Are you passionate about books and storytelling? Do you have strong organisational skills?
We are looking for a Festival Coordinator to join our small team that runs the festival year-round.
The successful candidate will work closely with the Festival Director to ensure all elements of the festival are in place on time and within budget.
Role Details
Job title: Festival Coordinator (part time)
Responsible to: Festival Director
Location: Centre for Creative Writing, University of Essex, Colchester, Essex
Salary: £29,040.00 pa (pro rata £17,424.00)
Contract: Freelance, Initial 1-Year Contract, thereafter reviewed annually, three days per week with seasonal adjustment related to the festival period.
Application deadline: Friday 16 October (midnight)
Interviews: Week beginning 26 October
About Us
Essex Book Festival takes place every June. It is the only festival of its kind to take place over a one-month period hosted in over forty venues across one of the UK’s largest and most diverse counties. The festival is an independent charity based within the Centre for Creative Writing at the University of Essex. It collaborates with a wide range of local, regional, national and international organisations to fulfil its objectives.
Essex Book Festival has grown over the last ten years in terms of its audience reach and the breadth of its programming, now also running projects outside of the main June festival month. Its key aims are to explore innovative ways of igniting people’s passion for the ‘book’ in all its forms; to nurture and showcase writers and artists at all levels of their careers; to push the boundaries of what a book festival can do; and in so doing, to create a meaningful legacy for Essex.
The Role
As part of the small team that runs the festival year-round, the Festival Coordinator will work closely with the Festival Director to ensure that all elements of the festival are in place on time and within budget. The role is varied with a focus on logistics and delivery.
Key responsibilities include:
⭐ Event management, i.e. liaising with writers/artists, publishers, venues, partners and volunteers; attending and overseeing events
⭐ Managing all marketing activity including the printed festival brochure, updates to website essexbookfestival.org.uk/ and social media
⭐ Budget management and finance monitoring
⭐ Management of box office and online ticketing platforms
⭐ Recruiting and managing volunteers
⭐Festival evaluation, reports for board and for funders
Person Specification
We are looking for the following knowledge, experience and qualities:
📚 Passion for books and the wider arts
📚 Experience of working in arts/festival environment
📚 Confident and wide-ranging IT skills: knowledge of MS Office including Word and Excel.
📚 Experience of using a variety of digital tools such as Mailchimp, WordPress, Eventbrite, Zoom, SurveyMonkey and Canva
📚 Ability to work to deadlines, and balance multiple and competing priorities
📚 Experience of working in a small team
📚 Experience of budget management
📚 Self-motivated, positive, and reliable
📚 Accuracy, efficiency and excellent attention to detail
📚 Have own car/access to a car
📚 Flexibility regarding working hours during festival period
To Apply
To apply please send a CV, details of two referees and a covering letter (no more than two pages) to [email protected] with Festival Coordinator in the subject line.
Please outline why you are applying for the role and, with reference to the description above, how you think your skills and experience fit the demands of the role.
Deadline for applications: Friday 16 October (midnight)
Interviews will be held week beginning 26 October at the Centre for Creative Writing, University of Essex, Colchester, Essex, CO4 3SQ
⬇️ Download a pdf of the Essex Book Festival Coordinator Job Description here.