1 Message from the Chair

Dear Applicant

I’m delighted that you’re interested in the Chief Executive role at St George’s that has become vacant following the announcement of Suzanne Rolt’s departure to ’s Quartet Community Foundation at the end of April.

As with all other performance and arts venues, St George’s has been largely closed over the last 12 months, but we’re hopeful we can start to re-engage more fully with our audiences, local communities, performers and supporters this summer. It will be wonderful to bring people back into the building, with its only relatively recently completed new extension; and exciting to dust off our growth plans.

St George’s is well set for the future. Suzanne’s legacy is a well-loved organisation, with an engaged and skilled staff team, enjoying an enhanced standing locally and nationally. To replace her, we’re looking for an ambitious and dynamic leader for the next phase of the charity’s development, bringing their own clarity of vision and purpose to the organisation.

We’re looking for someone to be an ambassador for St George’s, to take forward the organisation’s vision to become an all-day creative space for music and ideas, to extend our engagement with communities throughout Bristol, and to expand our commercial activities. We’re excited at the prospect of facing these challenges together with our new Chief Executive.

Ben Heald Chair of the Board of Trustees

2 A N O V E R V I E W

St George’s Bristol is one of the UK’s leading concert halls, celebrated for the quality, range and imagination of its artistic programme, as well as for the high esteem in which it is held by artists and audiences. Sir Simon Rattle marked it out as having the ‘finest chamber music acoustic in Europe’ and this, in combination with an intimate atmosphere, makes it a major draw for the world’s greatest musicians, as well as for creative partnerships with recording companies and the BBC.

In a typical year we welcome 120,000 visitors to the building and stage 500+ events through our artistic, learning and commercial activity strands. Our artistic programme is a highly curated one that spans classical, jazz, folk, contemporary and world music, as well as spoken word artists. It features creative partnerships with artists from around the UK, and with communities and creators in Bristol and the South West.

A £6.5m capital project saw St George’s relaunch in late 2018, with a new, award winning building whose contemporary architecture perfectly complements the existing Grade II* building (designed by Sir Robert Smirke, architect of the British Museum). The main concert hall holds 580 audience members while the spaces in the new building are fully accessible and flexibly configured to allow for a wide range of performance, learning, community and commercial activities. There is a modern café-bar area that attracts daytime visitors as well as enhancing the experience for audiences attending our busy schedule of evening events. Overall, this transformation is supporting our vision to be ‘a creative and imaginative space for music and ideas at the heart of our community’.

Our Programme

We aim to create a diverse and sustainable programme of the world’s finest musicians and thinkers, to enable deep exploration of music and ideas. We create bold contexts for performance; vibrant, relevant conversation; and imaginative opportunities for people to be a part of culture. Our programme embraces, opens up, and connects a broad range of genres, creative styles and subjects, and provides a vital platform for local amateur creators. We also support the work of practitioners in grassroots, voluntary and learning contexts.

We are proud of the many partnerships we have launched and cultivated over the years. We have a close association with orchestras such as the OAE, Aurora, and Chineke! and many artists consider it to be a musical home. These relationships have enabled us to build ambitious series and festivals that have taken the St George’s name and sound far beyond Bristol. Long running series such as Migrations and week-long residencies with the BBC (Earth Music Bristol, Brahms Experience, Bristol Baroque Festival) have allowed us to explore major themes through music and

3 cross art-form collaborations. In this spirit, we are currently working on the return of our Bristol International Keyboard Festival as well as plans to launch a major new multi-year Rebel Music series that will be a rallying cry for social change and provide a platform for musicians to explore the possibilities of protest through their music.

We believe culture is vital in celebrating difference and solidarity in our communities. We devise and collaborate to support opportunities for any person to be a part of music-making and to be inspired. We invite people to explore and co-create through choirs, production and performance; we work with older, socially-isolated people through a daytime programme; and we take work out to settings city-wide to inspire and connect people with culture.

With a firm belief in the power of music to bring positive change to people’s lives from an early age, we deliver an award-winning Learning & Participation programme, engaging with around 4,000 children and young people each year. Through this we offer a supportive and inclusive platform to young musicians and other young creatives, and inspire children across the wide spectrum of our city and region through live performance and participation opportunities.

Business & Operational Model

St George’s Bristol is a charity operating a not-for-profit business model with an annual turnover of approximately £1.3m. We generate income through ticket sales, venue hire, fundraising and the café and bar. We work closely with Bristol Music Trust as a partner of Bristol Music Consortium, through which we secure NPO investment from Arts Council England. To support the organisation through the current Covid pandemic we have to date received grants from the DCMS, Arts Council England and Bristol City Council.

Commercial use of the building directly supports our income generation, with our spaces hired out for events, conferences, graduation ceremonies and wedding receptions. We also enjoy a strategic relationship with the University of Bristol.

St George’s is governed by a non-executive Board of Trustees and led by the Chief Executive, supported by a senior management team. In addition to our current permanent staff team of 22 full time and part time employees, 20 casual staff are involved in running events, the box office and hospitality operations, with the assistance of over 100 volunteers.

The St George’s Board currently comprises 10 locally-based trustees from a variety of professional backgrounds. In a step towards increasing the Board’s diversity, and in partnership with Bristol’s Rising Arts Agency, two young creatives are being appointed in March, along with up to three further trustees in due course.

4 Equality & Diversity

We seek to put individuals with different cultures, perspectives and experiences at the heart of the way we work. We want to recruit, develop and retain the most talented people, regardless of their background, and make best use of their talents. We recognise that being an inclusive employer helps us fulfil our responsibility to make a positive difference for our organisation and for the city. We are committed to promoting equality across the organisation.

About Bristol

Bristol is the gateway to England’s West Country, a vibrant and green city with culture and creativity at its heart, and a great place to live. As well as being one of the UK’s most popular tourist destinations, Bristol was named by the Sunday Times as ‘the Best City in Britain in which to live’ in 2014 and 2017, and Bristol also won the EU’s European Green Capital Award in 2015. With a population of 670,000, Bristol’s modern economy is built on the creative media, electronics and aerospace industries, and the city-centre docks have been redeveloped as centres of heritage and culture. The city is home to two Universities and a wealth of artistic and sporting organisations and venues.

St George’s is located in the heart of Bristol and is a vital part of the city’s vibrant and thriving cultural landscape, working closely with other creative organisations such as , Watershed, , , Bristol Festival of Ideas, and Bristol M-Shed and Museum and Art Gallery. St George’s is an active member of a number of Bristol cultural networks and consortia, contributing towards the development of a diverse range of activity and initiatives that bring together artists and communities around the city.

For further information on St George’s Bristol, please visit: www.stgeorgesbristol.co.uk For information on living in Bristol, please visit: www.visitbristol.co.uk

5 R O L E O U T L I N E

St George’s has recently completed the largest transformation in its history and, while pivoting to meet the challenges of the Covid pandemic in the short term, is looking ahead to a future defined by ambitious plans. The Chief Executive will provide inspirational leadership, steering the organisation through the next stage of its development at a time when the external landscape will continue to change. The successful candidate will help to inspire and challenge everyone associated with St George’s. K E Y R E S P O N S I B I L I T I E S Strategic Leadership

• Provide leadership, clear strategic direction and effective management of St George’s.

• Uphold the vision and mission of the organisation.

• Lead on the creation and renewal of a sustainable business model with high quality organisational strategies and plans.

• Build upon our trusted relationships with key partners and an active network of supporters, influencers and stakeholders, including Arts Council England and Bristol City Council.

• Seek out and develop new strategic partnerships and collaborations, nationally and internationally, for St George’s.

• Develop marketing and branding strategies, ensuring an imaginative and effective approach to brand management and audience development.

• Represent St George’s on local and national networks, contributing to the development of the sector while keeping abreast of new developments that can further strengthen St George’s work and standing.

• Serve as the public face of, and ambassador for, St George’s, communicating its vision and sustaining its distinctive high profile locally, nationally and internationally.

• Build rapport with potential supporters, from statutory funding bodies to charitable trusts and foundations and individual donors, conveying passion and vision and making the strongest possible case for financial support.

• Maximise resources (including the buildings, facilities, and talents and expertise of staff) to drive income generation.

6 Artistic Leadership

• Set and lead implementation of an overall artistic vision for St George’s.

• Safeguard and build on St George’s reputation as one of the country’s finest concert halls with a track-record of exceptional music / cultural programming.

• Support all aspects of curation, management, promotion and development of a broad and diverse range of cultural, commercial and learning events.

• Maintain the many close relationships with artists that sit at the heart of St George’s work, ensuring their continued commitment to, and engagement in, future plans, from the artistic programme to fundraising campaigns.

• Support and encourage St George’s artistic and musical ambitions, embracing our need to be original, diverse and relevant, and judiciously balancing this against our financial priorities.

• Help shape the future direction and scope of the Learning & Participation programme.

• Continue to develop St George’s spaces to broaden cultural participation and to widen access to the arts and music for the communities of Bristol and the region.

• Support the further development of St George’s digital and virtual output, exploring and incorporating new and emerging technologies for the benefit of the organisation. Finances and Operations

• Ensure the strong financial performance, stability and robustness of the organisation, overseeing all activities.

• Identify opportunities for financial growth, including through business opportunities, commercial and strategic partnerships, fundraising and philanthropy, and communications.

• Ensure effective facility management, property upgrades and legislation compliance necessary for the Grade II* listed building.

• Lead and support St George’s commitment to sustainability in all of its activities. People • Provide leadership and support for the senior management team, the wider staff team and volunteers.

• Create and maintain a strong team ethos, with a commitment to developing diversity, working inclusively and supporting staff development and ambition.

• Ensure the organisation’s staff resource is designed to support the vision and direction of the organisation.

• Ensure the organisational culture is positive, creative, open, welcoming and collaborative. Governance • Support the Board in fulfilling its duties and responsibilities to ensure effective governance of the charity.

• Report to the Board at regular meetings, providing information that ensures effective: - risk management; - financial and environmental sustainability; - implementation of policies; and - governance across all areas of operation.

7 P E R S O N S P E C I F I C A T I O N

We are seeking an experienced cultural leader with creative flair, an entrepreneurial mindset and a passion for music. They should have a sound knowledge of the performing arts and music sector and a keen sense of the possibilities of St George’s. They will demonstrate and evidence:

Experience

• Proven successful leadership, or significant senior management experience, in a performing arts organisation, ideally of scale and complexity.

• Experience of developing and implementing a clear, multi-faceted strategy incorporating arts, learning and commercial activities.

• Experience of fundraising.

• Experience of negotiating and managing contracts of all kinds.

• Experience of championing equal opportunities, environmental sustainability and cultural diversity.

• Experience of representing an organisation on the national stage and with the media, presenting at conferences and speaking to large and diverse audiences.

• Experience of managing strategic relationships with key stakeholders.

• Experience of working with a non-executive Board.

Skills

• Strong interpersonal and leadership skills with the ability to manage and motivate staff, inspire excellence and lead a high-profile organisation.

• Ability to inspire and gain philanthropic giving to secure and further St George’s work.

• Demonstrably strong organisational skills and attention to detail, with the ability to prioritise and work effectively to tight deadlines.

• Ability to balance commercial strategic imperatives with cultural integrity and the objectives of a charity.

• Strong negotiating and persuasion skills.

• Ability to develop strong relationships and network effectively.

• Excellent written, oral and presentational communication skills.

8 Knowledge and Understanding

• Up to date and broad knowledge and appreciation of the music sector.

• Sound knowledge of marketing (including digital) and audience development & engagement.

• Knowledge of the workings of local, regional and national music / wider cultural sectors, their structure and ecology, and the challenges and opportunities likely to be presented over the coming years.

• Working knowledge of employment, company and charity law.

• Working knowledge of legislation pertaining to the operation of concert halls and/or performance venues. (Desirable)

Personal Qualities

• Understanding of, and passion for, music and the arts.

• Entrepreneurial flair and a commitment to innovation.

• Demonstrably a good networker and partnership builder.

• Commitment to equality of access, and to diversity and inclusion, in all aspects of business.

• Commitment to empowering and developing staff members.

• Commitment to the role of the arts in society, and to the belief that everyone can develop and express creativity throughout their life.

9 T E R M S O F A P P O I N T M E N T

Salary c. £65k per annum

Location Bristol

Hours This is a full time post. In addition, evening and weekend work in association with concerts and functions is common and necessary.

Holidays 33 days per annum (including Bank Holidays)

Pension 5% after probation period

Probation period 6 months, with one month’s notice

Notice period 6 months on either side

Responsible to St George’s Chair of Trustees

How to Apply

Please send a CV and letter of application, addressing how your experience matches the job description and person specification, to our recruitment consultant, Heather Newill, Director AEM International, either by email to: [email protected] or by hard copy to:

AEM International Ltd, 22 Well Close Square, Framlingham, Suffolk, IP13 9DS

The letter of application should be no longer than 3 sides of A4. All applications will be acknowledged.

For an informal conversation about the role, please call Heather Newill on 01728 660026

Deadline for applications: 5.00pm, Friday 26th March

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