Arts Industry Support Supervisor

Closing date 10:00 Friday 12 April 2024
Interview date: Tuesday, 16 April 2024
Start date: Monday 13 May 2024
End date: Wednesday 28 August 2024
Location: Office based, central Edinburgh

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.

The Arts Industry Office helps more than 1,400 UK and international industry professionals each year navigate their way around the festival and find the right artists to connect with. A key aspect of this role will be to work closely with the Arts Industry Coordinator, Fringe venues and Arts Industry professionals to ensure clear communication and understanding between key stakeholders and partners about the services provided by the Arts Industry office.

The primary responsibilities of the Arts Industry Support Supervisor is to provide vital support to the Arts Industry Coordinator and wider team in the overall delivery of the services provided to arts professionals. It is a demanding position which involves working in a busy office and requires diplomacy and tenacity to deal with the large and varied number of Arts Industry professionals using the services during the festival.

Role and responsibilities

The successful candidate will perform a wide range of duties, including but not limited to:

• Welcoming Arts Industry professionals to the Arts Industry Office including those associated with specific delegations / programmes.
• Overall set up and management of the Arts Industry Box Office.
• Maintaining and updating systems and data sets, troubleshooting and problem solving and communicating and refining key policies and reports.
• Working with the Arts Industry Coordinator to oversee a ticket request and Arts Approver system, including data management and troubleshooting.
• Working with the Arts Industry Coordinator to oversee the roll out of the Fringe Marketplace, including processing and assessment of applications, proofing of shows, data management and troubleshooting.
• Working with the Arts Industry team to oversee the accreditation process including processing applications, data management and troubleshooting.
• Building and disseminating information on the Fringe programme to help provide bespoke advice and recommendations to industry delegates.
• Providing information and advice in relation to Box Office procedures to venues, promoters and performers.
• Working with the Arts Industry Coordinator to ensure the smooth running and maintenance of the various Arts Industry platforms in a technical capacity.
• Supporting the Arts Industry Coordinator in recruiting, supervising and training the Arts Industry team.
• Maintaining stakeholder relations with venues, industry, artists and external partners.
• Liaising with venues and performers to support and assist in the use of Box Office ticketing reports.
• Assisting with coordination of events and projects in the run up to and during the festival as required.
• Liaising with other departments within the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society.
• Assisting in a full evaluation of the services post-festival.
• Additional ad hoc tasks to support the Arts Industry Coordinator and wider team.

Person specification

Essential

• Proficient computer skills including a good working knowledge of MS Office packages including with spreadsheets and databases.
• Ability to swiftly gain a good understanding of previously unseen software packages.
• Experience working in a Box Office, ideally at a Supervisor level.
• Experience supervising a team.
• Experience in working with artists, promoters and venue managers.
• Excellent communication and organisational skills.
• Experience in a fast-paced and high-pressure environment.
• Excellent administrative skills.
• Team management experience.
• A friendly and professional manner.
• Good judgement and troubleshooting skills.

Desirable

• Experience working with the Red61 ticketing software.
• Experience working at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe or other festival environments.
• A background and appreciation of theatre, comedy, music or other forms of art or entertainment.
• Proofing experience.

Rate of pay and benefits

• Rate of pay: £13.60 per hour
• 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 are between 10:00 to 18:00, Monday to Friday with a one hour unpaid lunch break. In the run up to and during the festival you will be required to work 6 days. Any additional hours will be paid at the standard hourly rate.

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: 12th April, 2024