Earl R. Merrill: Shakespeare Theatre Company, Senior Director of Development

The Senior Director of Development will lead the design, development, and execution of strategies that grow a comprehensive fundraising program.

“Is there no play / to ease the anguish of a torturing hour?”
--A Midsummer Night’s Dream

The Shakespeare Theatre Company, recipient of the 2012 Regional Theatre Tony Award, is the leading premier classical theatre company in the nation. STC has staged more than 150 innovative productions, bringing them to vibrant life in a provocative, imaginary, and widely accessible style that connects classic dramas of universal significance to the modern human experience. Over the last 30 years, STC has entertained more than 2.5 million audience members, offered high-impact arts education and community engagement programs, and provided a home for today’s leading classical artists and a training ground for the next generation.

Under the leadership of award-winning Artistic Director Michael Kahn and of Executive Director Chris Jennings, STC marries its passionate commitment to the power of the arts with rigorous analysis of the partnerships and programs through which it can best bring them to ever-widening audiences. STC is seeking a Senior Director of Development to join this effort, creating data-based fundraising plans that advance the theatre and the engagement of local, national, and international communities with the classic drama that it creates, preserves, and promotes.

The Senior Director of Development will lead the design, development, and execution of strategies that grow a comprehensive fundraising program. Reporting to the Executive Director, the SDD will manage and motivate a full-time staff of 11 professional fundraisers and guide the work of consultants, volunteers, and the Board of Trustees to meet annual and campaign fundraising goals. Both the lead ambassador to many of the Theatre’s most important supporters and a key member of the senior executive team, the SDD plays a critical role in sustaining the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s ability to produce excellent theatre and to connect classic drama to the modern human experience.