Director of Creative
Programmes
Job Pack 2025

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Koestler Arts is an arts charity. We work with people in
custody or on community sentences.

Our vision is that the power of the arts unlocks
hope, talent and potential in the lives of people
in the criminal justice system.

We are looking for a Director of Creative Programmes
to join us in making this happen.

About Koestler Arts

Koestler Arts is renowned for its impactful work within the criminal justice system. From our
new premises just outside HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs in East Acton, our team collaborates to
unlock hope, talent and potential in the lives of people in the criminal justice system.

We provide an annual awards programme — the Koestler Awards — open to people in prisons,
secure mental health hospitals, immigration removal centres, and beyond; a post-release arts
mentoring scheme; arts membership for people in prison; family engagement opportunities; and
a programme of exhibitions, events and publications.

We extend our impact through partnerships. Recent exhibition curators include Ai Weiwei,
Jeremy Deller & John Costi, Inua Ellams and women in prison. Our recent poetry anthology was
edited by Lady Unchained. Our public programme is built on a long-term partnership with
Southbank Centre; alongside one-off and recurring partnerships including Baltic, Tramway, John
Hansard Gallery and the Old Fire Station, Oxford.

Our main funders are Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Arts Council England (we are an NPO), and the
Ministry of Justice.

About the Role:

As our Director of Creative Programmes, you'll be a key member of the leadership team, helping
to deliver against our strategy. You will lead everything we do in response to the c.8,000 entries
to the annual Koestler Awards (53 creative categories including fine art, music, design, craft
and writing). This includes processing, feedback, certification, returns, sales and showcasing.

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Showcasing comprises at least two exhibitions annually, co-curation projects, events and
publications. You can see our current team structure here.

What You'll Do:

•  Artistic Leadership. The post-holder will be the member of the management team

responsible for delivering all the creative programme elements of our strategy. They will
develop our artistic vision and the partnerships that enable us to deliver it. We have
unique showcasing guidelines and processes, and the post-holder will ensure these are
used and remain relevant.

•  Project Management. The post-holder will lead the arts team in complex annual

processes, which must be executed carefully at scale (thousands of works), to ensure we
inspire and support people in every prison in the UK, and other criminal justice settings.
They will also project-manage all our showcasing — exhibition management, curation,
print production, events — delegating to their team when required.

•  Managing People. You will manage our ‘arts team’ of staff and volunteers. As a member

of the leadership team, you will guide other staff as required.

What We're Looking For:

•  Significant previous experience in project-managing a team to deliver complex arts

exhibitions, competitions or events.

•  Professional knowledge of the UK’s creative industries/arts sector.

•

Innovative showcasing ideas and expertise that put our participants’ voices at the heart
of communicating to audiences.

Contract:

Duration:
Salary:
Hours:
Line Manager:
Location:

Holidays:
Pension:
Start date:

Permanent (6 month probation period)
£40,000 - £45,000 per annum, depending on experience.
Mon – Fri, Full-time, 35 hours a week
Chief Executive
Based at our offices in London, W12. Some home-working is possible, but as
you will be managing office-based staff and artwork processes, this will be
limited to 1 day a week. As required, you will work off-site at meetings,
events and exhibitions in London. Several times a year, you will travel
within the UK to manage exhibition production, visit prisons and arts
partners.
25 days a year + bank holidays.
Eligible staff will be auto-enrolled into the charity’s pension scheme.
As soon as possible.

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How to apply:

Read through the Job Description and Person Specification. Apply by email to
recruitment@koestlerarts.org.uk by 10am on 3 November 2025, including:

1)  Your CV, which should detail if roles were full or part-time, and paid or voluntary.

2)  The completed Application Form, available to download from our website. Please

make sure you complete all sections, including the application question.

3)  A PDF file with up to 8 slides presenting an overview of a large-scale arts project you

have led. This might include bullet points about the initial inspiration, your
responsibilities, objectives, challenges and results. It can include visuals or links.

Please mark the email: “Application — Director of Creative Programmes”

Applications will be assessed against the Essential and Desirable Criteria (outlined in the person
specification table, page 10).

We plan to schedule interviews for w/c 17 November at our London, W12 offices.

We aim to contact all candidates within 21 days of the closing date. We regret that, as a charity
with limited resources, we are unable to provide feedback on applications that do not reach the
shortlist.

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Artwork: Home Strict Home, HM Prison Wayland, Gold Award for Drawing

Diversity & Inclusion

We are committed to building an inclusive team that shares a passion for the charity’s 60-year
legacy inspiring life-changing art. Every time we add to our small team is an opportunity for us
to bring in a new perspective, and to better represent our diverse range of participants and
audiences. We strongly encourage candidates of all backgrounds and identities to apply.

We have a guaranteed interview scheme for people with recent lived experience of prison who
meet the ‘essential’ requirements of the role. Please mark the relevant section of the
application form, if you’d like to apply through this scheme.

If there’s anything we can do to make our recruitment process more open to you, please let us
know.

Office Working:

This is an office-based role. Your role will require a deep knowledge of the artwork we receive
and our processes, so you’ll need to be present most of the week (4 of 5 days). Some remote
work is possible, in agreement with the line manager.

Pre-Employment Screening:

Applicants must demonstrate eligibility to work in the UK and undergo a basic Disclosure and
Barring Service (DBS) check.

Equal Opportunities and Safeguarding:

We are committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, with zero tolerance for any form of abuse
or discrimination.

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Director of Creative Programmes
Job Description

Main aim of the post

•  To lead the charity’s creative programmes.

Main Duties

1. To project manage the annual Koestler Awards, including submission processing, and responses to

artists by volunteer judges and members of the public. Always ensuring high standards of customer
service, keeping track of expenditure and looking for ways to improve and modernize the processes.

2. Line managing paid staff, including undertaking Support and Supervision meetings regularly with all

line-managed staff.

3. Leading staff in recruiting and supporting volunteers. Ensuring we engage a diverse range of people

to support our arts programmes in meaningful ways.

4.  Lead the planning (including expenditure) and delivery of all Koestler Arts showcasing. This currently
includes exhibitions, guest curators, co-curation projects, performance events, talks and a biennial
publication. This will involve maintaining partnerships and developing new ones across the UK.

5. To contribute at a high level to the development and delivery of the Koestler Arts strategy, reporting

to the Board of Trustees and managing an arts advisory group made up of staff, trustees and
volunteer experts.

6. To adhere to, and lead the development of, all the charity’s policies relevant to creative

programmes. These include Risk Assessments, Policies and Procedures for showcasing artwork,
curating projects and live events.

7. To manage the production of accessible Koestler Awards and audience interpretation materials.

Including terms and conditions of entry, volunteer handbooks, exhibition texts, publication texts,
films and press releases. You, or your line-managed staff, will source, brief, and supervise any
necessary freelance creatives, with a preference for individuals with lived experience of the
criminal justice system.

8. Responsible for securing publicity for the charity’s showcasing work. Liaising with our external press
consultant to prepare press releases and images, and to book and record coverage of exhibitions,
events etc.

9. To lead sales of art, including curated sales, and sales of merchandise and books.

10. To lead the arts team in creating small displays at external organisations, including funders and

partners, that detail the charity’s work, focus on specific artforms, or groups (women, U19s etc),
sell artworks and merchandise.

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11. To contribute to funding reports and fundraising from individuals, public sector funders, trusts, and

corporates as required, both formally and informally. This can include giving presentations,
providing figures and planning evaluation materials for example.

12. To represent the charity to stakeholders, including visiting prisons, speaking at events and
conferences, working at our exhibitors’ family days, and leading tours of our exhibitions.

13. To contribute to agreeing and monitoring the annual budgets, and to ensure good value for money

and record-keeping.

14. To implement relevant measures for monitoring progress towards KPIs and evaluating impact.

Collecting accurate and useful data, and reporting this data whenever required, including exhibition
reports and participant/audience evaluation.

15. To adhere to and lead staff in adhering to the charity’s internal procedures, e.g. for health and
safety, safeguarding, data protection, and equal opportunities — suggesting improvements as
required.

16. To participate in training, in team meetings and in regular one-to-one Support and Supervision

meetings with the line manager.

The job description gives an outline of key duties and is not intended to be an exhaustive
list.

As a small charity, each staff member is required to help with a range of additional tasks for
which guidance and any appropriate training is given (for example, online shop, info@ email
address, Fire Marshal, Health & Safety contact, IT contact). The post-holder may be asked to
take on other responsibilities as reasonably requested by her/his manager.

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Person Specification — Director of Creative Programmes
Everyone applying for the job will be assessed against the following criteria:

Essential

Desirable

Qualifications
1. A degree that helped build your knowledge of the
creative industries, exhibitions or arts participation
OR significant work experience that has provided you
with similar knowledge.
Experience
2. At least four years’ full-time (or equivalent) paid
work experience in project managing arts exhibitions,
events, competitions, publications, etc.

3. Experience of encouraging and supporting
participation in the arts and/or creative industries by
people who face barriers to doing so.

4. Paid work experience managing and developing
staff/volunteers.
5. Experience working with arts professionals to
identify and secure partnerships, and to interpret
their creative vision.
6. Experience of producing or updating policies, risk
assessments and procedures for complex arts projects
or events.
7. Experience of writing and signing off on written
materials such as exhibition interpretation panels,
captions, publications, and press releases.
8. Experience of supervising (from brief to delivery)
high-quality design work such as exhibition panels,
web pages, merchandise, films, books and posters.
Knowledge and Skills
9. Professional knowledge of the UK’s creative sector,
so that you can build new partnerships with venues,
creatives and organisations.
10. Strong interpersonal skills. Adept at building
working relationships with a wide range of people to
inspire and support participation and build
partnerships.
11. Independent and highly organised with attention
to detail in managing a complex workload and
meeting numerous deadlines.
12. Strong MS Office skills. Including the ability to use
Excel to manage project budgets.
13. Ability to write clear, accessible arts
interpretation materials and confidently proofread
them for print/publication online.
Attitudes and Values
14. Excellent timekeeping and reliability
15. Outstanding attention to detail in all aspects of
your work.
16. Flexibility and willingness to learn, with a can-do
attitude to solving problems.
17. Enthusiasm for the aims of Koestler Arts, and the
arts in the criminal justice system.

1b. Relevant professional training or education
courses in arts participation, evaluation, project
management or writing about art.

2.b Experience of creating arts showcases
outside of straight-forward gallery spaces —
outdoors, film installations, immersive, live-
streamed.
3.b Experience of running participant-led
projects e.g. co-curation projects, focus groups,
steering groups or creative ways of supporting
participant evaluation.

12b. Previous experience working with a
database or CRM.

17b. First-hand experience of being in prison or
another secure establishment related to our
work.

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Artwork: Angel by a Starry Starry Night,
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HM Prison Northumberland,
Commended Award for Painting, 2023