0113 243 4438 info@leedslieder.org.uk

Vacancy – General Manager

JOB TITLE:  General Manager

REPORTING TO:  Artistic Director

SERVICE PERIOD: Full-time

PLACE OF WORK: A mixture of the Festival Office, flexible home working by arrangement, and on-site for rehearsals and recitals.

SALARY: £30,000 per annum

CONTRACT: Permanent (subject to 6-month probationary period)

HOLIDAYS: 30 DAYS INCLUDING Bank Holidays

Leeds Lieder is a registered charity (no 1105803).  Founded in 2004, it is now recognised internationally as one of the premier organisations devoted to art-song.  Based in Leeds, it presents an annual festival of song, a year-round programme of recitals at various venues in the city and an award-winning Learning and Participation programme in schools.  It aims to introduce art-song to an ever wider audience, to inspire young people and others to appreciate song, and to sustain the tradition of song writing through the commissioning of new work.

Main purpose of the role

This new post is an outstanding opportunity to play a central role in the organisation and future development of Leeds Lieder.  Reporting to the Artistic Director, Joseph Middleton, the General Manager will work with our part-time Concerts and Festival Manager and a small but committed team across a wide range of tasks and provide a high-quality service to the needs of the organisation.  The role carries a wide range of responsibilities and requires a high degree of accuracy and attention to detail.

Responsibilities

The General Manager will work closely with the Artistic Director, Chair and other members of the Leeds Lieder team to assist with the running of the Leeds Lieder office as well as having a strategic vision for the future development of the charity.  Key responsibilities will include, but will not be limited to:

  • Take overall responsibility for the running of the Leeds Lieder office with the Chair, including database administration, documentation, licensing and office technology.
  • Work closely with the Artistic Director, Chair, Board, Concerts and Festival Manager, Treasurer and the freelance Fundraising Consultant, Marketing and Media Manager and Learning and Participation Manager to ensure the smooth running of the organisation.
  • Play a central role in the planning and implementation of all Festival activities.
  • Support, work closely with, and play a central role alongside the Artistic Director in continuing to expand and grow Leeds Lieder both as a current leader in world-class vocal recitals, and as a centre for learning (from children in primary and secondary schools at Key Stages 2 and 3, through the Young Artists Programme, Composers & Poets Programme and into our recitals).
  • Oversee, with guidance from the Chair and Board, the Festival’s policies (including those relating to Health and Safety, Safeguarding, Data Protection, Diversity and Sustainability, Risk Assessment, HR and Insurance), ensuring appropriate standards are maintained.
  • Be present at Festival and Concert Season events, working flexibly and proactively to deal with a wide range of operational tasks as they arise.
  • Support the Artistic Director, Chair and Board by leading, alongside the freelance Fundraising Consultant, the fundraising campaigns including the development of an annual schedule of funding applications. Work alongside the freelance Fundraising Consultant to plan and implement a robust fundraising strategy including working with current stakeholders and reporting to trusts and foundations as necessary.  In consultation with the Treasurer, prepare budgets for the annual Concert Season and Festival. Continue to build close relationships with ACE and local funders, including working on Arts Council England (ACE) bids with other Leeds Lieder staff and the Fundraising Consultant.
  • With guidance from the Treasurer and Chair, undertake regular accounting/financial duties including: maintenance of income and expenditure accounts records; Friends and donors subscriptions recording; bank reconciliation of receipts and payments; issuing purchase orders; payment of invoices and expenses; Gift Aid claim submission; Charity commission returns (in association with the Company Secretary) and Companies House returns (in association with the Company Secretary).
  • Alongside the Chair, and with input from the Artistic Director, negotiate fees for artists when necessary, prepare and issue contracts.
  • Working closely with the Artistic Director and freelance Marketing and Media Manager, continue to build and grow media presence and plan the organisation’s annual marketing, advertising and PR campaigns.
  • With the Artistic Director, maintain and develop positive and beneficial relationships with the Festival’s corporate sponsors, major individual donors and sponsors-in-kind.
  • Develop links with freelance PR person to oversee the Festival’s external communications and social media presence.
  • Continue to build and grow the Leeds Lieder Friends scheme alongside the Artistic Director, Board, Chair and volunteer Friends Administrator.
  • Forge new links with other Leeds-based arts organisations, including Leeds 2023, arts@leeds, the Leeds International Piano Competition, the Howard Assembly Room, Opera North, Leeds Conservatoire, the University of Leeds and others as seen fit. Seek out new and exciting performance spaces and partner organisations. Maintain a strong link with ACE.
  • Build stronger links with Leeds-based students, local Universities and Conservatoires.
  • In consultation with the freelance IT specialist, maintain office systems.
  • Maintain and develop the Leeds Lieder supporter database

ROLE REQUIREMENTS

The General Manager should:

  • be qualified to degree level and/or be able to demonstrate significant job experience in the music or arts sector. Leeds Lieder is an inclusive employer and we welcome and encourage applications from candidates who are under-represented in the creative industries.
  • have a high level of literacy and numeracy
  • be computer literate and experienced in using Microsoft Office 365, Excel, WordPress, Word, Access and Outlook
  • demonstrate competency in budget management
  • have excellent interpersonal and communication and organisational skills
  • be a self-starter, used to working independently and to tight deadlines, and also be a good team worker
  • have an interest in classical music. Knowledge of the art-song repertoire and of artists working in that field would be a distinct advantage.

Please apply  by email, attaching a CV and names and contact details of two referees, to Kathleen Evans, Chair of Leeds Lieder at chair@leedslieder.org.uk . 

Closing date for applications: Friday 27 October 2023

Interviews will be held at the Leeds Lieder office on Wednesday 6 November 2023

 

Vacancy Treasurer/Trustee (Unpaid/voluntary position)

JOB TITLE: Treasurer/Trustee

REPORTING TO: Board of Trustees

Leeds Lieder is a registered charity (No 1105803). Founded in 2004, it is now recognised internationally as one of the premier organisations devoted to art song. Based in Leeds, it presents an annual festival of song, a year-round programme of recitals at various venues in the city and an award-winning Learning and Participation programme in schools. It aims to introduce art-song to an ever-wider audience, to inspire young people and others to appreciate song, and to sustain the tradition of song-writing through the commissioning of new work.

Leeds Lieder is seeking a Treasurer/Trustee to support us in our mission to promote and sustain the art-song tradition through concerts, education and commissioning of new works, to provide financial advice and expertise and working operational support to our small team.

The ideal candidate would have a background in finance/accounting. Experience in working for a music or arts organisation would be an advantage as would an interest in classical music and any knowledge of/familiarity with the art-song genre.

Financial responsibilities:

· Budget and cashflow preparation

· Management accounts preparation and reporting to Board

· Financial input to fund-raising bid preparation

· Annual accounts preparation and liaison with independent examiners

· Payroll preparation and reporting to HMRC

· Oversight of delegated responsibilities (see below)

Oversight of duties delegated to the General Manager:

· Maintenance of income and expenditure accounts records

· Friends and donors subscriptions recording

· Bank reconciliation of receipts and payments

· Issuing purchase orders, payment of invoices and expenses

· Gift Aid claim submission:

· Charity commission returns (in association with the Company Secretary)

· Companies House returns (in association with the Company Secretary)

Please apply by email, attaching a CV, to Kathleen Evans, Chair of Leeds Lieder, at chair@leedslieder.org.uk

Closing date for applications: Friday 27 October 2023

Interviews by arrangement

Vacancy – Marketing and Media Manager (part-time, freelance position)

Leeds Lieder, ‘one of the most exuberant and far-reaching festivals of art-song in the UK.’ (The Times), is a small but dynamic organisation based in Leeds city centre. It promotes an annual festival of song, a lively education programme, and a series of monthly concerts at various venues in Leeds. Internationally acclaimed artists appearing at recent Leeds Lieder events include tenor Ian Bostridge, soprano Dorothea Röschmann and baritone Roderick Williams. 

We are seeking to appoint a part-time freelance Marketing and Media Manager to work alongside Leeds Lieder’s small team to market and promote its season of recitals, festival and education programme.  

The duties and responsibilities of the post cover all aspects of events marketing and promotion. These include devising and implementing marketing campaigns for all Leeds Lieder activities, delivering both online and offline campaigns, preparing print marketing materials and creating artwork for online communications, writing engaging content for and managing our portfolio of social media accounts, working on the streaming and broadcasting of events and maintaining and updating the company website. 

The person appointed will be enthusiastic and self-motivated, a good team worker and possess excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to work flexibly. They will have excellent literacy, communication and IT skills (including working knowledge of WordPress), and experience of marketing in an arts organisation, ideally with particular emphasis on working digitally. Knowledge of classical music is essential, and familiarity with the song repertoire, and the artists associated with it, would be a great advantage. Being based in or close to Leeds with a good working knowledge of the locality and its own arts/media industries would also be desirable.  

Some more detailed information about the role can be found on the attached job description:

https://leedslieder.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Leeds-Lieder-Marketing-Media-Manager-Job-Description-2024.pdf

Service Period:  1 day per week equivalent from as soon as possible (and by 1 November 2023) for one year inclusive, plus work across Festival period (one week in April).   

Fee:  £5,250 plus agreed travel expenses  

For more information about Leeds Lieder, please visit the website https://leedslieder.org.uk/. 

Letters of application, with a CV and the names of two referees, should be submitted by email to Kathleen Evans (Chair) chair@leedslieder.org.uk by 10am on Friday 22 September 2023. 

Interviews will be held in Leeds on the afternoon of Tuesday 26 September 2023.