Audience Development Project Manager

Lead a statewide Audience Development project across 4 Tasmanian venues, creating meaningful engagement through data collection & strong partnerships.

Audience Development Project Manager

BASIS OF EMPLOYMENT      Full Time, 38 hours per week

TERM                                            Fixed-term 3 year contract

SALARY                                       $92,000- $97,000 plus super

PROBATION PERIOD              6 months

LOCATION                                 Theatre Royal, Hobart, Tasmania with travel to Burnie, Devonport and Launceston required regularly across the period of employment.

HOURS OF WORKS                Usual hours are 38 hours per week.

Days and hours are negotiable; however, it should be noted that the role requires a willingness to work flexible hours, including evenings and weekends.

ABOUT THE THEATRE ROYAL

Opening in 1837, the Theatre Royal has been the home of contemporary theatre in Tasmania for more than 185 years and is Australia’s oldest working theatre. This 699-seat iconic treasure occupies an important place in the hearts of Tasmanians and many visitors to Nipaluna / Hobart. Since 2020, the Theatre Royal has also occupied The Hedberg, a new state-of-the-art facility shared with the University of Tasmania’s Conservatorium of Music. Three levels of foyers and bars, and a new 284-seat Studio Theatre, have brought new life to the organisation and new opportunities to engage our audiences.

Every year, the Theatre Royal curates an annual season of contemporary performance, which aims to present a diverse range of experiences that our audiences would not otherwise have the opportunity to see. We also service a high level of activity by external producers hiring our venues, delivering ticketing and front of house services, technical production and marketing support. We play an increasingly important role as a place for local artists and companies to develop and showcase new work, and as an employer and training ground for Tasmanian cultural workers.

ABOUT TASMANIA’S PERFORMING ARTS CENTRES (TPAC)

Tasmanian Performing Arts Centres is a presenter network comprised of Tasmania’s major presenting venues – Theatre Royal (Nipaluna/Hobart), Theatre North (Launceston), paranaple arts centre (Limilinaturi/Devonport) and Burnie Arts (Pataway).

The TPAC network was formed around 2008 to encourage closer collaboration between the venues; at the time this was primarily around venue management, ticketing concerns and cross-promotion of shared interstate touring work.

The four venues all underwent a significant change of senior leadership in 2019 – 2021, and the network was re-tooled to focus wholistically on the development of Tasmanian artists and audiences, through:

• Taking carriage of sector development initiatives, where a statewide approach is beneficial
• Platforming Tasmanian work in annual seasons and developing a shared approach to audience development and collaboration with Tasmanian producers
• Sharing knowledge and resources around venue management and contemporary presenting practice
• Advocacy on behalf of the venues, artists and the wider sector

While all four venues are all members of both Performing Arts Connections Australia (PACA) and Victorian Association of Performing Arts Centres (VAPAC) the TPAC network is a natural forum for uniquely Tasmanian concerns.

Members of the network manage seven theatre spaces in four centres across the state (for a total of 3510 mainstage seats) and had a combined attendance of 212 500 in CY2024.

The primary work of Tasmanian Performing Arts Centres over the past three years has been taking carriage of the Strategic Touring Fund and working with Arts Tasmania on capacity building initiatives.

TAS 28

TAS 28 is a statewide, modularised and networked Audience Development Strategy for Tasmania’s Performing Arts Centres (TPAC), supported with Playing Australia funding over the next three years.

The four TPAC venues are:

• Theatre Royal / The Hedberg (Hobart),
• Theatre North (Launceston),
• paranaple arts centre (Devonport), and
• Burnie Arts (Burnie)

The TPAC network is a pivotal part of this strategy. Collectively, we have identified a gap in our audiences and we are seeking to resource the capacity and confidence needed to welcome them into our venues.

TAS 28 will foster a new generation of cultural belonging by redefining how 20–45-year-old Tasmanians connect with performance and place—transforming cultural precincts into spaces of shared identity, creativity, and community ownership.

The project builds on the growing strength of TPAC’s four venues and harnesses the momentum established through the delivery of Arts Tasmania’s Strategic Touring Fund.

Between 2026 and 2028, TAS 28 aims to:

the 20–45 age demographic in a multi venue statewide data gathering project and the 20-30 age demographic in an iterative multi-venue statewide project of learning and strengthening.

YOUR FUTURE

This is an opportunity to help evolve a significant project delivered across four venues in Tasmania.

You will lead the shaping, development and acquittal of the TAS 28 Audience Development project, working closely with teams across the state.

We are seeking someone deeply passionate about the arts and a strong advocate for the impact they have on people’s lives. This role sits at the intersection of audience experience, data and storytelling — requiring experience in developing and delivering meaningful audience engagement, alongside collecting, analysing and clearly communicating audience and ticketing insights.

You will be an exceptional communicator, able to build strong relationships with Venue Managers, Program Managers, Marketing and Ticketing teams, as well as audiences and artists across Tasmania.

PURPOSE OF THE POSITION

The Audience Development Project Manager will assist the TPAC network in alignment of strategies and data collection between 2026 and 2028 (3 years) to grow and diversify a younger adult audience aged 20-45 years.

The Audience Development Project Manager will be required to monitor attendance patterns, motivations, and barriers of key audience segments for the four TPAC venues regularly.

The TAS 28 Strategy provides opportunity for TPAC venues and the Audience Development Project Manager to track the following:

• Ticketing analytics
• Social media insights
• Engagement metrics
• Social media follower growth
• Measure Partnership impact

The TAS 28 strategy provides opportunity for TPAC and the Audience Development Project Manager, to assist in the development and implementation of:-

• Unique Activations & Experiences within each venue’s precinct,
• Appropriate and relevant Marketing & Communications strategies for the key audience segment in conjunction with the Marketing teams at each TPAC venue.
• Outreach & Community Engagements / Public Programming ideas in consultation with Venue Managers, Program Managers and Marketing Managers.
• Accessibility & Inclusion considerations for future venue programming and programs.
• Disability & Neurodiversity Inclusion considerations for future venue programming and programs.
• Cultural Inclusion protocols and activities.

This role, based at the Theatre Royal with travel to the other Tasmanian Performing Arts Centres is part of our commitment to a new generation of audiences and their social and cultural experiences in Tasmania.

The position requires a very real interest in research, data, realising strategies in a practical manner and analysis for iterative implementation.

REPORTING RELATIONSHIPS

• The position reports to the Program Manager, Theatre Royal.
• The position works closely with staff from all four of the Tasmanian Performing Arts Centre venues, particularly in areas such as Programming, Marketing, Ticketing and Business Development, with some interaction with a venue’s Front of House, Operations and Administration teams as required.

KEY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The key duties and responsibilities of the Audience Development Project Manager, are to:-

• Research national and international approaches to audience development strategies, particularly in similar regions and venue sizes to those in Tasmania.
• Research state-wide loyalty strategies between the four TPAC venues and other venues in the state.
• Implement the TAS 28 strategic plan by working with:
• Each TPAC venue’s programming team on identifying intrastate and interstate tours and public programming strategies.
• Contracted artists to deliver the public programming.
• Each of the TPAC venue’s marketing staff to help develop marketing plans and collaboration across the four TPAC venues.
• Organise, collect, monitor and interpret data across TPAC venues from 2026 to 2028.
• Deliver regular reports to the TPAC network and coach TPAC through any challenges that arise during the strategy and project period.
• Participate in the development, coordination and implementation of public programming and associated activities connected to each venue’s TAS 28 annual strategies across the triennium.
• Develop partnerships with a range of stakeholders and organisations to reach new audiences and develop new experiences.
• Develop and maintain strong relationships and regular communication with all four TPAC venues.
• Coordinate the allocation of funds and communication of the TAS 28 strategy in collaboration with Theatre Royal and the other TPAC venues.
• Assist in the preparation of funding requests and grant submissions, as well as acquitting funding spent on completed projects.
• Administer and manage public programs, including contract development, budget management, preparing run orders and liaising with other venue departments to ensure the public programs are well supported and delivered to a high standard.
• Undertake program evaluation and capture qualitative and quantitative data to ensure continuous improvement and assist in measuring the impact of programs and ensuring KPIs are met.
• Other duties as requested.

SELECTION CRITERIA

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

The Theatre Royal is committed to equity and inclusion and welcomes applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, people with a disability, mature age workers, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI+) people.

CERTIFICATES

The successful applicant will be required to have the following current certificates.

• Tasmanian Working with Vulnerable People certificate.
• Australian First Aid certificate.
• Current Drivers Licence.

HOW TO APPLY

Applications should include:

Please combine into one pdf document and email to [email protected] by 1pm on Tuesday 10 March 2026.

For enquiries about the role, please contact: Theatre Royal Program Manager Steve Mayhew at [email protected] or 03 6146 3313.