in the theater community and/or arts administration are encouraged to apply. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, familial status, sexual orientation, national origin, ability, age, or veteran status.

About Elevator Repair Service:

Elevator Repair Service (ERS) is a New York City-based experimental theater ensemble founded in 1991 by Artistic Director John Collins. The company’s shows are created from a wide range of texts that include found transcripts of trials and debates, literature, classical dramas, and new plays. Since 1991, ERS has created an extensive body of work, including over 20 original theater pieces across dozens of productions in the United States, Europe, South America, Australia and Asia. The recipient of an Obie Award for Sustained Excellence, ERS has cultivated a large audience at home and abroad. With numerous honors and distinctions, the ensemble is one of New York’s most highly-acclaimed theater groups.

The company’s best-known work Gatz (2010), an eight-hour verbatim staging of The Great Gatsby set in a mysterious low-rent office, is frequently cited as a landmark work of contemporary performance. Having created critically acclaimed adaptations of The Great Gatsby, The Sound and The Fury, and The Sun Also Rises, the ensemble’s work in 20th-century modernist literature has been a hallmark of its over 30 year career. ERS most recently added James Joyce’s Ulysses to its list of great novels brought to life onstage.

ERS’s pieces are created through extended periods of collaboration with a consistent ongoing

ensemble. The actors, designers, stage manager and director all contribute to the creative process through the development of each piece. The ERS ensemble – actors, designers and administrators – includes over fifty artists, a collaborative administrative full-time staff of five, and a 16-member Board of Directors.

ERS has an active 2025-26 season with the New York City premiere of Ulysses at The Public Theater in January 2026 as well as tours of Gatz and the development of a brand new work.