Associate Director, Secondary Education

Associate Director, Secondary Education Programs

Civic Engagement Department

Education

Work Status:

Full Time

FLSA Status:

Exempt

Location of Job:

Davies Symphony Hall

San Francisco, CA

Salary:

Pay Grade I

$ 77,850.00 - 84,720.00

Schedule:

Hybrid

Regular Hours:

9 am-5 pm; intermittent evenings and weekends

Reports To:

Director, Education Programs

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, Secondary Education Programs leads the design, management, and continuous improvement of the Symphony’s education programs and concert offerings for middle and high school students. This role is responsible for the development and execution of the SF Symphony’s Music and Mentors program, a cornerstone of the organization’s partnership with SFUSD. The Associate Director oversees a faculty of 25+ teaching artists, including recruitment, contracting, and supervision, and manages program implementation across 23 participating campuses. The role coordinates and facilitates communication among site music teachers and teaching artists to ensure program alignment and effectiveness. Key responsibilities include assessing campus and program resource needs; partnering with vendors to procure materials and coordinate instrument repairs; and leading logistics for student and teacher engagement opportunities, including visits to performances at Davies Symphony Hall. The position also administers the Crescendo Scholarship and Bass Bash programs and leads the collection, analysis, and reporting of program data to evaluate impact and inform continuous improvement.

The position reports to the Director, Education Programs.

The Education team is a part of a larger Civic Engagement department that includes the Symphony’s Advocacy & Community Engagement, Youth Orchestra and Volunteer Council teams.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS & RESPONSIBILITIES

• Program Leadership & SFUSD Partnership: Direct the design, implementation, and continuous improvement of the Symphony’s secondary education initiatives, serving as primary operational lead for the Music and Mentors program across 23 SFUSD campuses; act as key liaison to 25+ site music teachers, school principals, and district arts leaders.
• Faculty Management & Compliance: Recruit, contract, train, and supervise a faculty of 25+ professional Teaching Artists; evaluate pedagogical delivery and collaborate with Human Resources to ensure full compliance with district and organizational policies (including Live Scan fingerprinting, TB clearances, and Mandated Reporter training).
• Instrument Logistics & Resource Allocation: Assess technical and instrumental needs across partner school sites, oversee instrument repair workflows and supply procurement, negotiate with specialized vendors, and supervise equipment distribution to campuses.
• Concert Engagement & Special Events: Direct secondary student ticketing initiatives and concert engagement at Davies Symphony Hall (including Teen Night/Day, SFS Youth Orchestra, Open Rehearsals, and cultural heritage concerts); lead logistics tied with any lobby activations for these concerts and produce annual Music and Mentors events.
• Scholarship Administration: Administer the Crescendo Scholarship Initiative, coordinating candidate identification, student progress tracking, and family communication. Provide quarterly updates on this program to the Development team, to provide to key donors supporting this program.
• Budget Administration & Payroll: Manage the secondary education program budget; oversee Teaching Artist hourly payroll processing, track expenditures, support monthly accounting closes, and contribute to quarterly financial projections.
• Evaluation, Data & Development Support: Lead quantitative and qualitative program assessments to measure educational impact; partner with the Development department to provide narrative metrics, participant data, and collateral for grant proposals and donor stewardship.
• Community Representation: Represent the San Francisco Symphony and Education Department at off-site school performances and community festivals (e.g., SFUSD All-City Music Festival), fostering visibility and collaborative relationships across the Bay Area arts education community.

Qualifications

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree in music, music education, arts administration, or humanities; or equivalent professional experience (5–7 years in arts education administration, with preference for music education backgrounds).
• Extensive knowledge of instrumental music.
• Strong familiarity with band and orchestral string instruments, including common maintenance, repair workflows, and instructional supplies.
• Familiarity with pedagogical principles of music instruction and social-emotional development for adolescents.
• Demonstrated experience managing program budgets, accounting reconciliations, and hourly payroll processing.
• Strong interpersonal, diplomatic, and intercultural communication skills, with proven success collaborating with diverse constituencies (K–12 educators, teenagers, parents, teaching artists, and orchestra musicians).
• High degree of situational awareness, organizational rigor, and the ability to handle confidential student and personnel information with discretion.
• Able to work regular office hours with intermittent evening and weekend commitments for concerts, community events, and school visits.
• Experience working in public schools and/or summer camps is a plus.
• Experience working with special education students is a plus.
• Familiarity with music history and orchestral repertoire is a plus.
• Experience with program evaluation, student assessment methodology, or educational research is a plus.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES

None

WORKING RELATIONSHIPS

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

• Director, Education Programs
• Chief Civic Engagement Officer
• Community Engagement, Education, Volunteer Council, Youth Orchestra, Operations, Marketing, Communications, Front of House and Patron Services departments
• SF Symphony musicians and crew
• Teaching artists
• SFUSD administration, teachers, and music teachers
• Pedagogy consultants
• External vendors

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.