Community Producer
Rising Arts Agency
To support our community to grow as creatives, come together to make cool sh*t and take up space in the city, we need someone who is focused on bringing people together and nurturing their potential. Someone who will empower a strong community of 18-30 year-olds to get paid, thrive, and fight for what they believe in.
Where you come from is less important than what you bring to the table. You could be an experienced facilitator, community organiser or be looking for work after a period of focusing on caring responsibilities – or something completely different.
You might have experience organising events and getting the word out about what’s going on, or you might be the one in your friend group that remembers to check in that your mates are ok and loves the thought of inviting all your different friend groups to one party.
What matters is that you are excited by the prospect of mobilising young creatives to come together in community, develop their creativity, to shake up the creative sector, and to drive us all towards the better future that we know is possible.
ABOUT THIS ROLE
The Rising team has changed shape a lot over the last few years and we’ve reached a moment where we feel we need to do so again. There is a growing need for a new role dedicated to actively supporting, managing and growing our community of young creatives.
After our previous leadership transition we created an ‘Agency Producer’ role to ensure that there was a clearer link between the wants and needs of Rising’s young creative community and the type of work we were doing with our partners through our agency arm. However, as the scope of our agency work has grown it’s no longer feasible for one person (Sid) to manage both.
This new ‘Community Producer’ role will be community focused but as a small and mighty team there will be ample opportunities for you to grow in other areas too. We anticipate that the work will fall into three strands: programming events for the community, outreach with young people around the city and dedicated support for individual community members. The remit of these strands is sketched out below.
The role is part time 24 hours a week, which you could work in 3 days or across the week in a different way that works for you. We envision there will be between 1 to 5 days a month of evening or weekend working hours to ensure events are held in times that work best for the community.
It is an initial 12 month contract with a probationary period of 3 months. The hope is that this will become a permanent role with the potential to go up to 4 days, pending funding. We currently work Monday - Thursdays and have a studio at 9 Bath Buildings in central Bristol, but work flexibly and hybridly from home, the studio or wherever we are, though ideally we’re looking for someone who is based in Bristol or can commute here regularly.
Benefits include: 28 days holiday pro rata (plus all bank holidays and a week at Christmas), mental health and personal days as a given, annual August of Rest, reflection time built into your schedule and regular training and development opportunities provided.
RESPONSIBILITIES
This is a general outline of what we think the role will include over the initial 12 months. You will be responsible for (with support from the team):
Programming
Scheduling and organising a regular series of events (workshops, talks, skill shares, meet ups etc) that offer opportunities for the community to come together, learn, socialise and connect
Marketing the above events to the community through social media, newsletters etc. and ensuring good levels of attendance
Maintaining a network of accessible venues to host in with a good spread around the city
Risk assessments and access statements for all events
Ensure documentation of all events (eg organise photographer, take iphone photos, make IG reels etc.)
Follow up with any actions from events
Support
Offer 1:1 support for community members who ask for it and signpost to other team members where relevant
Compose weekly Opportunities Newsletters to the community
Maintain database of community members, the commissions they’ve worked on, events attended and check in with community members who haven’t engaged in a while
Run annual ‘Are you still with us?’ survey to the entire community to find out what they’re into, what opportunities they want etc and follow up on actions from this
Run annual induction for new community members
Outreach
Build on and solidify Rising’s offer to community members
Ensure there is regular content on platforms where young people are (instagram etc.) that showcases our community and the benefits of joining
Look for opportunities to talk at events around the city to young people who may want to join our community (eg schools, colleges, universities, youth organisations etc.)
Make certain events open to anyone (not just our community) and follow up with those who attend if suitable for the community
Manage annual recruitment process for new community members
General
Keep track of hours through a timesheet provided - to ensure you don’t consistently work overtime, take any time off in lieu you’re owed and take all of your holiday/rest allowance for the year
Come to and contribute to weekly Team meetings (usually on Tuesday)
Participate in annual reviews, regular 1/2:1 check ins with the Co-Directors and team Action Learning Sets (training provided)
Attend any planned team training and ask for any training you need or want for yourself or the team
Advocate for Rising’s work
A typical week may look like:
Day 1 – check sign ups for upcoming events, schedule comms, confirm details of upcoming event, event delivery
Day 2 – meet with the team about upcoming priorities, attend a networking event or training session/talk, meet with a community member or two
Day 3 – compiling opps newsletter for that week, reflection time to: rest, research particular context (eg unions), plan future engagement, reading
We’re also open to exploring a consistent week structure that works best for whoever gets the role.
WHAT WE’LL BE LOOKING FOR
Whilst we’re open to those with applicable skills rather than direct experience we know it’s helpful for applicants to know what exactly we’ll be looking for as part of the recruitment process.
So here’s some things you might want to cover in your application - we’ve also made sure the questions we’ll ask you speak directly to these points.
Ability to hold inclusive spaces for a range of people
Kindness, approachability and integrity - that you are someone that anyone could talk to regardless of their lived experience
Proven interest in the arts or ability to use creativity
Motivated by social justice and change
These things are more “would be nice to have”
Experience in the arts as an artist, producer or similar
Experience working with young people
Experience of activism, organising, or collective action
Lived experience that reflects our community (e.g. BIPOC, disabled, LGBTQIA+, working class, GRT, immigrant/refugee/asylum seeker)
An understanding of the wider cultural sector (Bristol and/or beyond)
An existing connection to Rising and/or our community
How To Apply
You can apply in any of the following ways:
Download a copy of the application form and type in your answers or for ease, apply via this Typeform.
Record a video or audio piece roughly 10 - 15 minutes long of you answering the five questions in the application form
Any other way you would like to apply, but please ensure that you provide the information set out in the application form
All applications should be emailed to [email protected] with the subject “Community Producer Application”. Video or audio files must be sent to this email via WeTransfer.
If you have any questions about the role or application please contact [email protected] or message us on instagram
DEADLINE: 11:59 PM // SUNDAY 17 NOVEMBER
PROCESS:
Shortlisted applicants will be contacted by Tuesday 26 November with:
an activity
3-5 interview questions
a guide to interviewing with Rising
Which you can answer by Tuesday 3 December either:
in a live interview (zoom or in-person)
through video submission
We hope to make a final decision by Thursday 12 December with the successful applicant ideally starting in January.
We will aim to let unsuccessful candidates know on a similar schedule though we cannot provide detailed feedback until the end of the recruitment process due to capacity.