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Production Manager (Maternity Leave)

Gloucester

Location: Gloucester office & home working, with travel to Hereford and Worcester.
Period: 12 months
Start date: 28th April 2025

About Three Choirs Festival

The Three Choirs Festival is a week-long programme of world-class music making, featuring choral and
orchestral concerts, solo and chamber music recitals, talks, cathedral services, theatre, exhibitions, and walks, rotating each summer between the English cathedral cities of Gloucester, Hereford, and Worcester. Each year, around 1000 performers take to our stages to deliver outstanding music across a range of styles and genres, spanning five centuries of choral and instrumental music. At the heart of the festival are large-scale evening concerts featuring the Three Choirs Festival Chorus and the Philharmonia Orchestra, and services of Choral Evensong sung by the professional choirs of the three cathedrals. The festival’s packed schedule of daytime events is augmented by a community and outreach programme bespoke to each city. The Festival attracts in the region of 14,000 ticket purchasers. The Three Choirs Festival is charity and limited company whose day-to- day operation is managed by a small professional team based in Gloucester. They work under the oversight of a Board of Directors, and in collaboration with voluntary committees in Hereford, Worcester and Gloucester.

The Role

The Three Choirs Festival is seeking a Production Manager to oversee logistical and technical operations. This role focusses on the infrastructure in the cathedrals at the heart of the festival, and the Festival Village that surrounds them, but you will also be involved in planning events in outlying venues. With a loyal and passionate audience, the festival atmosphere and the meeting points outside of concerts – for food, drink or simply some time-out in the sun – are as much a part of the festival’s character as the programme itself. Therefore this role would be ideally suited to someone who can think about a festival-goers experience in the round.

Working with the Artistic Planning Manager and Chief Executive on a programme devised each year in
consultation with a local Artistic Director, the Production Manager will work with a wide range of stakeholders while being responsible for delivering H&S and environmental best practice, and high-quality production values. They also lead on the use of our core planning software, Artifax, and organise temporary freelance staff and volunteers during the festival. From liaising with contractors in the cathedrals to organising temporary structures and facilities in our festival village, overseeing risk assessments, managing a team of freelance staff and overseeing the administration of a large team of volunteers, you will be a key part of our public-facing administration, alongside the Production Coordinator.

Our ideal candidate will be enthusiastic about what we do and have experience in the arts and/or events. You should be comfortable communicating with a range of people, from contractors with detailed and specific technical requirements, to venue custodians, volunteers and committee members.

You’ll be a can-do collaborator, but you’ll also be good at taking the initiative and working autonomously. The Production Manager reports to the Chief Executive and will work closely day-to-day with the Artistic Planning Manager, and has administrative support from the Production Coordinator.

The role forms part of a small leadership team and active contribution to that group is an important aspect of the role. You will assume oversight of operational policy and procedures and delegated day-to-day responsibility for H&S and environmental policy implementation.

Future festivals: Hereford 26 July – 2 August 2025 | Gloucester 25 July – 1 August 2026 | Worcester 24 – 31 July 2027

Reports to: Chief Executive | Management responsibilities: Production Coordinator, seasonal operations team; volunteers

Duties

This role works to ensure the smooth delivery of the festival and a high-quality experience for our audiences.
You will be involved in all aspects of festival delivery, from securing venues to planning site facilities and ensuring that our audience, artists, staff and volunteers are operating in a safe and welcoming environment. It is expected that some duties in whole or in part will be delegated to the Production Coordinator, while remaining the overall responsibility of the Production Manager. This list sets out the main requirements of the role and is not intended to be exhaustive:

Finance

• Under the guidance of the Finance Manager, manage the annual production budget, maintaining accurate records of your committed and estimated spending to support the production of quarterly forecasts.
• Provide accurate figures as requested to support the work of the fundraising team, and work with other departments to obtain costings to meet their technical and logistical requirements.
• Liaise with external companies to exploit commercial opportunities (e.g. bar providers, street food sellers, retailers). Prepare tender documents and secure trader arrangements that contribute to budgeted income.

Venues

• Make availability and cost enquiries and secure dates for venues and other ancillary buildings to support the festival’s operation, carrying out venue risk and accessibility assessments.
• Establish and maintain good relationships with venue staff, particularly the staff and clergy of the
• cathedrals, working together to plan infrastructure that is sensitive to the daily life of its community.
• Take responsibility for the overall festival schedule, maintaining details of rigging, resources, equipment and volunteer rotas. Using Artifax to store and distribute information, ensure artistic planners, friends’ committees and the fundraising team are keeping information about rehearsals and events up to date.

Logistics

• Obtain quotes and book temporary structures and facilities (e.g. marquees, staging and seating, toilets, catering and bar equipment, lighting & AV, radios, PA), always striving to maintain high-quality production values balanced with an economical approach. During the festival, oversee the work of all contractors on site and ensure that work is at all times compliant with Health and Safety regulations.
• Liaise with local councils to ensure the festival is a positive presence in the city and prepare the Event Management Plan for each festival, sharing it with all relevant parties.
• Take overall responsibility for the festival village and wider festival site, ensuring plans are rigorously
• prepared, that signage is clear and installed according to the plan, and care has been taken to keep the festival accessible.
• During the festival, establish a local office and make all relevant arrangements for its operation, providing additional facilities and accommodation for staff as required during Festival period. Lead on site support and checks that H&S procedures are followed at all times.

Artistic Support

• Be mindful of operational factors that might impact on artistic decisions and be proactive in alerting the Chief Executive, Artistic Directors, Artistic Planning Manager to any areas of concern.
• Assist in arrangements for instrument hire and tuning, stage furniture, event-specific technical riders, and backstage facilities.

Staff and Volunteers

• Recruit a team of freelance staff to cover key temporary operational roles (e.g. Event Managers, Cathedral Front of House Production Assistants and Stage Managers).
• Oversee the recruitment of volunteers. Co-ordinate and brief volunteers and temporary staff during festival week, ensuring clear protocols are in place for handling emergencies at all venues and that plans for evacuation or medical intervention are clearly understood by all staff and volunteers.

Policy and Processes

• With the Chief Executive, regularly review policies and procedures relating to operational delivery, and write a Health and Safety evaluation report to present to the board of Directors annually for review.
• Review TCF’s Environmental Policy and write an Environmental Assessment and Action Plan on an annual basis with the Production Coordinator.
• Maintain the log of accidents and incidents, taking action or reporting to RIDDOR as required.
• Oversee the renewal of annual insurance policies for both day-to-day operations and the festival period.

Person Specification

Working at Three Choirs

We are a small, friendly permanent staff of 11 people, augmented by casual box office staff between March and July, and a freelance crew during the festival period.

Our office is in the heart of Gloucester, in the grounds of the beautiful Gloucester cathedral, and easily
accessible by public transport. The age and location of the office means that we do not have step free access (though a ramp can be provided). If you’d like to discuss access arrangements in advance of an application, please contact David Francis (Chief Executive) at info@3choirs.org.

The full-time working week is 35 hours, and normal hours are Monday to Friday, 9am–5pm. A number of people work flexibly, and you are welcome to discuss flexible working requests at interview. TCF operates a hybrid working model, with everyone present in Gloucester on Mondays and on average up to 50% of contracted hours worked from home. Please note that this role is critical to the build and strike of the festival, and so the postholder is unlikely to be able to take leave or work remotely during the lead into, during and immediately post the festival. (c. 3 weeks from mid-July). Some work will be required at evenings and weekends during the festival itself.

The salary for this position is £25-£28K pro-rata depending on experience, plus pension contribution, ticket allowance and expenses payable in line with company policy, including travel away from the registered office in Gloucester. Accommodation is provided for all staff who require it on-site during the festival period where time taken by their regular commute would prevent adequate rest.

There is a three-month probationary period for this post. Please note that the successful applicant will be required to complete a DBS check, or have their certificate verified via the DBS Update Service before assuming this role.

Please send a CV and covering letter by email FAO David Francis, Chief Executive,by clicking on Apply Now.

The closing date for application is midnight on 9 th March 2025 and we will aim to interview shortlisted candidates on 17th March 2025.

More information about the organisation can be found on our website.

Closing date for applications: Midnight 9th March 2025. Interview date: Tuesday 18th March in Gloucester

Salary: £25-£28Kpa pro-rata

Hours Per Week: 0.6FTE (annualised hours)

Apply Now

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