Programme Manager

Vacancy Description Region: UK Country: England Department: Arts Job Category: fixed term contract until 1st September 2018 Location: London Pay Band: 7 (£26,016 - £33,112) The Organisation The British Council was founded to create a friendly knowledge and understanding between the people of the UK and wider world by making a positive contribution to the countries we work with, and in doing so making a lasting difference to the UKs international standing, prosperity and security. The programmes we use to do this are wide-ranging and cover the arts, education, English, science and society. The Arts Our UK Arts team works with the British Councils global network of offices to achieve significant impact and change by finding new ways of connecting and seeing each other through the arts. Our team in the UK has three main groupings: We have six art form teams; three cross-disciplinary teams; and three country-specific teams in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Our aim is to see stronger creative sectors across the world that are better connected with the UK. We believe arts and culture are vital to prosperous, secure societies, and that offering international cultural connections and experiences strengthens their resilience. We are uniquely able to make a difference thanks to our extensive and diverse networks in the UK and internationally, enabling us to respond to the individual context of each place we work in. The Team In the Creative Economy team we develop new collaborations, innovation and enterprise with the rapidly-changing creative and cultural industries worldwide. Working with local partners, we identify and support communities of future leaders and changemakers by giving them space, tools, connections and 21st century skills to foster ideas and innovation and help them develop more prosperous, socially engaged, creative economies. Our primary audience and collaborators are enterprising communities of individuals and organisations, who we often describe as hubs. We also work with policymakers, institutions and other stakeholders who want to better understand and develop their creative economy. We focus on three areas of work: Creative Technology: Our projects support people to use technology as a powerful creative medium and make connections with the spaces and communities around them. Creative Enterprise: A large proportion of creative companies are microenterprises (fewer than 10 employees), and many of these small businesses lack formal business planning processes. Were helping people in the creative and cultural industries worldwide by giving them access to skills and networks which will help them build strong and sustainable enterprises. Creative Hubs and Communities: Makerspaces, incubators, pop-ups, labs and clusters: they allow inventive and enterprising people to share workspace and access experience, tools and investment. Our programmes bring hub convenors together to share ideas, experience and skills to build stronger local creative economies. The Opportunity We have an excellent opportunity for a Programme Manager, Creative Economy, to develop, manage and advise on projects, partnerships and activities which represent the Creative Economy teams contribution to the British Councils cultural relations agenda, overseeing and providing assistance as required to their implementation. In particular, profile the digital (and social) innovation and experimentation of the UKs creative and cultural industries, in ways that are relevant to international needs and contribute to cultural exchange and social development. This is a one year post to cover the temporary promotion of the substantive post-holder. The successful candidate must demonstrate the following essential knowledge & experience: Experience in project management and delivery of collaborative creative projects A good understanding of enterprise and innovation trends in the UKs creative and cultural sectors and established network of relationships with the sector A strong interest in working in an international context or with different cultures Track record in building and developing credible partnerships for strategic benefit The ability to write well in a variety of styles Experience of producing or commissioning project evaluation Some of the main opportunities/challenges include: (Please see Role Profile for full details of the duties) Working within a cross-departmental and multi-location team to deliver high-quality creative economy programmes Developing new and existing programmes to create opportunities and international experiences for UK-based creative innovators, hubs and creative entrepreneurs Maintaining expertise in the UKs creative economy eco-system - the ability to make critical judgments and use knowledge of the diversity and strengths of a broad range of actors in the UK to develop cultural relations programmes. Acting as creative economy lead on one of three areas of expertise: creative enterprise development, policy or creative city development. Equality Comment & Equality of Opportunity (UK) Valuing diversity is essential to the British Councils work. We aim to abide by and promote equality legislation by following both the letter and the spirit of it to try and avoid unjustified discrimination, recognising discrimination as a barrier to equality of opportunity, inclusion and human rights. All staff worldwide are required to ensure their behaviour is consistent with our policies. The British Council is committed to a policy of equal opportunity and is keen to reflect the diversity of UK society at every level within the organisation. We welcome applications from all sections of the community. In line with the British Council's Child Protection policy, any appointment is contingent on thorough checks. In the UK, and in other countries where appropriate systems exist, these include criminal records checks. For further information please see the documents below: Role profile British Council behaviours Benefits Generous pension 32 days annual leave Flexible working policy Childcare vouchers Season ticket loan The closing date is Friday 29th September 2017 at 23:59 UK time and we are looking to schedule the interviews for 6th October.