General Manager

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Job description

Job Purpose

This is a fantastic opportunity to be part of "one of the bravest and most inspired underground troupes on the planet" (New York Times, 2015). Belarus Free Theatre is a unique campaigning theatre company highly respected in the UK and internationally, whose work crosses the arts, human rights and advocacy. Based between Belarus and the UK you will be part of a small team working from the offices of the Young Vic, where BFT is an associate company. Our London team supports international work created between Belarus and the UK, including vital political theatre, education programmes and international campaigning activities.

Job description

The General Manager, under the oversight of Co-Executive Director, will lead the UK office activities, including the company's financial and administrative management.

Working closely with the Artistic Directors and Co-Executive Director, the General Manager will support the production of the company's programme of events and campaigns in the U.K. and internationally, liaising with partners and negotiating a future life for all company projects. The General Manager will also support BFT's media work under the leadership of BFT's Head of PR.

The General Manager needs to be flexible in their approach and ready to react accordingly to the constantly changing realities of the company's existence in Belarus and creative work in the UK.

Main duties and responsibilities

Running of the day-to-day operations of the company and the UK office at the Young Vic or working remotely from home;
Responsible for the day-to-day management of individual project budgets, ensuring all budget tracking documentation is accurate and up to date;
Liaising with BFT's Minsk office and company members in Belarus;
Responsible for organising all logistics and admin for the company's international tours (visas, booking tickets, covid-tests etc);
Conducting regular review and implementation of BFT's policies (including insurance and security), procedures (including offline and online risk assessment) and internal controls;
Managing and regularly update the database (GoodCRM);
Managing and regularly update the office filing systems;
Processing payroll, invoices, staff expenditure, expenses and petty cash, managing reporting to HMRC and other bodies;
Coordinating the company's audit and financial reporting to funders;
Inputing all expenditure into Sage, run reports, keep accurate records;
Leading on all communication tasks and projects;
Managing BFT's website and making updates across all sections.

Person Specifications
Knowledge, qualifications and experience

A relevant university degree in management and/or media field;
Three to five years of professional experience in management and/or communications with progressively increasing responsibility;
Preferably previous work experience in human rights organisation and experience in advocacy;
Facility with social media and website content management, including Wordpress and other packages, and a drive to stay current with evolving digital technologies;
Proven track-record of working efficiently with CRM databases (ideally GoodCRM) Knowledge of accounting systems (ideally Sage);
Excellent written and spoken English. Knowledge of other languages (preferably Russian) relevant to BFT's focus region (Europe, particularly Central and Eastern Europe) is a plus;
Training in cyber security is a bonus.

Key competences and skills

Organised, with an ability to prioritise and manage competing demands;
Collaborative, with excellent interpersonal skills, ability to adapt for a range of audiences, sensitive to cultural communication differences, and ability to work well others;
Understanding of audiences, ability to identify different stakeholders and navigate between them;
A keen focus on detail and accuracy while keeping sight of big-picture goals;
Takes initiative but knows when to seek advice and guidance;
Good judgment and self-awareness.

Apply for this role:

We ask you to submit your CV and supporting letter in a word document by 5pm, Monday 20 December 2021. Your supporting letter should demonstrate how you meet the person specification. Please note that the CV and supporting letter should be no more than two pages each in length. This length restriction is intended to limit the effort required of applicants, and enable a quicker first stage review on the part of BFT.

Offers of employment will be conditional upon the receipt of two satisfactory references and proof of the right to work in the UK.

The closing date for applications is 5pm, Monday 20 December 2021, however we will be reviewing CV's on a rolling basis and may shortlist before this deadline.

First round interviews will take place from 4 January 2022.