The Adler Planetarium is seeking a Theater Technician to join their dynamic team located on Chicago's Museum Campus.

The Position

The Theater Technician is responsible for maintaining the technical integrity and optimal working conditions for all of Adler’s theater spaces. This individual also serves as the Adler’s in-house sound designer and audio specialist. The Theater Technician provides technical support for the Adler’s sky shows as well as public programs, private events, meetings, and other projects that require theater access and high-level AV expertise. This position also attends to the details of technical upkeep, functional operation, and outward appearance to ensure high-quality guest experience in the Adler’s theaters and public event spaces. This individual will also be responsible for:

• Maintaining the technical integrity and health of theaters through regular inspection, maintenance, and testing;
• Performing alignment and calibration functions on theater equipment, monitoring health of hardware, performing backup procedures, anticipating equipment and software failures, and proactively addressing issues before they occur;
• Providing technical support for public programs, private events, internal meetings, and other projects that require theater equipment expertise;
• Serving as an in-house sound designer and audio specialist, working both independently and under the direction of Theaters and Digital Experience staff to create and support AV design and installation;
• Actively researching and staying informed of emerging technologies, trends, and methods of audio systems design that are applicable to Adler's needs and other technical/digital disciplines;
• Conducting live and recorded shows in response to daily staffing changes;
• Maintaining theater supply inventories, anticipating needs, and ordering consumable supplies and equipment;

The Person

You are a quick-thinking, technically-capable individual who can work well by yourself, and with a larger team. You stay calm in stressful situations and are a self-starter. You probably have a favorite exoplanet, and you definitely have opinions about Star Trek. The successful candidate will have flexible availability to work weekdays, evenings, weekends, and holidays as necessary.

Required Qualifications:

• Some college and extensive experience with AV equipment;
• Two years of planetarium experience or equivalent professional AV experience;
• Ability to perform diagnostics regarding maintenance and operation of theaters and events;
• Able to work as a team with other staff;
• Knowledge of media playback, theater control, video projectors, audio PA equipment, computers, operating systems and basic networking.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree;
• AV, media, IT, and astronomy knowledge;
• Understanding of planetarium software operation, computer programming ability, advanced electronics and media production skills.

The Team

The Adler Theaters and Digital Experience team work together to ensure the technical integrity of Adler’s theater spaces as well as the presentation excellence of our shows. All of this in service of inspiring exploration of that mind-blowing thing we call our Universe.

Learn more and apply via the Adler's Career Center.