Artist Services Assistant

Closing date 10:00 Monday 29 April 2024
Interview date: Wednesday 08 May 2024
Start date: As soon as possible
Location: Office based, central Edinburgh
Salary: circa £23,000 per annum

Background

The idea at the heart of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe is simple: anyone with a desire to perform and a venue willing to host them is welcome. No individual or committee determines who can or cannot perform at the Fringe.
It all began in 1947 with eight companies – six of them from Scotland – taking a risk, turning up uninvited and performing on the ‘fringe’ of the inaugural Edinburgh International Festival. Over 75 years later, the Fringe has grown to become one of the greatest platforms for creative freedom in the world, second only to the Olympics in terms of global ticketed events. In 2023, 3,553 shows took place in 288 venues across Edinburgh.
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society was founded by artists to nurture and uphold the Fringe's values of inclusivity, experimentation and imagination. We exist to support, advise and encourage everyone who wants to participate in the Fringe, provide information and assistance to audiences, and celebrate the Fringe and what it stands for all over the world.

This role is part of the Artist Services team, which is focused year-round on supporting the Fringe community, artists, industry professionals, venues and workers.

This role will support colleagues across the team in providing advice, guidance and delivering support services for participants. It will crucially act as the first response to incoming email, phone and some in-person queries from artists and companies, signposting to resources and services. The role will also provide administrative assistance to Artist Services projects.

Role and responsibilities

You will perform a wide range of duties, including but not limited to:

• Acting as the first point of contact through the Artist Services email inbox and phone line for artists who get in touch with the Society, including providing advice, support and documentation, and signposting to resources and guidance.
• Supporting the delivery of programmes and projects across the Artist Services team, including administration, operational, research support. Programmes and projects include Fringe Connect, Fringe Marketplace, funding programmes, events programmes.
• Supporting the set-up and delivery of events or Fringe Central spaces, such as arranging catering, checking-in guests or arranging furniture, signage and AV.
• Supporting the sourcing of affordable accommodation options for artists, and maintaining the accommodation database/portal.
• Providing basic analysis on queries and feedback, including assisting with the administration of surveys, etc.
• Supporting the distribution of available customer/audience data to companies, maintaining GDPR compliance.
• Supporting the Arts Industry accreditation process, and associated administration.
• Supporting registration for Street Performers.
• Identifying areas where additional online resources are required for participants and assisting in creating and researching for new ones.
• Maintaining clear filing/organisation of databases and filing systems.
• Assisting with financial processes across the Artist Services team.
• Providing general administrative support for the Artist Services team, including taking notes in meetings, arranging meeting rooms, supporting the management of team diaries.

Person specification

Essential

• Interest in and knowledge of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
• Strong administrative skills, with a keen attention to detail.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, including sensitivity and good communication
• Experience of overseeing a busy email inbox, with the ability to provide timely and quality responses to incoming queries.
• Ability to work independently and prioritise tasks
• Strong IT skills, with experience of Microsoft Office

Desirable

• Previous experience within the Fringe as an artist or venue staff member – with a good understanding of the sector and the work of the Fringe Society.

Rate of pay and benefits

• Salary: circa £23,000 per annum
• 4.5% employer pension contribution
• 34 days holiday (inclusive of six bank holidays) pro rata
• Flexible working culture
• Employee assistance programme

Hours of work

Normal working hours in the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society are 35 hours per week, worked between 09:00 to 18:00, Monday to Friday, and your hours should fit within this schedule. In the run up to and during the festival, there may be a need to work additional days. There is no overtime entitlement, but the Society does maintain a TOIL policy for additional hours worked.

We are a flexible working employer and are happy to discuss flexible working at any stage of the application process.

We use positive action under section 159 of the Equality Act in relation to disability or race. This means that if we have two candidates of equal merit in our process, we will seek to take forward the D/deaf, disabled, Black, Asian or ethnically diverse candidate in order to diversify our staff team.

Apply now

The Fringe have identified six pillars of commitment around the sustainable delivery of their work, are active members of the Festivals Edinburgh Sustainability Working group and include climate action as one of the headline targets in the Fringe development goals. As part of the commitments of this work, all Fringe staff members are expected to assist with the Fringe Society’s environmental goals and consider these in all elements of your work.

We are an equal opportunity employer and welcome applications from all sectors of the community. We are also proud to be a Disability Confident Employer and aim to successfully employ and retain disabled people and those with health conditions. We expect employees to support these commitments and to assist in their realisation.

Application deadline: 29th April, 2024