Director, Strategic Partnerships & Place (ARTC48)

Director, Strategic Partnerships & Place (ARTC48)

Contract: Permanent, working 35 hours per week (Arts Council also recognises the benefit of flexible working as a valued part of the way we work, and welcome applications from individuals who require flexibility)

Salary: £61,102 per annum plus benefits including a final salary pension scheme, generous annual leave, and flexible and hybrid working.

Location: Brighton, Cambridge, Bristol, Nottingham, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds or Newcastle (The role will be based at one of the offices listed; however, we are operating a hybrid way of working and support our staff to make use of remote working options when combined with regular on-site contact days with other members of the team, normally 1-2 days a week)

Thank you for your interest in joining the Arts Council. We are looking for a Director, Strategic Partnerships & Place to join our team of national directors.

You will take on this role mid-way through our 10-year strategy, Let’s Create, and at a pivotal time for the cultural sector, which is facing many challenges and opportunities right across the country. The public sector landscape is also changing, making this an exciting, dynamic environment in which to work.

Our national ambitions for creativity and culture cannot be realised without building, maintaining and expanding relationships across local and national government, strategic and combined authorities, Mayoral teams, with other funders and National Lottery distributors, and with those representing communities across England’s villages, towns, cities.

Key external stakeholder relationships will include the Local Government Association, other membership bodies, government agencies, Arm’s Length Bodies and National Lottery Distributors.

You will work across the country, across the artforms and disciplines we support, and in service of the widest range of the public and the cultural sector, utilising the skills and expertise of our staff to best effect in our national framework for place based and our partnership work.

You will be work closely with our Deputy Chief Executive, Places, Engagement and Libraries, to shape and lead our work in this field, and with two Senior Managers who you will line manage, and who will help to deliver our work. You will also work closely with a range of colleagues, some nationally focussed and some area focussed, to inform, develop and deliver our place based and partnership work. This currently includes our work around devolution, Priority Places and the data tools we develop and share to inform our own and others understanding of culture and place.

The post holder will sit within our Policy Team, led by the Director, Strategy, who will be your line manager. You will work alongside colleagues focusing on Policy, Skills & Workforce and Business Development.

You will have the support of your colleagues but will also have a high degree of autonomy to ensure the successful delivery of our strategy.

If you have a deep knowledge of public policy, want to maximise the contribution of culture to place, turn policy into delivery, work on a national level whilst understanding and influencing the local level, and can effect change within and outwith complex organisations, this might be a role for you.

Leadership experience is important, though you might have gained this outside of the cultural sector in a charity, local authority, creative industry or a grant-giver, for example.

This is an exciting and challenging role. Come and join us in creating a bold and inclusive future.

Equality Diversity and Inclusion Statement: Arts Council are committed to being an inclusive employer, building an inclusive workplace, and recruiting a workforce that is as diverse as the communities we serve. However, you identify, and whatever background you bring with you, we welcome you to apply for a role at Arts Council.

If there are any adjustments that would support you in your application, please do let us know when you apply. If you are disabled, Evenbreak are able to provide support with your application. For further information please visit their website here

Disabled, D/deaf and/or neurodivergent people and those from Black, Asian and Ethnically Diverse backgrounds are underrepresented in our workforce so we particularly encourage applications from people in these groups.

About us: Arts Council offers a range of benefits to our employees including hybrid and flexible working, a generous annual leave allowance and the Arts Council Retirement Plan - a final salary scheme. To find out more, click here.

Our Code of Ethics requires that employees of the Arts Council are not able to receive an Arts Council grant, investment or loan funding - either in person, as a member of a partnership, or for any organisation they own. There are also limitations on board or CEO positions employees can hold in organisations we fund. For more information on this, please talk to the recruiting manager or contact [email protected]

We believe our recruitment process should be inclusive and transparent. Find out what to expect with our application guidance and more about our commitment to diversity on our website here.



To view the recruitment pack which outlines more details about working for Arts Council please click here

Job ref: ARTC48

Closing date: Midnight, Sunday 06 July

1st Interviews: (virtual) Monday 14 July

2nd Interviews: (in person at the Birmingham office) Monday 21 July

Please note: We do NOT accept CVs or cover letters as part of our recruitment process. If you require any documentation in an alternative format, please contact [email protected]