Spectra’s Mission: Lifting the capacity of learning disabled people to influence change
Purpose: To resource Spectra’s programmes through strategic income generation, collaborative project development, and by building and maintaining relationships with funders
Terms: Start date as soon as possible. Fixed term contract until 4 April 2027 with optimistic intention to extend. Settling in period of 3 months.
Salary: £30,900 per year pro rata x .5 role (2.5 days per week). This works out as £15,450 gross (before tax, NI and pension contributions). There is an annual salary increase of 3%.
Benefits: At Spectra, you will be part of a team dedicated to creating positive change while working hard and laughing a lot. We offer mental health days, unlimited annual leave, 4% employer pension contribution, a wellbeing fund, disability access support, an environmental justice focused book group, development and training, flexible working (family/carer friendly), and a supportive Board.
Location: Tuesdays at Spectra’s office at 28A Abbey Rd, Bearwood, Smethwick B675RD; remainder from home/remotely, flexible working.
We are a fierce and joyful, neurodiverse multi-arts organisation. Founded on the idea of radical inclusion, we’ve developed a reputation for aesthetically driven, gently provocative performances, installations, and workshops that engage all of our audience’s senses.
Our mission as an organisation is to lift learning disabled people’s capacity to influence change in their own lives and the world around them. Our work centres on holding space for neurodiverse and learning disabled people to make their voices heard through sharing their ideas, skills, talents, and abilities. We believe that our world and our communities are improved when everyone has the opportunity to contribute.
Our methods of working are co-creative and collaborative – delivering impactful projects that showcase the skills and creativity of neurodivergent and learning disabled artists. Our work is rooted in co-production which means that everything we do is shaped by the people we work with. Each workshop, installation, garden, or experience is a distinct representation of the individuals who participate, combining their histories, culture, world views, and aspirations into a unique whole that can only exist because that group of people brought it into being. Our work is all nature-focused which increases environmental knowledge and appreciation leading to positive environmental action.
Since 2013 we have run 575+ co-creation sessions/workshops and performed to over 11,000 people. We’ve produced 12 performances, from large scale events at Midland Arts Centre in Birmingham and Herbert Art Gallery in Coventry, to street festivals, a touring show; two interactive digital performances including six films; 1 sector-wide symposium; 1 report on ‘Improving Critical Engagement’, and built 2 co-designed gardens on hospital sites (currently building a third).
Supported since our founding by Arts Council England, we joined their National Portfolio in April 2023. Our work has also been supported by partners, the National Lottery Community Fund, the William A. Cadbury Trust, Creative Black Country, Birmingham 2022 Festival, National Lottery Heritage Fund, West Mercian Building Society, West Midlands Combined Authority Green Grants, Edgar Lawley Trust, Severn Trent Community Fund, and Your Trust Charity.
What would I do in this role?
* Write and deliver a Fundraising Strategy that includes applying to public funders, trusts, foundations, etc., and income generation including individual giving and a training offer.
* Maintain a funding prospect database.
* Collaboratively develop projects with other team members, i.e., our Creative Director and Creative Lead, project beneficiaries, and stakeholders.
* Communicate funders’ requirements to the team and write reports to funders, working closely with our Impact Lead, who leads on data collection, analysis, and presentation.
* Explore the possibility for Spectra switching from a CIC to a CIO, working with the Board to deliver this change if agreed.
* Manage and maintain donor data in accordance with GDPR best practice.
* Seek out and participate in networks that will support our development.
* Play an active role in our company-wide collaborative environment, contributing to aims and objectives, strategy, and planning; rolling chair of weekly team meetings.
* Undertake supported intersectional learning in line with our environmental, disability justice, and anti-racism work and other training and development as required and desired.
This role would suit me if I…
* Believe in the work that Spectra does and am able to convince people from different sectors and backgrounds of its value.
* Am a clear communicator who writes very well, asks incisive questions and, while seeking to meet our ambitious fundraising goals, also actively interrogates how the current structures underpinning fundraising can contribute to the systemic issues our work fights against.
* Have professional experience of fundraising and development, particularly trust and foundation bid writing; knowledge of the arts and culture sector will be beneficial.
* Am authentic, inclusive, collaborative, and enjoy a laugh.
* Am organised, reliable, have a strong work ethic and like to take initiative.
* Enjoy reflecting and am open to learning with the aim of making a more meaningful impact.
What will it be like working at Spectra?
No day will be exactly the same: as well as desk-based research and writing, communicating with funders and potential funders, and strategy development, you may travel to meet peers and communities. You will work independently, with the team, consultants, and creatives. We are open to learning from and with you, to testing out different methods; we are open to being challenged.
Our current team includes a full-time Creative Director and part-time Creative Lead, Impact Lead, and Marketing & Communications Lead. We co-work on Tuesdays, which gives us the chance to touch base and move work forward with all the benefits of face-to-face communication. It also provides us with a space for checking in, offering and receiving support, and bouncing ideas off each other collaboratively.
The remainder of your working time will be flexible and undertaken remotely. We expect you to manage your time and workload independently, whilst working with the team to identify priorities and being assured support will be provided when needed.
Support ahead of applying: If you think this job looks great but you’re a bit cautious about putting yourself forward, please get in touch for an informal chat. We’re very happy to talk through the role, to find different ways of communicating this job description, and to explore how different kinds of experience could contribute to fulfilling this role well.
Equitable opportunities: Given our work’s active celebration of diversity and exploration of intersectionality, we want our team to reflect these values. We eagerly encourage applications from people who are from marginalised or minoritised backgrounds. Our welcome extends beyond the recruitment process; we are committed to creating a working space that is safe and caring for all.
If you need or would prefer this job description or the application form below in another format, please don’t hesitate to contact hayley@wearespectra.co.uk to chat through how we can best open this opportunity to you.
Application process: An application form is available here: Application Form. This form asks for your contact details and answers to the questions below. If creating an audio file is more accessible for you, please answer all the questions on the form in no more than 5 minutes and send to the email above. Please do not send video, only audio. We also ask that you fill out this Equal Opportunities Form.
In order to minimise unconscious bias, we anonymise all applications while shortlisting and do not review equal opportunities forms until after we have drafted our initial shortlist. We aim to shortlist anyone who has met our minimum score and identifies as being from a minoritised or marginalised background. This is sometimes affected by capacity: we can shortlist no more than five applicants.
Application questions (approximately 250 words each):
* Please tell us how your experience and previous work demonstrates that your values align with Spectra’s. If you feel this hasn’t been the case as much you would like it to be, please tell us about how you see this shifting were you to fill this role.
* After several months of collaborative work and much consultation, we are putting the finishing touches on our new Business Plan. Using a document such as a business plan and other resources, please tell us how you would approach (or begin approaching) the development of a Fundraising Strategy.
* Much of this role will focus on finding appropriate funders for our programmes and writing grant applications. Please tell us about your experience developing and maintaining a funding prospect database and writing persuasive and successful grant applications.
* Many aspects of this work will be collaborative, e.g. developing project ideas with participants and partners, working with other team members to look at strategy and approach across the organisation. Please tell us about your experience and interest in collaborative work.
* It is important that our Development Lead is able to follow (and enjoy) the arc of a project from development to fundraising to evaluation and reporting. Our practice is deeply reflective and we approach creative evaluation with care. Given the meaningful data collected, please tell us how your experience will enable high quality evaluation report writing.
CLOSING DATE FOR APPLICATIONS: 9am, Mon 25 November 2024
SHORTLISTING DECISION: by 6pm, Tuesday 26 November 2024
INTERVIEWS: in person in Smethwick on the afternoon of Monday 2 December 2024. If you are shortlisted, we will send you the interview questions and information about the panel in advance. We will also ask if any adjustments are needed to make the interview accessible for you.
The role is due to start immediately, but we can be flexible with the start date depending on prior commitments. Please note, offers of employment will be dependent on proof of the right to work in the UK and completion of a DBS check.
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