Creative Director

We are looking for someone with the creative authority and strong producing experience to lead a complex, multi-artform programme with the generosity to build on the work of others, and the skills to lead collaboratively. Equally, we are looking for someone who brings energy. UK arts organisations have had a hard few years, so we want a Creative Director who will help us push back against that, someone who can stimulate excitement through the programme, create momentum, and build deep, imaginative relationships with artists and our existing audiences as well as the new audiences we want to reach. Our ambition is for Bluecoat to be one of the places where people in Liverpool, the city region and beyond come to encounter the artists and ideas they will remember for a lifetime.

The Bluecoat is Liverpool’s centre for the contemporary arts — a bustling cultural venue that sees 700,000 visits each year. Housed in Liverpool’s oldest city centre building, a Grade I listed former charity school built in 1716–17, the Bluecoat combines a regular programme of exhibitions, live events, workshops and discussions across visual art, music, dance, literature and other artforms with a community of creative retailers, working artists’ studios, a café, and a garden.

The building’s history is intertwined with Liverpool’s story as an Atlantic port. The merchants who founded the school derived much of their wealth from maritime trade, including the transatlantic slave trade. The arts centre has increasingly addressed this colonial legacy through critical programming and research — an engagement that reflects our commitment to telling uncomfortable truths alongside celebrating achievements.

The century as an arts centre contains remarkable history. The building has hosted Stravinsky, Michael Nyman, Doris Lessing, Jeremy Deller’s Acid Brass, and countless experimental performances. Equally significant is the incubation work, many organisations such as Liverpool Arab Arts Festival and precursor organisations to FACT developed at Bluecoat from small initiatives into independent entities.

The Creative Director will join us at the height of centenary preparations. The shape of 2027 is set, with strong freelance leads in place across commissions and exhibitions. Our plan to renew live programming at the Bluecoat is almost complete with a launch date set for Spring 2027. The programme framework is ready to be drawn together into a single compelling artistic statement. Your first task will be to take that framework and give it coherence, pace and spark; to shape how the programme strands converge and build across the year. Your second, and in many ways more important task, is to use 2027 to build an artistic vision and programming model that will define Bluecoat from 2028 and well beyond. This is a senior role with genuine authority over the artistic life of the organisation and a clear mandate to renew it.

Responsibilities:

The criteria in this person specification represent the requirements for the role and will form the basis of the assessment of your application. Please ensure that you give examples of these when preparing your application.

We are interested in what you can do, not where you have done it. We welcome applications from candidates whose experience spans curatorial, producing, programming, or combined arts backgrounds. The ability to work across artforms and bring artistic coherence to a complex programme matters more than a specific career path.

-Artistic Programme Leadership

● Lead an ambitious and sustainable artistic vision for The Bluecoat that builds on and enhances its existing reputation.

● Develop the overarching creative framework for the Bluecoat 2027 centenary programme and implement the projects.

● Commission, develop and deliver an artistic programme that engages and entertains a diverse audience and encourages them to try a new experience.

● Work with the Chief Executive to ensure that the artistic programme, where possible, makes a positive financial contribution to the company's operation whilst appealing to a broad and representative audience.

-Producing and Programme Delivery

● Lead the delivery of a curated artistic programme and oversee complex, multi-partner productions across exhibitions, live performances, events and related activity, ensuring strong coordination between internal teams and freelance contributors.

● Take a leading role in building and sustaining national and international partnerships.

● Develop thriving relationships with colleagues and partners to ensure all practical and technical aspects of programme delivery are planned and executed to the highest professional standards with clear oversight of budgets, schedules and quality control.

● Ensure this planning is underpinned by regular and effective communication about the programme across and within teams.

● Appoint all visiting artists and key artistic personnel.

-Partnerships, Commissions and Artist Development

● Develop and nurture relationships with artists and creative practitioners at all stages of their careers and celebrate underrepresented voices in the arts and culture sector.

● Act as an active ambassador for the Bluecoat, building relationships with peer organisations, international partners, and funders. Attend relevant shows, festivals and conferences to gather intelligence, build networks, and champion the work of Bluecoat.

● Support the collaborative commissions with partner organisations ensuring that the commissions deliver genuine creative ambition while respecting the partner organisations’ own creative and brand identities.

 ● Contribute to building and supporting Bluecoat’s creative community of artist studio-holders, creative businesses and retailers.

-Participation Programmes

● Provide strategic oversight of our award-winning participation programmes.

● Ensure where possible, that synergies are created between the work of Blue Room, the Children & Families team and the artistic programme.

● Identify opportunities for growth and development in these areas.

-Strategic Communications and Public Profile

● Work with Business Development, Marketing and specialist PR partners to ensure artistic values are reflected in marketing, PR, brand, audience development and digital strategy.

● Be a credible public spokesperson for Bluecoat’s artistic programme.

-Heritage and Cultural Legacies

● Support the Cultural Legacies strand of the centenary year, ensuring that its reflection on the Bluecoat’s 100 years of history — including Bryan Biggs’ 50-year contribution — is connected to the forward-looking strands of the programme.

● Champion creative approaches to engaging with Bluecoat’s complex heritage, including its histories connected to transatlantic slavery and colonial trade.

-Leadership, Management and Fundraising

● Work as part of the Senior Leadership Team, contributing to strategic planning, organisational development, and cross-departmental collaboration.

● Contribute to funding applications, reporting and evaluation, working with the fundraising team to secure resources for the creative programme.

● Contribute to Board reporting, including Programme Committee papers and briefing notes.

General

● Uphold Bluecoat’s values as an inclusive and collegiate organisation. Carry out all duties with full regard to Bluecoat’s Equal Opportunities and Health and Safety policies. Carry out any other duties as required that are reasonably commensurate with the level of this post.

Ideal Skills/Qualifications:

● Demonstrable success providing artistic or creative programme leadership in the cultural sector for a minimum of 5 years.

● Substantial experience of working across multiple artforms or disciplines. This experience might be gained within a multidisciplinary practice, or from a singular art form specialism working with partners and projects across artforms.

● Experience of managing complex, multi-partner creative projects or productions from concept to delivery, including budget management and stakeholder coordination.

● A track record of commissioning, co-producing, or programming work that demonstrates genuine creative ambition and critical credibility.

● Experience of leading or coordinating teams (including freelance contributors) towards shared creative outcomes in a complex operating environment.

● Strong communication skills: the ability to articulate artistic vision compellingly and to represent the organisation within the cultural sector and the media.

● Experience of fundraising, donor engagement or advocacy for creative programmes.

● Financial literacy: the ability to set and manage programme budgets.

● Evidence of a strong professional network including artists, producers and commissioning bodies.

Knowledge and Understanding

● Deep knowledge of and enthusiasm for contemporary arts practice.

● Understanding of the current challenges and opportunities facing UK arts organisations.

● Understanding of audience development and community engagement in the arts, and the ability to make programming decisions that are informed by the needs of different audiences but without being driven solely by commercial viability.

● Understanding of inclusive practice in arts programming and openness to working in an accessible way with artists, collaborators and partners

Extra Details:

● Contract: Five year fixed term with opportunity to renew

● Salary: In the range of £50,000 - £55,000 per year depending on experience

● Line Manager: Chief Executive

● Location: The successful candidate must be prepared to live in the North West and within commuting distance of the Bluecoat in order to engage with the pulse of the city, region and organisation.

● Working hours: This role is a full-time role (37.5 hours per week) including regular evening and weekend work. Flexible working arrangements are available.

● Holidays: 33 days including bank holidays

● Pension: Workplace pension scheme

● Other Benefits: Staff discounts in Bluecoat Cafe and Shop, complimentary or discounted tickets to shows, professional development opportunities