Assistant Professor of Practice
- Employer
- The University of Nebraska–Lincoln
- Location
- Lincoln, NE
View more categoriesView less categories
- Employment Type
- Full Time
- Institution Type
- Four-Year Institution
Job Details
The University of Nebraska does not discriminate based on race, color, ethnicity, national origin, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, disability, age, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, and/or political affiliation in its programs, activities, or employment. See: Notice of Nondiscrimination
Working Title:Assistant Professor of Practice
Department:Johnny Carson School-Theatre & Film-1033
Requisition Number:F_260112
Posting Open Date:10/07/2026
Application Review Date: (To ensure consideration, please submit all application materials before review date):12/01/2026
Open Until Filled:Yes
Description of Work:Position Overview
We seek a collaborative technical leader with comprehensive expertise in scenic construction and engineering, rigging and safety, fabrication, and related production disciplines, along with experience with contemporary entertainment technologies such as Vectorworks and/or AutoCAD, automation and show-control systems, CNC fabrication, and 3D printing.
The successful candidate will be committed to practice-based learning and understand how foundational craft knowledge informs and enhances technological innovation. They will bring a passion for interdisciplinary collaboration and preparing students for current and future career paths across the entertainment industry. We seek a colleague who is curious about new technologies and methodologies, comfortable working in an evolving educational and production environment, and interested in contributing to the continued development of the School’s curriculum and pedagogical approaches.
The successful candidate will have experience managing complex technical operations; demonstrated project-management and leadership skills; and the ability to work collaboratively with students, faculty, staff, guest artists, and industry partners.
Key Responsibilities
Technical Leadership and Production
- Oversee the physical construction and engineering aspects of School productions, including rigging, fabrication, and safety.
- Develop and implement technical systems supporting both conventional and emerging production methodologies.
- Integrate new production technologies into existing production processes and workflows.
- Provide technical leadership and problem-solving across the School’s production activities.
- Collaborate with faculty and staff across Entertainment Design & Production, Theatre, Film, and Emerging Media Arts to develop shared technical resources and workflows.
- Maintain and advance professional standards for safety, fabrication, rigging, and technical production.
Teaching and Mentorship
Teach and mentor students in technical theatre, entertainment technology, fabrication, and evolving production methodologies. Depending upon curricular needs and the candidate’s areas of expertise, courses may include:
- Computer-Aided Drafting
- Automation and Computer-Controlled Systems
- Rigging
- Special Effects
- Metalworking
- Entertainment Engineering
- Advanced Materials and Fabrication
- Advanced Carpentry
- CNC and Dimensional Printing Technologies
The successful candidate will mentor students through hands-on, practice-based learning and help them connect foundational construction and fabrication skills with contemporary entertainment technologies.
Curriculum and Interdisciplinary Collaboration
- Develop course work within the curricular structure that connects traditional craft, fabrication, engineering, and emerging production technologies.
- Foster interdisciplinary learning opportunities across theatre, film, and emerging media.
- Explore new technologies, methodologies, and teaching approaches as entertainment production continues to evolve.
- Contribute, as appropriate, to online and digitally supported curriculum development.
Facilities and Technical Resources
- Contribute to the strategic development of technical facilities supporting the School’s expanding curricular and production needs.
- Help oversee scene shops, fabrication spaces, prop and storage areas, and associated making and production facilities.
- Ensure that facilities and technical practices meet current safety standards while supporting innovative production practices.
- Participate in planning for equipment, technologies, and infrastructure supporting Entertainment
- Design & Production and interdisciplinary production.
Professional and Industry Engagement
- Maintain active engagement with current practices and emerging technologies within the entertainment industry.
- Help develop student connections to internships, apprenticeships, professional opportunities, and industry partners.
- Represent the School through appropriate professional organizations, conferences, and industry engagement.
- Contribute to conversations about the changing nature of technical production and entertainment education.
- BFA in Technical Theatre or a related field with significant professional experience in lieu of a terminal degree.
- Minimum two years of professional experience in technical direction or related production work for live entertainment.
- Demonstrated expertise in traditional theatrical craft, construction, fabrication, and contemporary entertainment technology.
- One year of collegiate teaching experience or equivalent professional training, mentorship, or instructional experience.
- Demonstrated project-management and leadership skills.
- MFA in Technical Theatre or a related field.
- Five or more years of professional experience in technical direction or related entertainment production.
- Two or more years of teaching experience in higher education.
- Experience with emerging technologies such as automation, virtual production, motion capture, real-time systems, interactive media, or advanced digital fabrication.
- Experience in film production, themed entertainment, immersive experiences, live events, or other forms of mediated entertainment.
- Professional connections across entertainment technology, themed entertainment, live performance, film, or related industries.
- Experience developing curriculum, including online or digitally supported modalities.
- Professional certifications in relevant software, safety practices, rigging, fabrication, or technical systems.
Lincoln, NE
Criminal History Background Check Required:No
How to Apply:Click “Apply for this Job”, complete the faculty information form, and attach the following required documents:
- Cover letter addressing the applicant’s vision for technical theatre and entertainment production education in a technology-rich, interdisciplinary environment.
- Comprehensive CV highlighting relevant professional and teaching experience.
- Teaching philosophy, maximum two pages.
- Link to online portfolio of technical and production work, including examples such as technical drawings, process documentation, fabrication work, and concept-to-completion examples.
- Contact information for three professional references.
Hank Stratton, hstratton2@unl.edu
Job Category (old):Faculty Non-Tenure Leading
Job Type:Full-Time
Position funded by grant or other form of temporary funding?:No
Planned Hire Date:08/16/2027
Organizational Location:Default Location
Organization
Working at University of Nebraska-Lincoln
For 150 Years, A Leader in Higher Education
Always a place of high ambition, University of Nebraska was one of the first institutions west of the Mississippi River to award doctoral degrees - the first was granted in 1896. The University of Nebraska established the world's first undergraduate psychology laboratory. The discipline of ecology was born here, and the campuses reflect that tradition, being recognized as botanical gardens and arboreta. An early institutional interest in literature and the arts provided the foundations for today's Prairie Schooner literary magazine, for the University of Nebraska Press, and for the Sheldon Museum of Art, which houses one of the world's most significant collections of 20th century American art.
Today, Nebraska is one of the nation's leading teaching institutions, and a research leader with a wide array of grant-funded projects aimed at broadening knowledge in the sciences and humanities. Nebraska is also a land-grant university and a member of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU). The university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.
Benefits
The University of Nebraska offers an extensive benefits package that includes health, life, disability and long term care insurance; retirement accounts; tuition reimbursement for employees and their spouses and dependent children; and reimbursement accounts for health care and dependent day care. Leave policies are designed to help employees deal with personal or family events or crises.
Diversity and Inclusion
In the spirit of the phrase "Every Interaction Matters", UNL has an enacted commitment to diversity and inclusive excellence for our faculty, staff, and students. On our campus, diversity and inclusion are important priorities. Examples include: Husker Dialogues, which is an event that helps first-year students focus on diversity and inclusion and practice handling difficult conversations around difference; three Chancellor's Diversity Commissions that are charged with informing and advising the Chancellor and addressing issues of constituent campus communities; and the establishment of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion whose leader operates at the Vice Chancellor level. At the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, we strive for excellence in all that we do. True excellence requires that each individual be able to work and learn in an atmosphere of respect, dignity, and belonging. Our commitment to diversity and inclusion requires each of us to continuously ensure our interactions are respectful, protect free speech, and inspire academic freedom.
About Lincoln
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln is located in an up-and-coming and safe city of 300,000 people that has many of the cultural and entertainment benefits of a much larger city, with the feel of a friendly Midwestern community. The Pinnacle Bank Arena, opened in 2013, routinely hosts major touring acts. A buzzing entertainment district, the Railyard, connects the arena area to the Historic Haymarket. Cuisines from all continents provide the entree to dynamic urban nightlife and a wide variety of ways to enjoy time with friends. Nebraska's City Campus is one with Lincoln's city center, as it has been since the university was founded.Lincoln has more parkland per capita than Austin, Texas; Portland, Oregon; and all but a handful of U.S. cities. The well-manicured Pioneers Park, the native woods of Wilderness Park and the open grassland of Nine-Mile Prairie are each within a 10-minute trip from campus. Connecting many of these parks is an extensive trails network.
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