Position: Chair

Salary: Voluntary, due to charity law. Reasonable travel and sustenance expenses covered.
Location: Quarterly Trustee meetings are hybrid, but we try to meet in person as much as possible. 
Hours: Approximately 40 hours per year.
Contract: Flexible term to be agreed. Expected minimum of 3 years, 5 years maximum.

Please click here for the full application pack, including full responsibilities and person specification.

For an easier to read version, please click here.

Role Summary

Wysing Arts Centre is looking for an exceptional Chair or Co-Chair, to lead the organisation into the next chapter following the appointment of new Director, Rosie Cooper, in 2021, and confirmation of continued Arts Council support as a National Portfolio funded organisation in 2022.

We are looking for an influential, compassionate and knowledgeable person (or persons) to provide leadership to the wider board. You will move strategic decision-making forward through insightful, collaborative problem solving; you will achieve consensus through informed discussion.

Ideally, you will have charity experience and a full understanding of the requirements of good governance, combined with the imagination needed to shape even better governance in the future. You will have good financial acumen, excellent relationship building skills, a passion for supporting art and artists, and a desire to build a more equitable world. You will have a strong commitment to the core mission, aims and values of Wysing Arts Centre.

What to Expect

The role of the Board is to be accountable for the strategic direction and effective running of Wysing Arts Centre, ensuring financial stability, compliance with governance legislation. The Board also supports Wysing’s Directorate by sharing expert advice.

As Chair, you will work closely with Wysing’s Director and Deputy Director to develop and deliver Wysing’s priorities. In addition to supporting artists and ensuring that Wysing is an equitable, inclusive place for all, our priorities for next year include increasing Wysing’s environmental sustainability and diversifying its income streams.

As an artist-centred organisation, we are open to models such as Co-Chairing, shorter term, or other options that would make this opportunity possible for an artist. Charity law means that the Chair role is voluntary, but we can provide reasonable travel and sustenance expenses.

Trustees meet four times a year in a hybrid fashion. Trustee sub-groups based around distinct areas of Wysing’s work meet at other times. A Board away-day to discuss vision and mission happens annually. The Chair meets with the Director each month for an hour to discuss the progress of the organisation.

Recruitment Process

We would be happy to receive an expression of interest in the form of a CV (max 2 pages) and letter outlining your interest in being Chair of Wysing and how you meet the key criteria in the Person Specification (max 1 page). We welcome applications in video or audio format if preferable. If there is another method that you would prefer to use to apply due to your access requirements, please let us know. We want to remove as many barriers to applying as we can.

If you would like to discuss the role with either Wysing’s Director, Rosie Cooper; Deputy Director, Lorna O’Brien, or Chair, Jo Marsh, then please email lorna.obrien@wysingartscentre.org to schedule a call.

Expressions of interest should be emailed directly to recruitment@wysingartscentre.org. 

As a Disability Confident Leader, we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the vacancy. Please indicate whether you are d/Deaf or disabled in your application.  

We are committed to providing equal opportunities for everyone regardless of their background. We acknowledge that people from certain backgrounds are under-represented in the arts, and we’re committed to doing what we can to correct this. We are particularly keen to receive applications from those who identify as global ethnic majority, d/Deaf or disabled people, people who identify as being LGTBQ+, people who have a mental health condition, and people who identify as working class now or in the past.