Creative Director / Co-Directors at Support Staffordshire

Main base: Leek College, Staffordshire Moorlands with travel and partial home‑working option.

Overview

We are seeking a creative leader or leaders who is/are genuinely curious about this place and its people. You will bring strong, ambitious, and imaginative leadership, with a passion for involving diverse communities in shaping and curating their own distinctive cultural offer. The role involves leading radical change in the arts and cultural offer in the Staffordshire Moorlands through the development, delivery, and evaluation of the OUTSIDE project—core funded by Arts Council England’s Creative People and Places programme.

Responsibilities

• Develop, deliver and evaluate the OUTSIDE project, engaging and empowering communities across the district to discover their creative potential.
• Implement a radically different artistic vision in true collaboration with communities, partners and stakeholders.
• Set strategy, manage budgets and oversee people to drive a high-quality arts offer, increasing regular engagement with arts and cultural activities.
• Lead strategically while attending to detail within a small, delivery‑focused team.
• Pushing the boundaries of artistic quality and empowering communities to do the same.

Qualifications & Experience

• Proven experience in developing and managing people, setting strategy and managing budgets.
• Working across sectors and demonstrable ability to collaborate with diverse communities.
• Strong commitment to the transformative power of arts and culture.
• Open‑mind, adventurous and willing to push artistic boundaries.

Requirements for Appointment

• Proof of right to work in the UK.
• Two satisfactory references.
• Enhanced and barred DBS check (required due to college base).

Application Process

To be considered you must complete an Application Form and an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Monitoring Form—available on our website. We welcome an informal conversation with the Lead Partners and/or Independent Chair of Partnership. Please email garry.jones@supportstaffordshire.org.uk for a preliminary discussion.

We welcome applications from individuals or co‑applications, including for either sole Directorship or Co‑Directorship, and the full job pack can be accessed on our website.

Support Staffordshire is working hard to become more inclusive of the communities we serve, and as such is especially keen to hear from applicants with protected characteristics and lived experience that bring knowledge, skills and experience.

Interview Details

Interview date: Friday 16th January 2026 in Leek – please be available for the whole day and expect to be with us for 2–3 hours.

We share a majority of formal interview questions in advance; an additional task will be set by the advisory group volunteers, also shared in advance.

Closing Date

Closing date: Monday 5th January 2026, 9am.

For full details and to apply, please visit our website: OUTSIDE Creative Director / Co-Directors - Support Staffordshire.

Contact and Advice

Get AI‑powered advice on this job and more exclusive features. Find out more: https://outsidearts.org/about-us/business‑plan-2025-to-2029/

Additional Notes

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Location

Located in Leek, Staffordshire Moorlands; partial home‑working available.