Learning & Engagement Coordinator

This is an exciting opportunity for a Learning and Engagement Co-ordinator to join Shakespeare North’s ambitious team on a part time basis (3 days per week)

About the Organisation 

Shakespeare North Playhouse is a unique arts venue, which opened in the summer of 2022. It presents a vibrant contemporary cultural and learning programme featuring home co-produced and visiting performances, as well as comedy, music, community work, hire and events and a range of education and training activities.  

Shakespeare North Trust (SNT) is the Charitable organisation which is the operator of Shakespeare North Playhouse.  

Our Vision: “Inspired by Shakespeare. Bringing Joy: Together, we tell stories that feel like our own, that change the way we see the world – opening doors, inviting debate, inspiring a love of learning, and bringing joy to this place; Our Shakespeare North Playhouse.” 

Our Mission – The Big Goal: “We share world-class theatre, activities and conversations inspired by Shakespeare and relevant to all of us.” 

Our Promise: At Shakespeare North Playhouse we commit to being ‘Bold and Brave’. It is a promise we make to each other internally as a team, to our visitors, patrons, and partners, and to all our artists and makers as we all come together to create a wonderful place. 

Our Values and Behaviours: The organisational values define Shakespeare North Playhouse. They create a framework for the way in which the organisation wishes to achieve the vision and objectives. It is critical that people will thrive together, as a team, with partners, visitors, and audience.    

Innovative – Honest – Collaborative – Creative 

Equal – Supportive – Accountable – Useful 

The Role 

This is an exciting opportunity for a Learning and Engagement Co-ordinator to join Shakespeare North’s ambitious team on a part time basis (3 days per week). Reporting to the Head of Engagement, this role will be responsible for: 

• Co ordinating the Learning and Engagement programme  
• School bookings and relationship management  
• Scheduling access performances for all in house produced work and supporting access provision across all creative programmes.  

This is a career development role and an opportunity for the successful candidate to learn more about the arts education sector, gain valuable practical experience in the planning and delivery of arts and cultural events and make connections with other likeminded organisations and individuals. 

You will work with the Learning and Engagement team in the effective planning and delivery of the engagement and learning programme at Shakespeare North Playhouse and will work closely with the Producing team to schedule access performances for all in-house produced work. 

Access Provision 

Shakespeare North Playhouse is committed to providing fully accessible performances for Deaf, disabled and neurodivergent audiences. The coordinator will build a network of access workers to support BSL, Audio Described, Captioned and Relaxed Performances. They will be responsible for working with co-producers and creative teams to schedule these events throughout the programme.  

The coordinator will be passionate about access, with an understanding of access and inclusion. Training will be provided to ensure the coordinator is continually developing their knowledge and ability to deliver first class access provisions to audiences.  

Place of Work  

The place of work will be Shakespeare North Playhouse in Prescot, Knowsley. Occasionally work will be required at alternative locations, including partners with whom Shakespeare North co-produces. 

Salary and Hours of work  

This is a part time post working 3 days per week (24 hours). Due to the nature of this role, and to meet the demands of the building, the post holder will need to be flexible in their approach to work. 

The part-time salary will be £15,238 per annum (FTE £25,397k)  

This is a fixed term contract for 6 months  

MAIN DUTIES 

Programming  

• Build a schedule of accessible performances for all co- productions and Christmas titles.  
• Build a network of access workers to deliver accessible performances throughout the programme.  
• Foster and maintain supportive and collaborative relationships with artists, creative people and partners.  
• Keep up to date with best practice for accessible performances, this will include additional training and seeking feedback when required from Associate Artists, Graeae.  

Project Management and Administration 

• Coordinate school bookings, freelance schedules, and welcome arrangements for visiting groups. 
• Manage project admin, including contracts (via DocuSign), meeting minutes, and schedule updates. 
• Maintain booking systems (Yes Plan) and education partnership records. 
• Act as the main contact for education and community engagement enquiries, providing timely support. 
• Support the delivery of education events and access performances in collaboration with internal teams and partners. 
• Attend and minute meetings, ensuring effective communication with the wider team. 
• Oversee compliance with GDPR in managing databases. 
• Monitor and manage project budgets as directed. 
• Contribute to the planning, reporting, and evaluation of programmes, supporting business plan goals and stakeholder requirements. 
• Liaise with Communications to ensure web content is current and accurate. 
• Represent Shakespeare North Playhouse at events when required and report insights to the Engagement team. 
• Manage the team diary. 
• Coordinate volunteer support for the programme. 

General 

• Be familiar with and be personally responsible for acting within the equal opportunities policies of Shakespeare North Playhouse. 
• Be an active and supportive member of the Shakespeare North Playhouse staff team. 
• Be welcoming and provide excellent customer care to all visitors to Shakespeare North Playhouse in all departments. 
• When needed, undertake visiting company inductions to Shakespeare North Playhouse in keeping with the building’s Health and Safety policy. 
• Actively keep up to date with the artistic programme. 
• Actively develop and implement green policies and practices for the department. 
• Maximise income and minimise expenditure wherever possible without jeopardising the quality of the work or the reputation of Shakespeare North Playhouse.  
• Actively engage with the arts and culture sector and be knowledgeable on activities happening across the Northwest and beyond.   

PERSON SPECIFICATION  

Background and Experience:  

• Minimum 2 years’ experience of working in a similar role in a relevant industry such as Theatre, a Visitor Attraction, Hospitality, Leisure, Heritage site, Museum or education provider.  
• An understanding of the theatre ecology and potential culture and learning programme partners. 
• An enthusiastic and active champion of Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Access and a demonstrable track record of championing a diverse range of creative voices.  
• Experience in taking and distributing meeting minutes and materials. 
• Experience of updating plans and reporting key information to frontline staff and/or artists. 

Skills and Knowledge:  

• Excellent project management skills. 
• Strong IT skills and working knowledge of Microsoft Excel and Word. 
• Strong writing skills across a range of platforms and objectives (emails, social media, funding applications). 
• Ability to solve problems proactively in a fast and effective manner, working well under pressure.   
• Strong administrative, organisational, time management and prioritisation abilities.  
• Strong communication and collaborative skills and working with a diverse range of people.  

Personal Qualities:  

• Strong interest in and commitment to the arts and culture. 
• Highly organised and efficient.  
• A positive, mature and professional attitude towards work with excellent verbal and interpersonal and good written communication skills. 
• Able to manage priorities.  
• Flexibility in relation to duties and working hours which may include evenings and weekends.  
• Resourceful, open minded, positive and solution focused.  

How to Apply 

If having reviewed the job description and information about Shakespeare North Playhouse you consider yourself to be a good fit for this role, please email a CV and a cover letter of application to [email protected] by Monday 13th October at 12pm  

The cover letter of application should be of no more than 2 sides of A4 addressing how your experience matches the role description, why you are interested in the role and why you think your skills and experience would make you a good candidate. Alternatively, you may submit a video/audio file of no more than 10 minutes in length. You can do this via WeTransfer or an alternative file transfer service.  

Diverse representation 

We encourage and welcome applications from people whose background and experience are under-represented in the cultural sector.  We are committed to inclusive working practices and understand there may be barriers people face when considering an opportunity like this.  If you are interested in applying for this role but feel there are things that may prevent you from getting involved, please get in touch and let us know how we can support you in making your application and throughout the selection process. 

Equality Monitoring  

As part of your application, please make sure to fill out the Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form . The information you provide will not impact on the consideration of your application and will be used solely for the purpose of monitoring.

Data Protection 

Information provided by you as part of your application will be used in the recruitment process. Any data about you will be held securely with access restricted to those involved in dealing with your application in the recruitment process. Once the process is completed the data relating to unsuccessful applicants will be stored for a maximum of 6 months and then destroyed.  If you are the successful candidate, your application will be retained and form the basis of your personnel record. By submitting your application, you are giving your consent to your data being stored and processed for the purpose of the recruitment process, equal opportunities monitoring and your personnel record if you are the successful candidate.  In submitting your application, we will assume that consent by you is given. We refer you to Shakespeare North’s job applicant privacy notice which you should read before applying for this role. 

If you have any questions or would like to have an informal conversation about the role before applying, please contact us via email at [email protected] 

This job description is intended as a guide to the duties expected of the post-holder. These duties may be reviewed from time to time to meet the needs of the business.   

This job description is not contractual.