Braden joined Seattle Rep in 2002. Starting as an artistic intern, he served on various positions on the artistic staff, including six years as Associate Artistic Director, before assuming artistic leadership of the theatre in 2014.

An accomplished director, his credits for the Rep include Rebecca Gilman’s Luna Gale, Arthur Miller’s A View From The Bridge, Laura Schellhardt’s The Comparables, Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Samuel D. Hunter’s A Great Wilderness, Anna Ziegler’s Photograph 51, Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie, Bruce Norris’ Clybourne Park, Michael Hollinger’s Opus, Harold Pinter’s Betrayal, Melissa James Gibson’s This, Laura Schellhardt’s The K of D, an urban legend, Breakin’ Hearts and Takin’ Names by Kevin Kling and Simone Perrin, and My Name is Rachel Corrie, adapted by Alan Rickman and Katherine Viner. Other directing credits include Marya Sea Kaminski’s Riddled (Richard Hugo House), Tommy Smith’s White Hot (Marxiano Productions, West of Lenin), Laura Schellhardt’s The K of D, an urban legend (Pistol Cat Productions, FringeNYC Encore Series, Illusion Theater), Paul Mullin’s The Ten Thousand Things (Washington Ensemble Theatre), and Vincent Delaney’s Kuwait (Theatre Schmeater). He has developed plays around the country with The O’Neill Playwrights Conference, Ojai Playwrights Conference, The Denver Center, The William Inge Theater Festival, Portland Center Stage, The Playwrights’ Center, and Perseverance Theater. He has been a guest artist at Stanford University, Gonzaga University, the University of Idaho, and Seattle University. Braden holds a B.A. from Western Washington University.