Executive Director

Job Summary

Accessible Arts & Media is looking for a change leader with vision, drive and determination to support the charity through a critical transformation phase.

Job Description

This is a pivotal moment for Accessible Arts & Media (AAM). The retirement of our inspirational co‑founder Rose Kent in 2025 has created an opportunity to reflect and review our operating model. We’re looking for a strategic and ambitious change leader to support AAM through a critical transformation phase. We’re offering the role initially on a fixed term 18‑month period, with potential to extend.

AAM has been a cornerstone of York’s inclusive creative community for over 40 years. Our new Executive Director will play a key role in shaping our direction for the years ahead and ensuring a bright, sustainable future for AAM and the people we support.

We’re looking for a leader with drive and determination. You’ll be a natural collaborator and advocate, with the ability to inspire, mentor and develop a small but mighty team. Our new Executive Director will work closely with our Board of Trustees, staff, participants and partners to co‑create a new model and business plan for AAM.

Strong leadership, financial management skills and the ability to create a vision and inspire and motivate a team to deliver it are essential. You’ll also have a passion for inclusive arts practice and share our belief in the power of creativity to transform lives.

This is an opportunity for someone looking to make a tangible difference to the lives of others and lead an organisation with a rich history and an exciting future.

Hours: 0.6 FTE (21 hours per week). We can be somewhat flexible about how this is achieved. The role will require occasional evening and weekend work. Annual leave: 25 days pro‑rata, some of which must be taken between Christmas and New Year. Bank holidays are in addition to this. Place of work: A minimum of 1.5 days a week must be in the AAM office at Clifton Explore, with remote working options available by discussion for the remaining 1.5 days. Some travel will be required.

Job Requirements

The Executive Director will have proven experience of leading successful organisational transformation in a small arts/cultural charity, balancing strategic change with operational stability and hands‑on leadership.

Key requirements include:

• Ability to successfully develop and deliver strategic/business plans
• Experience of developing and motivating staff and volunteers, creating inclusive, collaborative working environments where people feel valued and supported
• Experience in financial management, including preparing annual budgets, achieving income targets and cost control
• Understanding of the current fundraising and economic climate
• Sound knowledge of current trends and key issues in the arts and/or health and wellbeing sectors
• Sound knowledge of charity governance and legal obligations

Job Responsibilities

• Organisational change and strategic development – leading a review of our operating model and developing a new business plan
• Leadership and advocacy – providing leadership during a period of change, raising AAM’s profile and fostering a culture of learning and innovation
• People and culture – creating sustainable career progression pathways for staff and an inclusive, collaborative, safe and supportive working environment, where employee wellbeing is central
• Finance and fundraising – ensuring the charity’s financial health by supporting and monitoring an effective programme of income generation, fundraising and expenditure control
• Operations – overseeing our technical, digital and administrative requirements, ensuring the right systems and processes are in place
• Governance, legal and compliance – ensuring AAM fulfils all its legal, statutory, and regulatory responsibilities and servicing the Board

To apply, please send a CV and your responses to the two questions below to by 5pm on Wednesday 15th April.

1 Why do you want to work with AAM, and in this specific role?
2 How do you meet the skills and experience set out in the person specification? Please give specific examples.

You can answer the questions in writing or by providing a link to a video or audio clip. Written answers should be up to 500 words for question one and up to 1,000 words for question two. Video or audio clips should be no longer than 10 minutes long in total and uploaded to an online platform that doesn’t expire (e.g. not WeTransfer).

All applications will be assessed according to the same criteria and submitting in a different format will not affect your chances of being selected.

For more details, including a copy of our Candidate Pack, please visit our website.

• Contact name: Lucy Galliard, Chair of Trustees

Our programmes include singing and signing choirs, accessible music‑making and movement groups and 1:1 creative therapeutic sensory sessions. We support over 100 people every week, including adults and young people with learning disabilities and people with mental ill‑health.

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