Wardrobe and Hair Manager

Job Description

Job Description

Now Hiring: Wardrobe and Hair Manager
Department: Production | Reports to: Production Manager
Status: Full-Time, Exempt (40+ hours/week)
Salary Range:
Location: Ashland, OR

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) is seeking an experienced and collaborative Wardrobe and Hair Manager to lead our Wardrobe, Hair, Wig, and Makeup operations. This role is ideal for an accomplished theatrical professional who brings strong people leadership, production expertise, and a commitment to maintaining artistic excellence throughout a repertory season.

As Wardrobe and Hair Manager, you’ll lead a unionized team responsible for successfully opening, running, and closing OSF productions. You’ll oversee staffing, scheduling, budgets, safety, and department operations while partnering across Production to maintain the integrity and quality of costume, hair, wig, and makeup designs throughout the season.

Team Leadership: Recruit, hire, schedule, coach, and supervise Wardrobe and Hair personnel while supporting onboarding, performance management, and professional development.

Production & Show Support: Oversee wardrobe, hair, wig, and makeup operations for assigned productions, including technical rehearsals, run crews, quick changes, show documentation, and ongoing maintenance.

Artistic & Quality Oversight: Ensure the integrity of costume and hair designs is maintained throughout the season while balancing artistic needs with available resources.

Budget & Operations: Develop and manage annual labor, materials, and capital budgets and oversee department equipment, spaces, inventory, and administrative processes.

Cross-Department Collaboration: Partner closely with the Costume Shop, Stage Management, Production Management, and other teams to coordinate show needs, schedules, performer support, and backstage operations.

Safety & Compliance: Maintain safe, sanitary workspaces and ensure compliance with applicable theatrical, AEA, and Oregon Health Licensing Office requirements.

Have 5+ years of professional theatrical wardrobe experience , including experience supervising people and/or projects in the entertainment industry.
Are an effective and motivational leader who can manage multiple priorities and respond confidently to last-minute changes.
Bring strong knowledge of theatrical wardrobe operations, quick changes, and run crew planning.
Have experience managing budgets, schedules, and unionized teams.
Communicate effectively and can navigate challenging situations with professionalism and care.

Experience with quick-change choreography and run crew track planning.
Knowledge of industrial and home sewing machines and costume care.
Experience with short- and long-term budget planning.
Familiarity with backstage safety, sanitation requirements, Microsoft Office, and cloud-based systems.
Experience working in a repertory and unionized theatre environment.

Ability to lift and move costumes and equipment weighing up to 30 pounds, climb stairs, and sit or stand for extended periods. The standard workweek is Tuesday–Sunday, with regular nights and weekends. Significant overtime may be required, particularly during technical rehearsals.

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) was founded in 1935 in Ashland, OR, and has grown from a three-day festival of two plays to a nationally renowned theatre arts organization that presents a rotating repertory season of up to 10 plays and musicals, including illuminating interpretations of Shakespeare, other enduring classics, and new works. OSF productions have been presented on Broadway, internationally, and at regional, community, and high school theatres across the country. OSF received the 1983 Special Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre and is one of the largest nonprofit theatres in the nation with three stages, including an outdoor Allen Elizabethan Theatre.

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival creates world-class theatre, revealing our collective humanity through illuminating interpretations of new and classic plays, and inspiring a love of our art form for current and future generations.

• We are committed to working toward inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility, creating a space of belonging for all audiences and employees—through concrete actions and systemic improvements.

• We nurture and support our artists, attracting and retaining diverse, innovative talent across the organization.

• We believe in the transformational power of collaborative artmaking and performance.

• We recognize the importance of responsible stewardship of resources and sustainable business, financial, and environmental practices.

• We serve the public good and engage with and respect our community of artists, audiences, staff, local citizens, patrons, donors, and the greater theatre community worldwide.