Manager, Community & Partnerships

POSITION OVERVIEW

The Manager, Community & Partnerships is a key operational leader responsible for the growth, health, and engagement of the Sundance Collab community. This role oversees community-facing initiatives, manages diverse global partnerships (from academic institutions to major corporations) and serves as a key lead for the AI Literacy Initiative and AI Literacy Alliance.

Working closely under the Associate Director, Collab, the Manager ensures that the platform remains a safe, nurturing, and inclusive space for independent artists to develop their work. This role will balance partnership development with the oversight of day-to-day community operations and technical support excellence.

This full-time position is based within a commutable distance to Boulder, CO, Salt Lake City, UT, Los Angeles, CA, or New York, NY. There will be opportunities for day-to-day to be performed remotely. The role requires flexibility, including extended hours, evenings, and weekends during peak periods, as well as travel to Institute locations, events, and meetings as needed.

Sundance Institute is a unionized workforce and this position is in the bargaining unit.

Top priorities include, but are not limited to…

• Supporting the execution and coordination of the AI Literacy Initiative, serving as the primary point of contact for day-to-day engagement with member organizations in the AI Literacy Alliance (AILA) and the group’s activities.

• Managing the Filmmaker Toolkit as well as Grants & Resources sections of the site, curating materials, and keeping them up-to-date.

• Overseeing the Community Leaders program, providing guidance and high-level support for community-driven events like the Meet-ups and the Writers Cafe.

• Championing the Community Agreement and Code of Conduct, ensuring the platform remains a safe space through proactive moderation and documentation.

• Tracking and reporting on community engagement and support trends, providing insights to inform decision making.

• Managing and stewarding relationships with allied organizations, international partners, academic institutions, and large-scale corporations to expand the platform's reach in alignment with strategy.

• Creating and maintaining comprehensive partner materials, site experience resources, and instructional guides tailored to specific partnership needs (including AILA).

• Leading the execution and coordination of community challenges, including the selection process and management of partnership-specific pages.

• Contributing to planning discussions and providing operational insights and executional considerations.

• Managing the Collab support and course inboxes, ensuring a solution-oriented approach to membership, billing, and technical inquiries.

• Acting as an initial point of escalation for urgent platform issues and complex technical troubleshooting.

• Driving the planning and implementation of accessibility efforts in collaboration with the Institute’s accessibility team.

• Overseeing the execution of product bundles and packages, ensuring seamless integration with backend systems like Stripe.

• Implementing and continuously improving scalable support systems, including automation, ticket tagging, knowledge base development, and self service tools to reduce manual workload and improve response efficiency.

You have the following direct or transferable qualifications and skills:

• 3 years of experience in community management, partnership development, or digital operations.

• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to interface with corporate teams, academic leads, and independent artists.

• Ability to translate platform data and member feedback into actionable strategies for growth.

• Knowledge of digital platforms, Zoom, Asana, AirTable, Discord, and the Google Suite; proficiency with ZohoDesk and Stripe is a plus.

• Proven ability to manage complex timelines with attention to detail.

• Experience working with international constituents and a commitment to providing an inclusive, welcoming community experience.

• Legal authorization to work in the United States.

You will be successful in this role if you...

• Successfully launch and maintain academic and corporate partnership experiences and ensure materials are delivered on schedule.

• Support the growth and build active engagement within the AI Literacy Alliance and successfully rollout AI-related educational content.

• Maintain a 24-hour response time for support inquiries (excluding weekends) and resolve most requests within 72 hours.

• Effectively work with Community Leaders and achieve a measurable decrease in "open" status tickets through improved site FAQs and UX.

In addition to an annual salary of $58,800.00 to $72,000.00*, this position** is eligible for our comprehensive benefits package, highlights include:

• Health, vision, and dental insurance

• 25 paid Institute holidays plus accrued vacation time

• Paid sick, family, and medical leave

• Employee Wellness initiatives

• 401(k) with automatic 3% employer contribution after one year of employment

• Sundance Film Festival passes and benefits (varies each year)

*Final rate of pay is determined based on the applicant's geographic location, relevant experience and skills, and internal equity among similar positions within our organization.

**Applications open 8/12/2026 and will be accepted for at least one week