Academy Operations Manager

Department	Academy + Education
Reports to	Academy Director and Vice President of Academy + Education
Status	Full-time, exempt
Direct reports	Student Experience Representatives

Position Summary

The Academy Operations Manager leads the day-to-day non-instructional operations of Cincinnati Ballet’s Academy + Education programs. The Manager builds and maintains the systems, schedules, documented procedures, communication routines, and follow-through needed to deliver consistent, professional, safe, and student-centered experiences for students, families, faculty, guests, and partners. The position serves as a primary operational liaison between Academy + Education and departments across Cincinnati Ballet.

Reporting relationship. This position reports jointly to the Academy Director and the Vice President of Academy + Education. The Academy Director provides direction for formal training, curriculum, faculty, student progression, and artistic program delivery. The Vice President provides direction for business operations, administration, financial processes, customer experience, and departmental operations. The Manager provides defined operational support to both leaders, including dedicated implementation support for the Academy Director’s formal-training responsibilities.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Operational Leadership and Administration

• Own and continuously improve day-to-day non-instructional operations and program administration across Academy + Education.
• Translate departmental programming into operating calendars, work plans, checklists, timelines, and documented procedures.
• Identify operational risks, service gaps, and resource constraints; resolve matters within the role’s authority and elevate material issues with clear recommendations.
• Coordinate cross-departmental support so personnel, spaces, materials, and information are available for programs, events, and performances.
• Develop, update, and distribute key program materials, including schedules, handbooks, rosters, forms, and other operational communications.
• Support travel arrangements and related logistics for faculty and guests.

Master Scheduling and Program Delivery

• Maintain the Academy’s source-of-truth scheduling infrastructure in Outlook, including master program calendars, studio reservations, and faculty and accompanist calendar invitations.
• Integrate schedules for PTD, YP, SPE, private instruction, classes, rehearsals, auditions, and other Academy activities.
• Process and communicate live class and rehearsal changes, resolve studio conflicts, and ensure approved changes are reflected promptly across relevant calendars, systems, and stakeholder communications.
• Manage the operational workflow for class and rehearsal delivery, including schedule administration, space readiness, coverage coordination, and issue resolution.
• Manage the substitute-coverage workflow, including intake, tracking, outreach, confirmation, calendar updates, and no-show procedures; consult artistic leadership when artistic fit or instructional judgment is required.

Academy Director and Leadership Support

• Provide operational implementation support for the Academy Director’s formal-training work, including calendar and inbox triage and routing, meeting preparation, and scheduling meetings with parents, students, and faculty.
• Maintain systems for faculty-observation tracking, materials and deliverables, action items, deadlines, and cross-departmental follow-up.
• Prepare agendas, capture meeting notes and decisions, track action items and deadlines, follow up with responsible parties, and surface unresolved blockers to the appropriate leader.
• Support a consistent operating cadence for Academy leadership meetings, planning sessions, and program implementation.

Student and Family Experience

• Maintain high customer-service standards across in-person, phone, and written interactions.
• Provide responsive support to students and families and serve as the escalation point for routine operational concerns.
• Lead the operational delivery of Welcome Weeks, Family Observation Weeks, placement classes, auditions, and other student-facing activities.
• Coordinate facility requests, room setup, access, signage, and on-site readiness for Academy programs and events.

Team and Volunteer Coordination

• Recruit, onboard, schedule, train, supervise, and support Student Experience Representatives.
• Set clear expectations, provide ongoing coaching, monitor performance, and coordinate timekeeping and payroll verification for Student Experience Representatives.
• Create coverage plans for evenings, weekends, peak activity periods, auditions, performances, and other high-volume needs.
• Facilitate the Children’s Division Teacher Assistant volunteer program, including onboarding, scheduling, communication, and coordination with program leadership.

Events and Program Logistics

• Develop project plans, schedules, staffing assignments, run-of-show materials, and post-event follow-up for assigned Academy events, auditions, and performances.
• Coordinate costume fittings, ordering, tracking, distribution, and returns for Academy programs.
• Coordinate approved vendor deliverables, schedules, documentation, invoices, and service issues and elevate contract or performance concerns as needed.
• Assist the Vice President with bi-weekly payroll verification and maintain accurate supporting documentation.

Required Competencies and Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
• Three to five years of progressively responsible experience in operations, program administration, events, customer experience, or school administration; nonprofit arts, dance education, or youth-program experience is strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated experience supervising employees or volunteers and coordinating work across multiple departments.
• Ability to build practical systems, manage competing deadlines, and lead detailed execution in a fast-paced, high-volume environment.
• Strong project-management, event-planning, organizational, and problem-solving skills with exceptional attention to detail and follow-through.
• Well-developed interpersonal skills and the ability to communicate effectively and respectfully with a wide spectrum of students, families, faculty, artists, vendors, guests, and colleagues.
• A passion for serving students and families and a commitment to the values and culture of Cincinnati Ballet’s Academy + Education programs.
• Strong customer-service judgment and clear written and verbal communication skills.
• Commitment to the safety and protection of minors and the consistent application of approved policies and procedures.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Outlook and the ability to learn the systems used for scheduling, communication, and program administration.
• Knowledge of classical ballet, dance education, live performance, or theatrical production is preferred.

Expected Work Hours and Travel

This role requires a flexible schedule that may include weekday, evening, and weekend hours based on classes, auditions, performances, events, and seasonal program needs. Most hours will be scheduled in advance, but weekly flexibility is required. Occasional travel to audition sites, performance venues, housing locations, and community partner sites may be required.

Additional Information

This job description is intended to describe the general nature and level of work performed by the employee in this position. It is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities, or qualifications. Cincinnati Ballet may assign other duties as organizational and program needs evolve.

Employment is contingent upon completion of organization-required screening and compliance processes applicable to the position.

 

To Apply: Please submit resume and cover letter at https://cballet.org/employment/.