Associate Director, Alternative Programming

Associate Director, Alternative Programming

Artistic Operations

Artistic Planning

Work Status:

Full Time

FLSA Status:

Exempt

Location of Job:

Davies Symphony Hall

San Francisco, CA

Salary:

Pay Grade F

$105,139.00 - 118,282.00

Schedule:

Hybrid

Regular Hours:

9 am-5 pm; regular

evenings and weekends

Reports To:

Senior Director, Artistic

Planning

Supervisory:

No

THE ORGANIZATION

The San Francisco Symphony is among the most adventurous and innovative arts institutions in the United States, celebrated for its artistic excellence, creative performance concepts, award-winning recordings, and standard-setting education and community engagement programs. Since it was established in 1911, the Symphony has grown in acclaim under a succession of distinguished music directors: Henry Hadley, Alfred Hertz, Basil Cameron, Issay Dobrowen, Pierre Monteux, Enrique Jordá, Josef Krips, Seiji Ozawa, Edo de Waart, Herbert Blomstedt, Michael Tilson Thomas, and Esa-Pekka Salonen. In May 2026, the Symphony announced Elim Chan as the 13th Music Director in its 115-year history, beginning with the 2027–28 season. One of the most sought-after artists of her generation, Elim Chan embodies the spirit of contemporary orchestral leadership with her crystalline precision and expressive zeal.  

The San Francisco Symphony presents more than 200 concerts and presentations annually for an audience of nearly 350,000 in its home of Davies Symphony Hall and around the Bay Area. The Orchestra performs a robust schedule of core classical concerts from September through June, and offers a dynamic mix of holiday programs, groundbreaking SoundBox performances, chamber concerts, guest artist recitals, live-to-film presentations, popular artist collaborations, a month-long summer series, and other special events that invite audiences across the Bay Area to connect with the Symphony in ways that resonate with their interests, experiences, and traditions.

As a cornerstone of its mission, the San Francisco Symphony provides some of the most extensive education and community programs offered by any American orchestra. The Symphony’s free music education experiences engage students in grades 1–12 throughout the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD), serving more than 25,000 students annually.

In 2001, the SF Symphony became the first American orchestra to launch its own in-house record label, SFS Media. Recorded live in concert and engineered at Davies Symphony Hall, SFS Media recordings showcase music by contemporary composers as well as core classical masterworks. In 2023, the San Francisco Symphony partnered with Apple for the launch of a new classical music streaming app, Apple Music Classical, and has since released 17 spatial audio recordings of live concert performances through the app. San Francisco Symphony radio broadcasts, the first in the nation to feature symphonic music when they began in 1926, today carry the Orchestra’s concerts across the country. In 2004, the SF Symphony launched the groundbreaking multimedia Keeping Score series on PBS-TV and the web; the series was made available for unlimited free streaming on the Symphony’s YouTube channel in 2020. In 2014, the San Francisco Symphony inaugurated SoundBox, an experimental and eclectic live music series, which takes place in an alternative performance space located backstage at Davies Symphony Hall. For its adventurous programming, the Symphony has been honored 19 times by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, and the Symphony’s recordings have garnered France’s Grand Prix du Disque and Britain’s Gramophone Award, as well as 17 Grammy® Awards.

JOB SUMMARY

The Associate Director, Alternative Programming is a key member of the Artistic Planning team developing the San Francisco Symphony’s alternative programming portfolio, with a focus on creating exciting and memorable concert experiences, uniting audiences and artists together around our art form, and leveraging the flexibility and collaborative nature of orchestral music to create engaging experiences that resonate with our community. The Associate Director, Alternative Programming has primary responsibility for non-classical programming including Summer, Holiday, Film, select special events, and any added pops, presentations, and other alternative programming.

The Associate Director, Alternative Programming is also responsible for exploring ways to expand the kinds of content offered by the Symphony, seeking to generate revenue through presentations, co-presentations, and alternative programs that bring new audiences to the SF Symphony. In addition, this role works with other departments in the organization to pursue new relationships and collaborations outside of Davies Symphony Hall that will connect us to a different audience and generate revenue.

This position plays a key role in the Symphony’s audience development efforts through collaborating closely with other teams in the organization to understand patron preferences and to ensure that the Symphony’s content and season arcs are compelling for Bay Area audiences.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS & RESPONSIBILITIES

Artistic Planning:

• Program and engage artists for Holiday concerts.
• Program and engage artists for all non-classical Summer concerts.
• Program and engage artists for Film Series and Film Singles.
• Program and engage artists for special events as assigned.
• Program and engage artists for all added pops, presentations, and alternative programming.
• Explore and research expanded content for the Symphony to present, such as comedy, speakers, and other alternative programming.
• Explore and develop co-promotional relationships with other organizations.
• Pursue collaborations both inside and outside Davies Symphony Hall that connect the Symphony to different audiences.

Administrative and Other:

• Develop systems and processes for effective collaboration with the Marketing team, including creating and maintaining repositories of potential program ideas, compiling comprehensive and data-driven artist and program pitches, and instating and following a cyclical calendar of regular touchpoints on various series.
• Work collaboratively with the Operations and Finance teams to plan concerts that fit within the Symphony’s operational and financial constraints.
• Provide detailed engagement summaries for each program to artist management and relevant SF Symphony Artistic Planning colleagues to support the contracting process and the coordination of all logistical details related to guest artists.
• Review contracts as requested by Artistic Planning Department Manager.
• Maintain awareness of logistical details managed by Artist Services Coordinator and/or Artistic Planning Assistant for guest artists for Holiday, Summer, Film, Special Events, Presentations and Chorus concert, and provide support as reasonably requested.
• Issue program updates for Holiday, Summer, Film, special events, and all other added non-classical programs.
• Manage ArtsVision data entry for Holiday, Summer, Film, special events, and all other added non-classical programs. Submit Early Programming Tool and strawman requests for any necessary programs, and collaborate with Artistic Planning Department Manager on strawmen, budgets, and projections as necessary.
• Proof content for Holiday, Summer, Film, special events, all other added non-classical contracts, and any other programming as necessary.
• Serve as part of concert duty rotation.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

• 5-7 years’ experience working in a performing arts organization, preferably with a musical or orchestral background.
• General knowledge of popular performing artists, bands and films.
• Excellent working relationships with artists and managers.
• Proven negotiation skills across a variety of types of programs, artists, and industries.
• Ability to think innovatively about the practice of artistic planning, and to take a collaborative approach that reflects varied priorities and strategies.
• Commitment to diversifying repertoire and artists from underrepresented minorities.
• Formal education in music preferred.
• Excellent computer skills, including Microsoft Word, Excel, Access and PowerPoint.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Ability to professionally and diplomatically communicate and interact with a wide variety of internal and external stakeholders.
• Ability to collaborate effectively in a team environment.
• Strong situational awareness; able to work discreetly, independently and display good judgment in dealing with diverse personalities and potentially difficult situations.
• Valid driver’s license preferred and satisfactory results of a complete background investigation.
• Must be available to regularly work flexible hours, particularly weekends and evenings in accordance with production, rehearsal and concert schedules.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES

         None

WORKING RELATIONSHIPS

The internal and external constituents with whom this position most frequently interacts include:

• Artistic Operations department
• Marketing and Finance departments
• Guest artists and their managers and agents
• Orchestra musicians

EEO STATEMENT

In alignment with the values statement above, the San Francisco Symphony is committed to providing an environment of mutual respect where equal employment opportunities are available to all applicants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy (including childbirth, lactation and related medical conditions), national origin, age, physical and mental disability, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information (including characteristics and testing), military and veteran status, and any other characteristic protected by applicable law.