Battersea Arts Centre (Assistant to the Director of Commercial Operation) Applicant Information Pack


Assistant to the Director of Commercial Operations

APPLICANT INFORMATION PACK

Contents

Introduction / Recruitment Timetable / How to Apply

The Role: Job Description & Additional Employment Information

Battersea Arts Centre – Project Working______7

Battersea Arts Centre – About and Mission______8

Introduction / Recruitment Timetable / How to Apply

Dear Applicant,

RE:Assistant to the Director of Commercial Operations

Thank you for your interest in the above position.

Please find the job advertisement, description and person specification in the following pages.

Please read the guidance notes at the top of the application form and ensure that you complete all sections fully. CVs are not acceptable. When filling in your application form, please study the person specification carefully. If you do not demonstrate on the form how you fulfil the essential criteria for the position, you are unlikely to be successful in your application.

For further information, or an informal chat about the post, please contact HR on 020 7326 8228.

Please return your completed application form to by10amon 18th January 2016 Alternatively, you can return it via post to Recruitment, Battersea Arts Centre, Lavender Hill, London SW11 5TN, as long as it reaches us by the above closing date. After this time, applications will not be accepted.

Successful shortlisted applicants will be interviewed on Friday 22 January 2016 (if you are successful at shortlisting stage then you will be contacted no later than Wednesday 20th January 2016).Interviews will take place at the above address.

The successful applicant will be expected to take up the post by ASAP at the latest.

We look forward to receiving your application.

Yours Sincerely,

Suman Nota

HR Manager

The Role: Job Description & Additional Employment Information

Battersea Arts Centre is a public space where people come together to be creative, see a show, explore the local heritage, play or relax. The organisation’s mission is to inspire people to take creative risks to shape the future. Shows and projects developed at Battersea Arts Centre also travel across the UK and the world.

The Director of Commercial Operations leads BAC Enterprises Ltd, BAC’s trading arm for its Events and Catering, Commercial Partnerships and Activities and reports to the Artistic Director and the Board of Trustees with a remit of the long term sustainability of BAC.

The post of Assistant to the Commercial Director has come about to support the Director of Commercial Operations in responding to this wealth of opportunities, to plan and develop them. BAC’s commercial strategy is rooted in the mission of the organisation, you will support the Director to realise this vision and ambition, to embed it across all projects, teams and activities. Your success will be achieved by supporting the Director to deliver this strategy and will suit someone who is commercially minded with ambitions of developing a commercial career in the arts.

As well as working closely with the Director of Commercial Operations you will be involved in projects across the organisation, whether for organisational planning and development or as a stakeholder for developing the income potential of our work. You will also support relationships with the Board, external networks and other key stakeholders with shared interests in trading or in BAC’s business and strategic development. You will provide practical planning and communication support for relevant managers at crucial times to make sure that efforts remain joined up, teams can thrive and we maintain the positive culture that BAC is famous for.

You will need to be a highly driven and motivated person who is passionate about what can be achieved through a commercial focus within the arts. You will be organised and able to work smartly within busy team environments. You will be confident in dealing with a wide range of people with different levels of seniority, and you will be good at understanding people’s strategic as well as practical needs.

Responsible to: Director of Commercial Operations

Main Role and Responsibilities:

Commercial support

  • Carry out market research to inform the Commercial activities and decisions, working up budgets and presenting findings in appropriate formats.
  • Research and analyse trading or other data and compile summary reports
  • Carry out benchmarking surveys to support a continual understanding of Battersea Arts Centre’s position in its marketplaces strategically, competitively and operationally
  • Support managers for commercial activities as required

Business planning and management support

  • Facilitate the Director of Commercial Operations in planning, programming and delivering business plans
  • Provide support in developing and implementing processes which make our businesses fit for purpose and efficient
  • Represent the Director of Commercial Operations at meetings when required to provide information and report back on findings, queries and actions
  • Support business planning activities by managers as required
  • Administer, coordinate and present reports for financials and other key performance indicators for projects across the organisation
  • Support budget management activities as appropriate

Projects

  • Assist on research, planning and budgeting activities for the commercial strategy of the organisation
  • Support other projects led or supported by the Director of Commercial Operations.
  • Carry out other specific projects or initiatives independently as required

Administrative support

  • Devise and maintain office systems including data management and filing
  • Responding to enquiries and requests, reading and drafting emails, documents and papers
  • Organise and manage diaries and meetings, agendas, presentations and documents, minutes (including Enterprises Board minutes) and actions and monitor follow ups

General

  • Work flexibly as required to meet BAC’s business needs
  • Facilitate the smooth flow of information from and communication with managers and other relevant internal or external stakeholders

Contribute to the success and positive culture of the Director of Commercial Operation’s areas of business and to BAC in general.

The Person: Person Specification

ESSENTIAL / DESIRABLE
Relevant Experience /
  • Significant experience in an administrative and coordinating role
  • Experience of researching, analysing and presenting material clearly and concisely in a range of formats
  • Experience of directly supporting commercial activities
/
  • Experience in a similar commercial support role in a creative environment
  • Experience of using Google Analytics to analyse online sales and website behaviour

Skills and abilities /
  • Highly literate and numerate
  • Excellent IT skills including Microsoft Office software packages, especially Excel, and database management systems
  • Excellent interpersonal skills and experienced in working with colleagues at all levels of seniority
  • Excellent organisational and time management skills
  • Attention to detail and accuracy, and able to maintain quality when working under pressure and to tight deadlines
  • A flexible approach to working and a good team player
  • Ability to think strategically and take initiative

Personality /
  • Passionate about supporting the aims and ambitions of Battersea Arts Centre
  • Passionate about excellent customer service and with a clear focus on meeting people’s needs
  • Discrete, and with an understanding of confidentiality issues

Terms and conditions

Salary: £20-22Kper annum depending on experience

Hours: 35 hours per week (5 days a week) - excluding a daily one-hour lunch break. Occasional evening and weekend work may be required, and Battersea Arts Centre staff are expected to attend performances and be a part of the artistic life of the organisation.

Overtime:No overtime payments: Battersea Arts Centre operates a Time Off in Lieu System to be taken within two weeks of accrual

Holidays: 4 weeks per year pro rata (5 weeks following one full year of service)

Probation period:6 months

Notice period:2 months

Contract Period:12 months

Workplace Pension

Scheme:BAC’s pension scheme is provided by NEST.

Staff BenefitsComplimentary tickets for performances at BAC (subject to availability and staff ticket policy)

Childcare Voucher Scheme

Cycle to Work Scheme

Discount in the BAC cafe (subject to discount policy)

5 development days pro rata which can be spent outside the organisation developing professional skills

Battersea Arts Centre – About

Battersea Arts Centre encourages people to test and develop new ideas with members of the public – a process called Scratch. Scratch is used by artists to make theatre, by young people to develop entrepreneurial ideas and by local people who want to get creative. Battersea Arts Centre also uses Scratch to work with museums to find creative ways to engage people in local heritage.

The organisation has successfully sparked new approaches to creativity in the UK and further afield. Scratch has been adopted as far afield as Sydney and New York and shows and projects developed by people at Battersea Arts Centre travel across the UK and the world.

Battersea Arts Centre

  • Welcomes over 100,000 people to its building every year
  • Inspires the local community to get creative with around 5000 young people and children participating in workshops yearly
  • Works with over 400 artists to put on over 650 performances and tour at least 12 shows and projects each year
  • Will become custodian of the Wandsworth Museum Collection in April 2016, using creativity to explore the past and imagine the future

bac.org.uk | @battersea_arts

Read our Artistic Director, David Jubb’s blog here batterseaartscentre.wordpress.com/category/davids-blog/

Battersea Arts Centre – Mission

What is the financial model at BAC?

Battersea Arts Centre is a charity with an annual revenue turnover in the region of £3 million. This is made up of income from a variety of sources including from ticket sales for our shows and workshops; commercial income from our Scratch Bar and events business; fundraised income from trusts, foundations and individuals; and public investment from Arts Council England, Heritage Lottery Fund and Wandsworth Borough Council. Since the Grand Hall fire in March 2015 we are also in receipt of income from our insurers, Aviva. In addition to our revenue activity, we are in the final phase of a £13.3million capital project which we have phased over the last eight years. Over the next three years we will also be rebuilding the Grand Hall, with an estimated completion date in summer 2018. Thank you to the funders, artists, audiences, visitors and insurer who support Battersea Arts Centre towards its mission, to inspire people to take creative risks to shape the future.

Battersea Arts Centre – Project Working

Battersea Arts Centre operates in a project working structure. All of our activity takes place in projects.

Project working is about working better and bringing out the best in staff. It’s about recognising people’s specialism, and creating a more dynamic set of teams across everything we do.

Structure

The Directors of Battersea Arts Centre identify everything that the organisation does as a number of projects. This includes projects related to programming, artist development, participation, commercial and organisational strands. Every project has a budget, a clear set of ambitions, and an outline timetable.

Occasionally it is necessary to create a new project to deliver activities, in which case the Directors, in conjunction with the Organisation & Financial Management project team, identify the new project and the people who are best suited to work on it.

Each project has a Project Shaper, a Project Manager, and Team Members. A project can have three people or thirty according to its needs. One member of staff is appointed to lead each project as Project Manager, who makes the decisions and manages the budget. Each project also has a Project Shaper to support the Project Manager, who can be used as a sounding board for planning and delivering the project. Project Team Members bring their specialist contribution to the project, and may also volunteer to take on project roles outside of their specialism (such as planning, communications, monitoring, etc.) to further their personal and professional development

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