Senior programme manager (Discover! Creative Careers) - maternity cover

ScreenSkills is the industry-led skills body for the screen industries - film, television (including children's, unscripted and high-end), VFX, animation and games. We are supporting the continued growth and future innovation across the whole of the UK by investing in the skilled and inclusive workforce who are critical to the global success of the screen sector. We are supported by industry contributions to our Skills Funds – High-end TV, Film, Animation, Children’s TV, Unscripted TV – and Arts Council England to help people get into the industry and progress within it.

The delivery of Discover! Creative Careers is led by ScreenSkills in partnership with over 20 organisations and through collaboration with industry, education and careers professionals. It is currently funded by the Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) with additional funding from Arts Council England until March 2025.

Discover Creative Careers (DCC) is a government funded, industry led programme providing specialist information, advice, and guidance about careers in the Creative Industries (CIs) to young people aged 11-18 years, and those that support their careers decisions. DCC provides online resources, in-person events and training throughout the year, culminating in the annual award-winning Discover! Creative Careers Week in November. It focuses on young people in 77 priority areas across England identified as those facing the greatest disadvantage, supporting schools and colleges to meet several Gatsby benchmarks.

Since launching in 2018, it has connected with over 150,000 children and young people via industry talks, workplace encounters, lesson plans, and industry informed resources, all of which are hosted on the Discover! Creative Careers website. It also hosts a range of toolkits including the popular Careers Finder. The website is the only site to bring all subsectors of the creative industries together and deliver content that is entirely informed or created by industry partners. 

The Senior Programme Manager (Discover! Creative Careers) develops and implements the year-round programme of activity for our target audience. This includes commissioning packages of sub-sector specific content i.e. videos and lesson plans, which are complemented by live industry panels and other online and in person events. They also manage the delivery of training for careers professionals across England in liaison with partners, Careers and Enterprise Company (CEC) and the Careers Development Institute (CDI).

The Senior Programme Manager works closely with the Programme Lead (Discover Creative Careers) on the design of  the annual Discover Creative Careers Week, overseeing school and college registrations and the subsequent matching with CI employers who offer interactive activities such as a building tours, talks, workshops or discussions, so young people can hear directly about different sectors, job roles and career pathways. This is further supported by Speakers for Schools who run a Virtual Programme of insights and workshops as part of the Week. The Senior Programme Manager also works closely with DCC’s Communications Manager to provide the relevant information and planning to ensure effective engagement and communication with all stakeholders. 

A key part of the role in building relationships with careers professionals and educators - and the networks that support them - to ensure the programme engages with schools and colleges, particularly those in our priority areas. This includes liaising with Careers Hubs, Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), Local Authority Leads and others. The Senior Programme Manager also works to secure industry engagement across the programme with support from the Programme Lead, drawing on DCC’s steering group of creative industry partners, and beyond.  

The Senior Programme Manager will report to the Programme Lead (Discover Creative Careers) and assist them in reporting to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport, and Arts Council England. They will directly line manage the Programme Assistant (Discover Creative Careers) who also supports the Communications Manager (Discover Creative Careers).

This is a full time fixed term role providing maternity cover to January 2025 paying £46,000 per annum.

The Senior Programme Manager (Discover! Creative Careers) – Maternity Cover job description is available here: https://www.screenskills.com/media/8100/senior-programme-manager-discover-creative-careers-maternity-cover-job-description-november-2023-external.pdf

The ideal candidate will have:

• Experience of designing and implementing careers programmes and activities within agreed timeframes 
• Experience of working with secondary schools, colleges, Local Authority contacts, and careers professional and others such as careers hubs and LEPs.
• Experience of managing complex projects involving multiple stakeholders, working proactively, diplomatically, and supportively to deliver a single project
• Excellent communication and influencing skills (both written and verbal)
• The ability to communicate with a wide range of people
• Highly developed interpersonal skills, with the ability to work proactively with people at all levels
• Experience of facilitating training online and in-person.
• Well-developed negotiation skills
• Ability to work well under pressure in a calm, methodical and organised manner
• Able to work independently and prioritise workload to meet fixed deadlines
• Good understanding of risk management
• Proactive, with a ‘can do’ attitude
• Experience of line management
• Experience of working in the creative industries
• Knowledge of Gatsby Benchmarks 

ScreenSkills offers benefits including:

• 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays
• Access to financial physical and mental wellbeing support
• Season Ticket Loan
• Eye Care scheme
• Cycle to work scheme
• Access to Reward Gateway – popular retailer discounts
• Life Assurance

Please submit a CV and covering letter clearly stating how your skills and experience meet the requirements of the role via email to jobs@screenskills.com. Please do submit your application at your earliest convenience as we will be reviewing applications as and when they are received which may result in the ad closing earlier. Initial interviews will be held on w/c 18th December 2023.

We're happy to discuss any support you may need during our application & selection process as part of our reasonable adjustments approach. So, we encourage you to get in touch with us if you require anything jobs@screenskills.com.

ScreenSkills is committed to diversity and equality of opportunity in all aspects of our work. We particularly welcome applications from under-represented groups such as returning parents or carers who are re-entering after a career break, women, people who are LGBTQ+, minority ethnic groups, with a disability, impairment, learning difference or long-term condition, with caring responsibilities, from different nations and regions, from a less advantaged socio-economic background as well as any other under-represented group.