Relationship Manager, Combined Arts

Overall Purpose of the role

You will work closely with a portfolio of organisations that Arts Council England funds through our various investment programmes, helping those organisations to contribute successfully to delivering the Arts Council's strategy and to achieve their own growth and development objectives.

Acting as the primary conduit and point of contact between these organisations and the Arts Council - and supported by your Senior Relationship Manager - you will broker both internal and external relationships to ensure that funded organisations have access to appropriate sources of expertise and knowledge to support them in achieving great art in the context of meeting their business plans and operating effectively.

These external relationships will include liaison with local stakeholders in local government and the private sector who play a material role in the local environment for arts and culture.

You will orchestrate our dealings with the organisations you manage and will play a key role in recommending to your Senior Relationship Manager what investment we should commit to them - including all funding decisions and strategic development programmes and initiatives.

Main day to day responsibilities

You will manage a portfolio of funded organisations. This will include maintaining an awareness of their performance against their business plan and their funding agreement with the Arts Council, maintaining awareness of their artistic work and identifying their investment needs. You will contribute to the assessment of their applications, liaising with the Investment Centre and recommending funding decisions to your Senior Relationship Manager and Leadership team.

You will spend an appropriate amount of time involved in our grants management processes, monitoring and maintaining contact with their activity.

You will play an advisory and developmental role, supporting your portfolio of organisations in furthering their artistic ambition whilst building their financial and operational resilience.

You will support the Arts Council's broader development role, offering advice to organisations not funded through the National portfolio and supporting them, for example, to develop funding applications. Part of your role will involve contributing to the development and management of Arts Council strategic programmes, liaising with internal colleagues and external partners.

You will contribute to the organisation's goals and priorities by sharing the market intelligence and knowledge gained in your work to inform future investment decisions and priorities within the area and nationally through specialist or project groupings.

You will contribute to a positive working culture in the organisation by taking a proactive approach to learning, responding to change, inclusive practice, and environmental responsibility.

You will reflect the Nolan Principles of Public Life and the Arts Council's values with a commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion.

Key relationships

You will work closely with colleagues in the Area team to contribute to a coordinated approach to the support and development of arts and culture locally and to relationships with external partners.

You will work closely with the national discipline lead relevant to your artform or cross-cutting area of expertise, sharing specialist knowledge and insight alongside other relationship managers across the country who share your specialist discipline.

You will work closely with colleagues in the Investment Centre and with the Senior Manager, Operations to undertake grant management and to share intelligence and advice on funded organisations.

What do I need to bring to the role?

Essential (Skills, Knowledge and Behaviours)

You will need to have experience of working in one or more of our artforms or cross-cutting policy areas and with arts and cultural organisations at senior level.

You will also need to have a good understanding of organisational dynamics - including business planning, financial reporting, performance management and governance.

You will need to be effective in developing relationships with organisations at all levels and have the personal credibility, communication and analytical skill to provide advice and support on the artistic and operational challenges they face.

You will have a good knowledge of grant management and the ability to negotiate with arts and cultural organisations on funding agreements. You will maintain an overview of projects funded to ensure they are meeting our strategic aims.

You will have willingness to and experience of working beyond your area of expertise across all our policy areas and priorities.

You must have a good appreciation of the arts and culture sector in England and of the current challenges and opportunities facing it, including the context for public and private sector partnership support.

You will have an understanding of the Arts Council's duty as a public body under current equality legislation, the diversity agenda and its relationship to arts and culture.

This role will include travel across the whole of Arts Council England's South East region.

The successful post holder will become a member of the Norfolk & Suffolk sub-regional place group. This aspect of the role will require regular travel across these two counties to meet organisations and attend events. We are looking for candidates with previous experience of place-based working.

We are a Disability Confident Employer and we participate in the 'Offer an Interview' scheme, which means that we offer an interview to any disabled candidates who meet the essential criteria for the role they're applying to, subject to the volume of applications received. Disabled candidates, those living with a long-term condition and/ or neurodivergent candidates may be eligible for this scheme.

Our Code of Ethics requires that employees of the Arts Council are not able to receive an Arts Council grant, investment or loan funding - either in person, as a member of a partnership, or for any organisation they own. There are also limitations on board or CEO positions employees can hold in organisations we fund. For more information on this, please talk to the recruiting manager or contact

1st Interviews: (Virtual) 23 and 24 April

2nd Interviews: (Virtual) 30 April