Get in touch in whichever way works best for you
– or drop us a line and ask us to call you back.
Email: tabitha@z-arts.org
Call: 0161 226 1912

Ask us a question or call for a chat.Story Explorers &Escape Room Hostsz-arts.org335 Stretford Road, Hulme, Manchester, M15 5ZARegistered charity 1093556Criteria

You must be:

18 years and over
Have experience and an interest in working with children and families.
Have good availability, particularly at weekends and during school holidays.
Be willing to obtain a DBS with Z-arts
Be willing to attend training and review sessions.

This role will be offered on a casual basis as per a rota and will be paid at £12.60
per hour, this is in line with the current Real Living Wage.

Our activities reflect our audiences, and we aim to represent all the different
communities in our area.

Z-arts is an antiracist organisation.
We do not tolerate discrimination of any kind.
We practice inclusivity and accessibility and are learning how to embed trans-
inclusivity across all we do.
Z-arts is welcoming to all people who do not discriminate against others.
We acknowledge all protected characteristics in the Equality Act 2010 – including age,
disability, gender, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race,
religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation recognising socio-economic status and
class as a thread that intersects all of these.
As a learning organisation, Z-arts is always open to change.

You can read more about what diversity means to Z-arts at: www.z-arts.org/about-
us/work-at-z-arts/

We are committed to representing people with protected characteristics and
welcome applications from everyone.

Welcome from our CEO

Here's a BIG welcome to Z-arts - the UK's only
dedicated arts centre for children and families.

We pride ourselves on being welcoming and family-orientated, and I try to
extend that to the whole team as well as to our visitors. Many organisations like to
call themselves a family, but at Z-arts, we take it one step further!

I'm delighted you're interested in working with us. The staff here are an amazing
bunch, full of vivacity and passion for the work we do and if you join us, you'll see
for yourself that it's a great place to work. The children and the artists are all
pretty inspiring too. Not that it's not hard work. We're a small team, and we
expect you to go the extra mile.

The payback is that you'll learn loads, including skills that might not be on your
job spec, make friends and enjoy a job that is the spice of life - variety - every day
is guaranteed to be different.

You'll find my door is always open (there's often a tennis ball flying in and out of
it for Siskin, the office dog to play with), so if you have any questions or great
ideas to share, just ask. I hope you enjoy reading this pack, and are encouraged
to make an application.

We look forward to hearing from you soon!

Our beautiful Edwardian building!

Siskin - Apprentice CEOLiz O'Neill CEOAbout Z-arts

Z-arts is the UK’s only dedicated arts centre for children and families,
delivering a broad range of performing arts events, performances,
exhibitions, activities, workshops and participatory opportunities.

Our Mission

To inspire and enable generations of young people from Manchester
and beyond to use creativity to achieve their potential.

Z-arts uses creativity to inspire, enrich and enable children, young
people, and families to reach their potential and be the agents of
change in their own lives.

In our arts centre in Hulme, in education, in communities, at home,
and across networks.

Developing Children, Young People, Educators, Artists, and Family-
togetherness.

Based in Hulme, we are committed to supporting our local communities as
well as reaching out across Greater Manchester and the North West. We
operate from a large Edwardian building that includes a 230-seat theatre,
gallery, recording studio, music room, dance studio, café, our brand-new
children's library, escape room, and rehearsal/meeting rooms. But there is
much more to what we do that is outside of the building.

                                   Big Imaginations children’s theatre network; MADE
We lead networks:
(Manchester Cultural Education Partnership); and the Manchester Family
Arts Network.

We receive strategic funding from Manchester City Council, to lead on best
practice for engaging children and young people in arts and culture. We
are an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation, leading and
delivering the Big Imaginations regional network of children’s theatre,
programming, and commissioning relevant, diverse theatre for the modern
family.

We lead the Manchester Cultural Education Partnership (MADE) Working
Group, with a vision to make Manchester a beacon for creative education,
where the arts add magic to life experiences and learning for everyone.

About Z-arts

What We Believe

Our manifesto to our families...

Z-arts is a place to express yourself, celebrate your imagination,
have fun, be entertained, and dream big! So, whatever your age and
whether you’re coming to see a show or make some amazing mini-
masterpieces in one of our arts workshops, we hope you enjoy your
visit to Z-arts and are inspired by your own creativity.

History of Z-arts

Pavarotti sang here. Warren Beatty used our building in his film Reds.
And Benji Reid’s Life of a B-Boy was born here, if there’s one thing
that’s for sure it’s that Z-arts has a fascinating and eventful history!

www.z-arts.org/about-us/our-history/

Want to find out loads more about Z-arts?
Head to our website...

You can also have a nosey at our social media channels if
you fancy.

        @z.artsmcr

        @zartsmcr

        @Z_ arts_mcr

        Search for Z-arts

www.z-arts.org/about-us/Working at Z-arts

They are inspiring, immersive, and magical, and we
want to share the joy of creativity, imagination, and
storytelling with children and families in Greater
Manchester and beyond.

welcoming

forward-thinking

inclusive

engaging

vibrant

fun

A recent staff workshop identified 'inclusive' and 'fun'
being our primary values.

Z-arts has a relatively small team with lots on the agenda that we aim to
get our teeth stuck into! This sometimes means that it's all hands on deck
- so be sure you're up for doing a little bit of everything.

We need you to get involved to help support our
organisation and the amazing work we do. Getting
involved varies from, giving a wave to our social
media channels, welcoming a school to our building,
being a budding steward, or helping out the Box
Office team over the festive period.

We work collaboratively across our teams and
alongside the many networks we lead.

Our ValuesWe believe that theatre and the arts are for everyone.It's sometimes all hands on deck!
Working at Z-arts

Diversity

We've recently been working on our new diversity manifesto. Here's a snippet below.

Our activities reflect our audiences, and we aim to represent all the different communities in
our area.  Z-arts is an antiracist organisation. We do not tolerate discrimination of any kind.
We practice inclusivity and accessibility and are learning how to embed trans-inclusivity
across all we do. Z-arts is welcoming to all people who do not discriminate against others.

We acknowledge all protected characteristics in the Equality Act 2010 – including age,
disability, gender, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or
belief, sex, and sexual orientation recognising socio-economic status and class as a thread
that intersects all of these.

As a learning organisation, Z-arts is always open to change.
You can read more about what diversity means to Z-arts at:
www.z-arts.org/about-us/work-at-z-arts/

Our Recruitment Policy

Z-arts have a recruitment policy in place to ensure job applicants are considered equally and fairly,
and are not discriminated against based on their race, nationality, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual
orientation, marital or civil partner status, disability, or age.

You can find out more about our Unconscious Bias Recruitment Policy here. Z-arts also have a Safer
Recruitment Policy which takes this further and ensures we are keeping children safe, this applies to
all staff, freelancers, volunteers and placements.

Our building is located at: Z-arts335 Stretford Road, Hulme, Manchester, M15 5ZAOur registered charity no. is: 1093556Working at Z-arts

Don’t just take our word for it, see what our
staff have to say about working at Z-arts.

I love working at Z-arts! Each day is new and exciting - full of
colour, joy, and creativity! Being a parent and working here is
also great as my kids love Z-arts. We get a free Family
Membership and are the first to see all the fabulous shows
and exhibitions on offer!
- Janine, Resident Visual Artist

Part of Z-arts’ remit is working with children and families, encouraging
artistic fun and exploring the joy of just playing. The best thing is, that
the remit doesn’t stop at participants but also extends to the staff here.
And their commitment to this honestly creates such a supportive,
professional, productive, and most importantly fun working
environment! And it’s such a joy to be part of this! It allows you to be a
big kid while being a grown-up.

 - Isah, MADE Administrator

Since joining Z-arts 20 years ago, I have never enjoyed a job so much. I thoroughly love working in
such a dynamic organisation and doing the work I do. Z-arts has continued to grow and prosper over
the years and we thoroughly deserve the praise we get from both parents and their children. I really
take pride in seeing some of the shy young people developing and becoming more confident by
attending our creative workshops. It is fantastic that I still get a buzz out of coming into work each day.
- Paul, Deputy House Manager

Working at Z-arts is so refreshing! It's brilliant to work
somewhere where there is such a hive of creative minds and new
ideas are met with, 'let's give it a go'!  Z-arts are all about
supporting the community and the whole family and this
extends to the staff too. Having a young family, working at Z-
arts allows me to work around family commitments and are
genuine about being a supportive workplace for flexible
working.  - Hannah, Creative Schools Project Coordinator

What the team say!What our families say!

Z-arts has given my daughter
the opportunity to be a dancer
and performer, which otherwise
I feel she would have missed
out on due to our financial
situation. It is an amazing place
and I don’t know what we would
have done if we hadn’t found it.

 - Parent

I love coming to Z-arts because the activities and
classes here allow me to express my personality
and open my mind to the world of creativity.

 - Bright Sparks Member

Z-arts has made arts and
theatre particularly accessible
to my family, it’s been inclusive
to my child with SEN and
recaptured my love for the arts.

 - Parent

Z-arts are really inclusive with our ideas. It makes
us feel like we really fit in… our ideas want to be
heard and our ideas really matter.

 - Parent

10

How to apply

To apply or to arrange an informal chat about either role, please email:
tabitha@z-arts.org

Include:

Your CV or Spotlight link
Information about your creative practice

Deadline: Friday 9 January 2026

Important Dates

Auditions: Friday 30 January 2026, 4–6pm
Story Explorer & Escape Room Host Training: w/c 2 February 2026
Adventures in Wonderland Quest Training: Saturday 14 February 2026

Successful applicants will be invited to audition and interview, with the
expectation of starting in February 2026.

Get in touch in whichever way works best for you – or
drop us an email and ask us to call you back.
Email: tabitha@z-arts.org
Call: 0161 226 1912

2

Thank you for taking the time to read ourapplication pack! This recruitment pack is brand new! It's a work in progress and alearning document for us to update and make even better in duecourse.So, if you have any feedback on the content, layout, oranything at all, we'd love to hear what you think.Please email marketing@z-arts.org - we're all ears!z-arts.org335 Stretford Road, Hulme, Manchester, M15 5ZARegistered charity 1093556Ask us a question or call for a chat.