Venue Manager

Join our teamVenue ManagerSpring 2026Who are we?OVO is an award winning theatre production and management company based in StAlbans.We create bold, imaginative and surprising new versions of classic plays and stories. We have staged well over 100 productions since we were founded in 2003. We areparticularly well known for our off the wall musical Shakespeares – from As You Like It setit the summer of love, to Twelfth Night on a 1920s cruise liner - as well as fresh literaryadaptations including, in recent years, The Great Gatsby, Little Women and A ChristmasCarol.We have also developed a strong reputation for “first revivals” by some of the country’sleading contemporary playwrights, from Lucy Kirkwood to David Eldridge. Live music, dynamic movement and film are all important elements of our style. We havetoured extensively – from London’s off West End to the Edinburgh Festival, iconicoutdoor theatres like The Minack in Cornwall and a range of leading mid scale venuesaround the UK.“Well balanced and gripping.The chemistry is electric.”The Stage“A high energy revival.The production is phenomenal.”Reviews HubWe manage three venues in St Albans:• The Roman Theatre, the oldest operational theatre in the UK (1,700 years and counting),where we present an annual 3 month open air theatre festival every summer that hasgrown to become one of the largest outdoor arts events in the country.• The Maltings Theatre, a rehearsal and R&D space and base for community performancesand events.• St Germain’s Barn and St Michael’s Pavilion, two derelict buildings which we areconverting into a new 100 seat playhouse, housing a permanent repertory companywhich will open in late 2026 / early 2027.Our work has received numerous awards and critical acclaim. Our production of As YouLike It won the 2016 Minack Trophy and was named as one of The Guardian’s best showsof 2019. In 2021 our Artistic Director Adam Nichols was named in The Stage 100, thedefinitive guide to the most influential figures working in the UK theatre and performingarts industry today.“Like being given a lovely warm hug after alittle cry. A captivating production.”St Albans TimesWhy are we expanding our team?Since 2020, OVO has grown exponentially, and we are now four times the size we werebefore the pandemic in terms of productions, audience numbers, actors and creativesemployed, and revenue.So this has been an exciting period! But we have hardly had a moment to pause for breathand attend to our organisational development and infrastructure, and our core teamhasn’t grown much since we were a much smaller company. As you can imagine, this hasput enormous strain on our people and infrastructure, so we are now embarking on amuch needed expansion of our team.We also recognise that we need to broaden our existing expertise and experience to takeus to the next level. Whilst we’re proud that we still have many long standing teammembers involved in our work, we’re hungry for fresh ideas and new approaches. What is coming up this year?This is going to be our busiest year yet!We are currently in the preliminary phase for the 2026 Roman Theatre Festival, with 4OVO productions, 3 visiting companies and a range of one off music and comedy eventsin the programme. We are making some changes to the way the event is managed, so a lotof work is going into these new operational arrangements and partnerships.We are experimenting with touring one of our flagship shows in the Autumn. This is a newdeparture for us, and is requiring new capacity and expertise to be built.We are developing our new indoor venue, converting the derelict St Germain’s Barn andSt Michael’s Pavilion. This is the first major capital project we have undertaken and, whilstextremely exciting, is also a complex logistical and commercial undertaking.Finally, we are improving our operational systems and processes, including theimplementation of a new finance system.“Thoroughly joyful and uplifting, bringingthe audience to their feet at the end.”The GuardianWhat do you need to know about working for us?1. OVO is led by our founder, Adam Nichols. Adam set the company up in 2003 withSimon Nicholas, who remains involved as one of our associate artists, but it was still a sidehustle until 2020 when he stepped up to run the organisation full time. This is still verymuch a founder led organisation; albeit with a highly collaborative way of working and anethos of shared leadership.2. We are a commercial production company and we earn every penny of our operatingincome from our productions and venue activities. We have made a conscious decisionnot to seek government subsidy, as we believe this keeps us responsive and attuned toour audiences, who would soon vote with their feet if the quality or content of our workwas not up to standard. This means that everyone in the organisation is highly focused onbeing financially efficient and audience focused, without compromising the creativity andimagination that our reputation has been built on.“Establishes OVO as a must-see theatrecompany. Boy do the cast know how to party!”Welwyn Hatfield Times3. We are highly collaborative. Everyone says that, don’t they? But we really mean it. Ourproductions are created jointly by every member of the team. Our directors arefacilitators, not auteurs. We bring outsiders into our rehearsal room and expect everyoneto be comfortable with giving and receiving feedback. We eschew rigid hierarchies, but wevalue and celebrate leadership, wherever it comes from.4. Although we’ve grown a lot recently, we remain a fairly small organisation. This meanswe don’t necessarily have a dedicated person, let alone a department, for every role. So,from time to time, we all get involved in lots of things that aren’t necessarily “in our jobdescription”. If the generator needs restarting at the Roman Theatre, or the bar has runout of ice creams at the Maltings, or a prospective partner production company hasinvited us to watch one of their shows, we’ll all lend a hand. It’s a collegiate, highlysupportive environment.“A gorgeous mix of storytelling andphysical theatre. A memorable, magicalexperience filled with heart and love.”LondonTheatre1Venue ManagerPurpose of the role The Venue Manager is responsible for the successful operation of all three permanentOVO venues – the Roman Theatre of Verulamium, The Maltings Theatre and the new barntheatre, currently in development and expected to open in late 2026 / early 2027. They also oversee our Christmas pop up venues (Vintry Garden, St Albans, and BritishSchools Museum, Hitchin in 2025). They ensure that our venues are welcoming spaces for audiences, performers, creativesand hirers, and that they are managed in a way that supports the creation andpresentation of high quality theatre productions. They are the public face of our venues, acting as the main point of liaison with visitingcompanies, hirers, OVO’s in house production teams and landlords. Although we’ve had people fulfilling some of these responsibilities before, this is a newlycreated role.Reporting toOperations DirectorMain Duties and Responsibilities(Except where specified otherwise, each area of responsibility is for all OVO venues)Facilities managementEnsure that venues are managed and presented to the highest standards, including:Customer toiletsAudience front of house areasBarsKitchensStaff and performer areas including toilets, kitchens, green rooms, dressing roomsCleanliness and waste managementWork with the Site Manager to remedy venue infrastructure issues.Work with the Technical Manager to remedy any technical equipment andinfrastructure issues.Manage all external suppliers to ensure their service delivers the standards expectedand agreed.Ensure the venue achieves the highest possible operational standards includingcleanliness, health and safety, facilities and security.Lead on the ongoing programme of improvements to the venues.StaffingDesign and manage the systems for the recruitment, training and ongoing performancemanagement of all venue staff.Line manage the team of Duty Managers, ensuring they meet and uphold all operationalstandards and effectively manage the front of house staff.Manage the box office assistant.Customer experienceEnsure the highest standards of customer service are delivered by all venue staff.Regularly review customer feedback and ensure responses to feedback as appropriate.Visiting companies and external hireEnsure visiting companies have an exceptional experience before, during and after theirperformance at the Roman Theatre. Manage venue inductions in conjunction with the Technical Manager.Manage the hire summary, calendar, booking enquiries, viewings, conversion, bookingperiods and hire contracts. Ensure ticketed hires are put onto sale promptly and sales reports regularly sharedwith hirers.Ensure the calendar of company inductions, rehearsals, performances, get ins and getouts, as well as external hires, is effectively scheduled and well understood by all users.Retail, food and beverageManage all external suppliers to ensure their service delivers the standards expectedand agreed.Manage stock and ordering.Regularly review sales, to ensure maximum profit is achieved and all opportunitiesmaximised, agreeing responses and improvements where needed.Ensure the venue retail standards are consistently achieved.Be OVO’s licensee and ensure all statutory obligations are met.FinanceWork with the Operations Director to ensure costs are kept in line with agreed budgets.Maximise hire revenue, and ensure the sales budget is achieved.Health and safetyOversee day to day health and safety standards.Manage and escalate issues where appropriate and liaise with contractors as required. Ensure control measures defined in venue related risk assessments are implemented.Landlord relationsEnsure there is a positive and effective day to day relationship with landlords includingSt Albans District Council, the Maltings Shopping Centre and the Gorhambury Estate.Ensure venues are managed in line with lease and licence agreements.Raise site standards issues with landlords when required.Development of the new barn theatreWork with the CEO and Operations Director to deliver the successful opening of thenew barn theatre.LeadershipBe a member of OVO’s leadership team.Contribute relevant expertise to business planning, strategy and reporting.Work across the organisation to maintain strong relatonships and communication.Keep up to date with developments and research in theatre practice.Represent OVO at appropriate local and industry events and groups.Person SpecificationValues and beliefsA strong affinity for the work of OVO and a passion to play a key role in shaping andachieving our future success.Demonstrable commitment to the values that underpin our approach to makingtheatre – bold, imaginative and surprising.A desire to broaden diversity and access across all areas of OVO’s work. AttitudeDetail freak.Self motivated and able to work independently with light touch management andsupervision.Calm under pressure.Able to flex between the peaks and troughs of a seasonal business.Willing to work outdoors for our open air shows, sometimes in challenging weatherconditions (hot, cold, wet!).ExperienceManaging a similar venue.Managing a team to consistently high levels of performance.Delivering financial targets including cost and revenue generation.Achieving high customer service standards.Project planning and management.SkillsAbility to collaborate with internal and external colleagues.Great communicator skills with the ability to interact with people at all levels.Numerical and budget management skills.KnowledgeAn understanding of relevant health and safety rules, regulations and guidelines.An understanding of equal opportunity and cultural diversity issues in the delivery ofour services.First Aid qualification (desirable).Maintenance of theatre equipment including PAT testing (desirable).DiversityWe embrace diversity in all its forms and we are aiming to reflect the St Albanscommunity across our team. We know we still have some way to go to achieve this. 16% ofour local population do not identify as white, so we’re particularly keen to receiveapplications from people who identify as being from Asian, black or mixed backgrounds.Application process Please send us your CV - no more than two sides of A4, and be reasonable with font size, linespacing and margins! We’d also like you to send us a short video introducing yourself,explaining why you fit the role, and telling us about something you have done recently thatyou are proud of (which doesn’t necessarily have to be career or arts-related).And remember, be bold, be imaginative and surprise us! 1.Send us your CV to jobs@ovo.org.uk by Sunday 8th March 2026 at 11.59pm.2.Videos should be sent to the same email address via WeTransfer.3.We will send an automated email to say we’ve received your application.4.We will let you know if you are invited to interview by 5pm on Monday 9th March 2026.5.Interviews will take place on Wednesday 11th March 2026, in person at The MaltingsTheatre in St Albans.. Please keep this date free.6.We will send shortlisted candidates information about the format of the interview,including anything they need to prepare for. 7.We aim to make a job offer to our first choice candidate by Friday 13th March 2026, andlet unsuccessful interviewed candidates know of our decision by Friday 20th March 2026.8.It is not currently our policy to give feedback to applicants who are not invited tointerview, but we will let you know if you have been unsuccessful.“OVO is an extraordinary company. A highenergy and very sophisticated performance.”Seen and Heard InternationalTerms andconditionsStart date: As soon as possible.Period of work: 232 days per annum.Pay: £142 per day.Hours: On average, 43 hours perweek (this is the same number ofhours as our performer contract). Working pattern: Due to the natureof this role and the theatre industry,you will be expected to work flexiblyat the times required to fulfilrequirements, which will includeregular evening and weekend work.Notice period: 1 week during the first3 months, then 3 months thereafter.Location of work: Your main place ofwork will be OVO’s 3 theatres in StAlbans, but you will be required fromtime to time to travel to and work atother locations as the role requires.This role will require you to bephysically present in our St Albanslocations for the majority of the timeso you will need to be located withineasy access of the city.Benefits: Free tickets for OVOproductions, staff discount at ourcatering and retail outlets, flexibleworking.Type of contract: OVO currentlyengages all team members on a selfemployed basis.For an informal discussion about therole prior to applying, emailjobs@ovo.org.uk.“An inventive andlaugh-out-loudremodelling ofShakespeare’srush job.”Daily Express