Joining our team

Director, Music
October 2017

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 Thank you for your interest in joining the Arts Council.

This is an exciting point in our history. We have a new leadership team,

led by Sir Nicholas Serota as Chair and Darren Henley as Chief Executive.
Our current 10-year strategy, Great Art and Culture for Everyone, runs to
2020 and we are beginning work on its successor. Our new strategy will
determine the future direction of public investment in arts and culture in
this country between 2020 and 2030. As one of our directors you will play
a key role in shaping that strategy.

Arts and culture are agents of change. Our sector is always a challenging
as well as profoundly rewarding environment. It is not easy to balance artistic ambition with
delivering best value for public money. But we know that there is no gain without risk; that
talent, ingenuity and invention are vital to renewal and progress.

When thinking about the future we will be looking at how the arts and culture sector can rise
to the challenges and opportunities presented by new technologies and how we can foster a
stronger culture of business innovation in the organisations that we invest in. We want them to
be better able to support the future creative ambitions of artists and to ensure that more people
than ever before have the opportunity to engage with and be inspired by the great art and culture
that this country produces.

Our next 10 year strategy will help shape one of the most fascinating times in our cultural
history, with the arts and cultural sector ever more at the centre of our national life.

We are looking for new people to join our team of directors to help shape the direction and
delivery of arts and culture in this country. You could already be in the arts and cultural sector
or in the public or charitable sector. You may be working in private business or the tech sector
and keen to bring your skills, knowledge and experience to the world of publicly funded arts and
culture. What is key is that you have a passion for arts and culture and a determination that they
have a lasting impact on our communities and our national culture.

Simon Mellor
Deputy Chief Executive, Arts and Culture

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Arts Council England
Arts Council England is the national
development and investment agency for art
and culture. We use public money from the
government and the National Lottery to bring
great art and culture to everyone.
We believe art and culture inspire us, bring us
together and teach us about ourselves and
the world around us. In short, they make life
better.
We look after visual and performing artforms,
music, dance, theatre, literature, as well as
museums and libraries. Through a range of
funds, we provide long term investment for
our national arts organisations and regional
museums We also support thousands of
individual artists and arts-related projects
across the country.
Photo Matt Austin / Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery, Exeter Respect Festival.
Investment is just part of our story. Our
funding goes hand-in-hand with a vital role
developing the long-term health, relevance
and availability of arts and culture across all
of England. We use the skills and expertise
of our people and our funding to build the
resilience of the cultural sector, working with
organisations to create new partnerships,
develop talent, raise skills, bring in new
revenue and encourage genuine diversity.
On the wider public stage we advocate for
the value of the arts for all children and
young people; raise awareness of how arts
organisations, museums and libraries are
intrinsic to our happiness, wellbeing and
the shared life of our communities; and we
champion the remarkable contribution the arts
and creative industries make to our economy.
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In recent years we have enjoyed significant
successes. We have worked closely with
the arts and cultural sector to increase its
resilience and diversity; we have increased
funding outside London and have helped
the arts to lead regeneration in towns and
cities across England. Our groundbreaking
programmes such as Creative People and
Places are now involving many people who
dont usually engage with art and culture.
While much remains to be done, Arts Council
England is in a good position to continue
to move forward. We are leaner, more
transparent and accountable, and we enjoy
positive relationships both with the arts and
cultural sector and our funders in government.
Our structure
The Arts Council balances a national overview
and strategy with local priorities and delivery.
There are nine offices across the country in
Bristol, Brighton, Birmingham, Cambridge,
Leeds, London, Nottingham, Manchester and
Newcastle. We have an enthusiastic, expert
and dedicated staff body, of around 500
people.
National and Area Councils
National Council is the non-executive board
of Arts Council England and holds overall
Photo Joel Fildes for British Ceramics Biennial
responsibility for the governance of the
organisation. It is supported by five Area
Councils in London, South East, South West,
Midlands and the North.
Our goals
Our current strategic framework runs from
2010-20 and is centered around five goals
promoting excellence; opportunity and access
for all; resilience and sustainability; skills and
diversity, and the importance of the arts,
museums and libraries for all children and
young people.
Our values
At Arts Council England we are passionate,
knowledgeable, nurturing, bold, accountable
and collaborative. These values are important
to all of us. They draw on the ideas and beliefs
of people throughout the organisation and
inform who we are, what we do and how
we do it.
At the heart of our mission is the belief
that art and culture make lives better,
empowering people to realise their
potential. To make this happen, we need
our organisation to have people with skills,
bold ideas and diverse perspectives
people of vision and empathy who can both
lead and learn.
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Salary
The salary bracket for this role begins at
53,776 and goes up to 60,540.
Learning and development
As a gold standard Investor in People we
provide flexible and adaptable learning and
development opportunities for staff at all
levels. We believe that a continuous learning
culture is important at work and that investing
in staff development will encourage a high
performing organisation.
Pension
You may opt in to the Arts Council Retirement
Plan. This is a final salary scheme and
contributions are based on a sliding salary scale.
Annual leave
You will benefit from 25 days annual leave
(plus bank holidays) and an extra three days
between Christmas and New Year.
Photo Steve Tanner.
A Certain Kind Of Light
Light in art over six decade.
Family leave policies
We offer generous sick-pay, paid maternity,
paternity and adoptive parental leave
provisions, as well as up to five days a year for
home life and religious reasons. We also offer
a holiday buy and sell scheme.
Travel loans
You can apply for interest-free loans for a
season travel ticket. Bicycle, car and motorbike
loans are available to staff who regularly use
these forms of transport for work.
Relocation support
Newly appointed staff who need to move their
residence are eligible to apply for up to 5,000
of relocation support.
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Diversity
We believe that Englands rich and diverse
national culture can and should be reflected
through the arts, increasing our mutual
understanding and enhancing the lives of
all citizens.
You can play a part, whoever you are and
whatever your background. Its important that
our staff reflect the communities we serve,
and we want to work with people from a
wide range of backgrounds, with differing
personalities, skills and perspectives.
Equal opportunities
We are committed to attracting and
recruiting diverse candidates from the
widest possible pool.
All disabled candidates who meet our
minimum (essential) criteria are guaranteed
an interview.
If you require an application pack in
alternative formats (i.e Braille, audio, large
print) please contact 0161 934 4317 or email
HR.ServiceCentre@artscouncil.org.uk.

Our commitment to diversity is reflected in our

attitude towards all employees. Well respect
you as an individual our internal support and
network groups, fair policies and practices are
designed to embrace everyones perspective
and expertise. Our commitment to equality
is reflected in our role as one of Stonewalls
Diversity Champions.

Photo James Mulkeen for Cast, Doncaster

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Director, Music
Location: London
Salary: 53,776 60,540
What will be my main
contribution?
You will be a senior member of the Area
leadership team, sharing responsibility for its
successful contribution to our national strategy
by delivering on our goals locally. You will have
national leadership and accountability for Music.
You will also be a member of the Area leadership
team, contributing to the formulation, delivery
and evaluation of our strategies, goals and
priorities.
Who will I report to?
You will be line managed by the Area Director
and also be accountable for your national
discipline/policy priority role to the Deputy Chief
Executive, Arts & Culture. Both may provide a
coaching or development role. You will also have
regular contact and a strong working relationship
with other Executive Directors.
Who will I manage?
You will be responsible for line managing
senior relationship managers and will have
oversight of the work of relationship managers
located in other areas where it relates to your
national discipline or policy priority. You may be
involved in recruitment to these posts and will
be expected to contribute to feedback on their
performance.
What other key relationships
will I have?
You will be part of an Area leadership team and
a national discipline lead team. You will work
closely with other leadership teams, including
other national discipline leads and their teams
and with our external stakeholders.
You will provide local and discipline-based
intelligence to the Investment team to inform the
design of new funding programmes.
You will work closely with or coordinate
practice groups where appropriate with all the
relationship managers throughout the country
with expertise in your national discipline/policy
priority and take a lead in helping to develop
their skills. You will build a network of informal
relationships with key external practitioners in
order to stay abreast of developments in your
discipline/policy priority.
Organisationally, we must operate as a fully
interconnected structure and you will be
expected to work effectively in an environment
that relies on collaboration, flexibility and the
ability to manage both formal and informal
reporting relationships.
You will develop and manage key local
relationships with external partners and
stakeholders at a senior level, including local
government, local agencies and higher education
institutions.
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What level of budget
responsibility will I have?
You will have no direct budget responsibility
but you will be part of the management team
charged with expending the area budget.
You will be involved in decision making about
strategic or National portfolio organisations and/
or Major partner museums investments as they
relate to your area or discipline/policy priority.
What will I be doing on a day-
to-day basis?
i Half of your time will be involved in area
management responsibility and half will be spent
on work related to your national discipline or
policy priority leadership role. You will prioritise
your time commitments flexibly and intelligently.
i) Area management responsibility
You will contribute to the development of a
detailed local action plan and be responsible for
the successful delivery of particular objectives
against national priority goals and agreed
outcomes.
Photo Bill Knight
You will communicate national objectives across
your area and make sense of them locally,
ensuring effective and appropriate delivery.
You will provide step in support, advice and,
where appropriate, direct client handling to senior
relationship managers for escalated National
portfolio organisations, Major partner museums
or external stakeholder issues.
You will represent the Arts Council at key local
and area events and platforms.
You will develop and manage key local
relationships at a senior level with external
partners and stakeholders, including local
government, local agencies and higher education
institutions.
You will line manage and coach/develop senior
relationship managers and be responsible for
delivering agreed goals and outcomes.
ii) National discipline or policy priority leadership
You will play a national leadership role in one
of our disciplines or policy priorities. You will
be accountable in this role to the Deputy Chief
Executive, Arts & Culture and work closely with
colleagues across the country, especially other
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discipline or policy leads, to ensure a consistent
and aligned approach to the development and
delivery of Arts Council Englands strategy.
You will be responsible for convening the
expertise and knowledge both internally and
externally across the country to help shape
national policy, ensuring outcomes are identified,
delivered and measured.
You will actively gather intelligence from
the industry and feed this up and across
the appropriate people/channels within the
organisation, ensuring you always have your
finger on the pulse locally, nationally and
internationally.
You will develop and manage key relationships
with senior external national partners and
stakeholders of relevance to your discipline or
policy priority, advocating for the arts and cultural
sector to ensure we deliver our 10-year strategy.
You will work to develop relationship managers
working in your discipline or policy area across
the country, in a practice-group setting where
appropriate.
What types of skills, knowledge
and behaviour will I need?
To succeed in the role you will need extensive
knowledge of policy and practice in the relevant
discipline and/or policy priority areas, probably
developed through senior-level experience in
an arts or culture organisation or local authority.
You will need to be able to demonstrate that you
can act as a nationally credible leader of your
discipline or policy priority area.
You will need experience both of line managing
senior teams and of working successfully in a
matrix structure, including having a duality of
roles.
You will have a deep knowledge of the cultural
sector in England, and of its current challenges
and opportunities. You will have a developed
understanding of the current context for external
partnerships in the arts and culture, including
partnerships with local government.
You will need to be a credible and confident
communicator, including in acting as
spokesperson for Arts Council England to the
media, with strong advocacy and influencing skills
with a wide range of stakeholders, including at
Board and Chief Executive levels.
You will have excellent strategic analysis and
management skills and a track record in leading
and delivering complex projects at a regional or
national level, working with senior stakeholders
and partner organisations, and in which you have
demonstrated good judgement and the ability to
think creatively and operate successfully in untried
and untested circumstances.
You will need a good understanding of the Arts
Councils duty as a public body and have a good
level of experience of collaborative working
at senior level within a matrix environment
supporting the development and implementation
of national policy.
Our key behaviours level 3
Working collaboratively
Develops empowering and enduring working
relationships with internal and external customers
and stakeholders. Networks effectively and
shows political awareness. Actively seeks to
work with a wide range of people, taking into
account peoples diverse backgrounds. Inspires
a culture of openness, transparency and respect
through their own actions. Enables cross-team
working. Creates a culture of equality and respect
for diversity across the organisation. Listens and
responds effectively. Shows empathy towards
others.
Accountability
Acts as a role model in taking accountability and
initiating action. Is positive and proactive. Role
models a can do attitude. Has the courage to
make bold and timely decisions and take risks.
Shows integrity and delivers on commitments.
Ensures others are clear on their roles and
responsibilities and holds themself and others
accountable for their actions.
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Breadth of perspective
Plays an active role in shaping our mission and
strategic goals, and shows a real appreciation of
the external factors impacting on these. Thinks
strategically, looking ahead to the long term. Is
outward focused and sees the bigger picture.
Acts in the interests of the whole organisation,
encouraging others to see and act as one
organisation. Emphasises the role of themself
and others in contributing to organisational
success.
Empowering Leadership
Takes a strong, visible lead. Sets a clear and
compelling vision and direction. Engages and
inspires others. Varies leadership style to bring
out the best in people. Empowers and motivates
others. Creates an environment that encourages
others to perform at their best. Coaches and
develops others to realise their potential.
Acknowledges and celebrates success.
Photo Birmingham Open Media / Pete Ashton
Alignment & Planning
Ensures own work and that of others is aligned
with the Arts Councils vision and strategy. Sets
clear priorities and plans to enable achievement
of organisational goals. Sets appropriate
and realistic deadlines. Monitors and tracks
performance against plan. Ensures deadlines are
met.
Applying Specialist Knowledge
Is knowledgeable and keeps up to date in their
area of specialism. Thinks both tactically and
strategically about how best to apply expertise
across the organisation, the art and culture
community and wider relevant networks.
Communicating & Influencing
Communicates in a confident, clear and
engaging manner with people from all levels
and backgrounds. Chooses the appropriate
form of communication for a situation. Varies
style and content to suit the audiences needs.
Makes a strong impact and influences others
effectively through the style and content of their
communication. Makes a positive and credible
impression as an advocate of and ambassador
for Arts Council England and arts and culture.
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How to apply
Closing date for applications Enquiries:
is Monday 6 November 2017
If you have any queries or would like an
The shortlist of candidates will be compiled informal discussion about this post please
after the closure date. Successful candidates contact:
will then be invited to undergo assessments
and panel interviews, scheduled to take place Alex Howard, HR Partner
in November. Alex.Howard@artscouncil.org.uk
0161 934 4392

Candidates wishing to apply

should:
Email a detailed CV and a covering letter to
HRServiceCentre@artscouncil.org.uk, with
the name of the job you are applying for in
the emails subject line.
The covering letter should include a short
supporting statement which explains
why this appointment interests you and
the ways in which you meet the skills,
knowledge and behaviours outlined in the
job description.
All candidates are asked to complete an
Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form.

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Arts Council England
The Hive
49 Lever Street
Manchester
M1 1FN

Phone: 0161 934 4317

Website: artscouncil.org.uk

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