Queen’s University is embarking on a search for its next Director, Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts (“The Isabel”).
Located on Lake Ontario immediately west of the Queen’s University campus, the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts contains a 567-seat Concert Hall, a Rehearsal Hall, a Black Box Studio Theatre seating up to 100, a 92-seat Film Screening Room, an Art and Media Lab, as well as rehearsal and teaching spaces, offices, and event areas. The Isabel’s vision is one of an arts campus where student and community performance, education, creativity, and training blend to give rise to an inspirational cultural presence. Along with the University, community partners in the Kingston region include the adjacent Tett Centre for Creativity and Learning, the Kingston Symphony, New Music Kingston, and Theatre Kingston. Designed by Snøhetta/ema Architects, with Arup Acoustics and Theatre Projects Consultants, the Isabel was made possible through the generosity of Drs. Alfred and Isabel Bader, with additional funding from the Canadian Government, the Province of Ontario, and the City of Kingston. Opened in 2014, the Centre will celebrate its tenth season in 2024-2025.
Queen’s is located on the traditional territories of the Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee peoples.
Ne Yonterihwayenhstahkwa’kó:wa nene Yonontí:yo akáowenk tká:yen tsi niyohwentsyà:ke tsi nón:we ne Rotinonhsyón:ni táhnon ne Ratirón:taks thatinákere
Gichii Ogiimaa Ikwe gichii-gakina’amaadii’igamig owedi ayaamagad Anishinaabeg idash Naadaweg gaa dan’akiyaad
Reporting to the Deputy Provost, the Director is responsible for the operations, management, and artistic leadership of the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts. The Director leads and manages all of the Centre’s artistic and cultural programming, ensuring it is innovative, visionary and has creative inspiration. Working with a dedicated and professional team, the Director is responsible for the Centre’s financial, operational, and human resources matters, and works collaboratively with the University community including faculty, staff and students. Externally, the Director is engaged with local, national and global artists and is the champion for ensuring diverse talent is showcased in the Centre, in alignment with Queen’s commitment to I-EDIAA.
As the ideal candidate, you are a senior and experienced leader of a similarly sized and complex performance arts center to The Isabel. Your career includes progressive leadership roles within a performing arts facility, and a depth of experience with programming, financial and human resources, external relations, and fundraising activities. You have demonstrated excellence in management and business accountability, which you will use to meet strategic, financial, and operational goals. You bring a deep and vast knowledge of music and the performing arts, and of the sector’s emerging trends and artists, which you will rely upon to create the Centre’s programmatic offerings. Your passion for the cultural sector is evident through your commitment, articulation and support of the role arts facilities can play within the life of a university and its community. You have excellent communications skills, which you will leverage to represent the Isabel to diverse audiences in a myriad of settings. You foster and promote a culture of inclusion and diversity and are deeply committed to, and have demonstrated experience with, supporting equity deserving individuals, and advancing institutional commitments in alignment with Queen’s I-EDIAA goals. Given the collegial, decentralized governance structure that characterizes the university setting, the successful candidate must be an exceptional communicator and influencer with a collaborative and consultative style of leadership and be willing to listen to alternate perspectives. In collaboration with the University’s Advancement team, the next Director will help to cultivate, solicit and steward major gifts from individual donors, corporate sponsors, and foundation and government funders. A relevant graduate degree, such as in the arts, arts management, or not for profit administration, is considered an asset.
About Queen’s University
One of Canada’s leading universities, Queen’s has a long-standing reputation for academic excellence, research, student experience, student leadership, and engaged alumni. Home to over 27,000 students, Queen’s boasts an undergraduate graduation rate of 93 per cent, diverse learning opportunities, a broad range of students’ services and supports, unmistakable school spirit, and a tight-knit global network of 159,000 alumni in 153 countries. Graduates from Queen’s University are part of an international community of lifelong learners and accomplished leaders. Queen’s University is highly ranked in Canada for student experience, taking an inclusive approach, and offering learning beyond the classroom; this experience includes a variety of student clubs, as well as a robust international exchange program with more than 220 partners. Queen’s has also made a formal commitment to the health and wellness of students, staff and faculty by joining universities from around the world in adopting the “Okanagan Charter: An International Charter for Health Promoting Universities and Colleges”. Queen's also became a signatory to the “Scarborough Charter On Anti-Black Racism and Black Inclusion” in Canadian Higher Education, committing Queen's to implementation of the Charter's various action items and to full accountability to a sector network of signatory institutions.
To apply or explore this leadership position at Queen’s University further, please contact Jane Griffith (jane@griffithgroup.ca) and Caroline McLean (caroline@griffithgroup.ca) or visit https://griffithgroup.ca/director-isabel-bader/
The University invites applications from all qualified individuals. Queen’s is strongly committed to employment equity and diversity in the workplace and encourages applications from Black, racialized/visible minorities, Indigenous/Aboriginal peoples, women, persons with disabilities, and 2SLGBTQIA+ persons. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, in accordance with Canadian immigration requirements, Canadian citizens and permanent residents of Canada will be given priority.
The University will provide support in its recruitment process to applicants with disabilities, including accommodation that takes an applicant’s accessibility needs into account. If you require accommodations during the interview process, please contact Jane Griffith at Jane@griffithgroup.ca and hradmin@queensu.ca. Every effort to accommodate candidates will be made in a way that is equitable and respectful of their additional professional, community, and personal responsibilities.
