The Data Theatre Collaborative at Northeastern University is seeking a part-time Project Coordinator to support a grant-funded initiative at the intersection of participatory performance, information design, and civic engagement. Our work brings together theatre artists, researchers, community organizers, and the city government to help Boston residents engage with municipal data through interactive theatrical experiences.

This is a great opportunity for a theatre artist or arts administrator who wants to contribute to meaningful community-engaged research while developing skills in project management, grant administration, and arts program coordination. Strong organizational skills are a must, prior research experience is a plus, but not required.

What you'll do

The Project Coordinator serves as the administrative backbone of the Collaborative, reporting twice weekly to the PI and once every two weeks to the complete research team.

Responsibilities include:

• Event and workshop logistics — scheduling, space reservations, catering, transportation, and headcounts for workshops, performances, and community events
• Research compliance — tracking the calendar of IRB obligations, managing consent forms and data storage, flagging upcoming addenda deadlines, and coordinating with research team members on data entry and organization
• Re-granting program support — serving as front-line contact for applicants to our pilot replication grant program, organizing and scheduling review panels, and drafting applicant feedback
• Community partner logistics — coordinating group attendance at performances and events, managing accessibility needs, and handling post-event follow-up communications
• Replication toolkit production — supporting project management of our publicly available Civic Data Theatre toolkit, including coordinating with designers and translators and managing review cycles
• Documentation and communications — maintaining project archives (photos, video, programs, press), supporting website updates, and drafting newsletters or social media content as needed
• Meeting support — taking notes at team and panel meetings, tracking action items, and keeping project timelines on track

About the Collaborative

The Data Theatre Collaborative is a multidisciplinary team based in Northeastern's College of Arts, Media and Design. Our flagship project,THE NUMBERS, engaged approximately 500 Boston residents across 10 performances in real-time climate action planning conversations embedded in a fully staged theatrical production. In Summer 2026, we are devising a community-based, interactive play that will tour to community sites and launching a pilot replication program that will seed Data Theatre projects at institutions across the country.

Location and schedule

This is a hybrid position. Much of the work can be done remotely and on a flexible schedule, and routine team meetings take place within standard Monday-Friday business hours. Workshops, rehearsals, and performance events require in-person attendance at campus and community sites in the Boston metro area, and these regularly take place on evenings and weekends. This is typically 2-5 evenings or weekend days per month during active programming periods.

Duration and compensation

This 20 hour/week position begins immediately and is funded through November 2027 at $30/hour. Extension beyond that period would be contingent on additional funding. We are actively pursuing continued support for the Collaborative's work, and we hope this role can grow alongside the project.

Qualifications:

What we're looking for

You're probably a good fit if you have some background in theatre or the performing arts, strong organizational instincts, and genuine enthusiasm for community-engaged work. You don't need a research background — we'll teach you what you need to know about working in a university research environment. You do need to be someone who likes making complicated logistics run smoothly and who can communicate clearly and warmly with a wide range of collaborators, from community partners to grant applicants to university staff.

Familiarity with Google Workspace, comfort managing multiple moving pieces simultaneously, and some experience with event coordination are all pluses.

We're open to candidates from a range of backgrounds, but we're especially interested in people with some grounding in applied or community-based theatre.

How To Apply:

Please apply through Northeastern University's recruitment portal.

Apply by:

June 14, 2026

Salary:

$30 / Per hour

About this Organization:

Data Theatre Collaborative at Northeastern University is a community arts research lab. In data theatre, community members work with theatre artists to interpret, respond to, and generate new knowledge about data that matters to their lives. The practice can take many forms — a series of deliberative workshops, a devised performance, a community event, or some combination — but at its core it is always about rehumanizing data: situating numbers in lived experience and opening them up to collective interpretation.