Purpose: To support the development of Spectra’s Business Plan
Aim: To plan thoughtfully and inclusively for a robust and impactful future for Spectra
Terms: Freelance contract, June – September 2024
Fee: £3,000 inclusive of travel, expenses and VAT
Location: Hybrid – Sandwell, West Midlands, and working remotely
DEADLINE: 9am on Monday 13 May 2024
Introduction
Spectra is a neurodiverse creative collective rooted in radical inclusion, people and place. We aim to lift everyone’s capacity to influence change in their lives, their environment and their community.
Using a wide range of art forms, we co-create interactive experiences with local communities through performance, installation and workshops. All of our work uses nature and the environment as an inspiration and motivation. Our activities include:
- Creative sessions for underserved community groups facilitated by neurodiverse teams of artists/performers
- Skills and leadership training for neurodiverse artists, performers and creatives
- Interactive, immersive performances co-created with communities.
Founded in 2013, we have performed to over 10,000 people; hosted 5,000 people in our gardens; and run 500+ co-creation sessions and workshops. We’ve produced 12 performances, from large scale events at MAC and Herbert Art Gallery, to street festivals, to a touring show, to hybrid online events; 1 sector-wide symposium; 1 report on ‘Improving Critical Engagement’; and built 2 co-designed gardens on hospital sites. All activities are co-produced and therefore each project is unique.
In 2023, we joined Arts Council England’s National Portfolio and shifted from project to core funding. The last year has seen us develop our capacity through a part-time office team and a larger pool of freelancers. We have carefully considered how to shift our care-led and radically inclusive artistic practice into a broader operational practice, honing our Vision, Mission and Values to align. We have also dived deep into governance and systems in order to underwrite this.
As we plan for the future, we are looking for a Business Planning Consultant to support our work as described below.
The Brief
As with all of our work, our Business Plan will be co-created. With that in mind, we have clarified our Vision, Mission and Values through consultation with stakeholders. We have drafted our Aims and Objectives for September 2024 – March 2028 and will be consulting further about these in June.
We seek a Business Planning Consultant to collaborate with us on the following:
- To deepen our understanding of the External Environment in which we sit, including a PESTLE analysis
- To lead sessions with the staff team to undertake business model canvas mapping, an internal SWOT, and to reflect on consultation feedback as we hone our Aims and Objectives
- To act as a critical friend, asking challenging questions with warmth, humour and a shared goal of a robust and impactful organisation
- To support staff members to write sections of the plan that are associated with their work, ie Introduction, Risk Assessment, Monitoring and Evaluation, and Audience & Engagement, Marketing & Fundraising Strategies
- To write our Executive Summary and sections including External Environment, Resourcing, and Finance.
Budget
The budget cost for this work is £3,000 inclusive of travel, expenses and any VAT.
Timetable
- Closing date for applications – 9am on Monday 13 May 2024
- Interview – Thursday 23 May 2024
- Work to commence in June 2024 – please note stakeholder consultation event on Tuesday, 18 June from 5pm-8.30pm in central Birmingham (this date is not mandatory but attendance would be of great benefit)
- Completion – end of September 2024
Support ahead of applying
If you think this job looks great but you’re a bit cautious about putting yourself forward, please get in touch for an informal chat. We’re very happy to talk through the role, to find different ways of communicating this job description, and to explore how different kinds of experience could contribute to fulfilling this role well.
Equitable opportunities
Given our work’s active celebration of diversity and exploration of intersectionality, we want our team to reflect these values. We eagerly encourage applications from people who are from marginalised or minoritised backgrounds. Our welcome extends beyond the recruitment process; we are committed to creating a working space that is safe and caring for all.
If you need or would prefer this job description or the application form below in another format, please don’t hesitate to contact hayley@wearespectra.co.uk to chat through how we can best open this opportunity to you.
Application process
An application form is available here https://forms.gle/UNuFKge7UuwtDkgN7. This form asks for your contact details and answers to the questions below.
If creating an audio file is more accessible for you, please answer all the questions on the form in no more than 5 minutes and send to the email above. Please do not send video, only audio. We also ask that you fill out an equal opportunities form here: https://forms.gle/GR2qquMg6deha3Pz5.
In order to minimise unconscious bias, we anonymise all applications while shortlisting and do not review equal opportunities forms until after we have drafted our initial shortlist. We aim to shortlist anyone who has met our minimum score and identifies as being from a minoritised or marginalised background. This is sometimes affected by capacity: we can shortlist no more than five applicants.
Application questions (no more than 250 words each):
- This work includes facilitating discussions with our small staff team to explore aspects of the Business Plan, supporting us to write different sections and acting as a critical friend. Please tell us how your communication style, consultancy skills and previous experience underwrite each of these aspects of the job.
- Please give us specific examples of work you have previously undertaken that relates to the portions of the Business Plan on which you will be expected to lead, e.g. External Environment, Business Model Canvas Mapping, Resourcing and Finance.
- As part of a 10th Anniversary celebration event, we will be delivering creative consultation activities with the aim of gathering feedback from our stakeholders. Tell us about an experience you’ve been part of in which consultation information enriched the final outcome of what you were producing and what role you played in its incorporation.
- Given the brief above, how do you expect to allocate your time?
- Many of our stakeholders are learning disabled and/or neurodivergent. We would like them to be able to engage with our Business Plan once it is complete. Please provide a writing sample from previous work that demonstrates your ability to express complex ideas in simple language. Please redact anything not appropriate to share.
DEADLINE: 9am on Monday 13 May 2024
SHORTLISTING DECISION: no later than 6pm on Tues 14 May 2024
INTERVIEWS: in person in Smethwick or via Zoom on Thursday 23 May 2024. If you are shortlisted, we will send you the interview questions and information about the panel in advance. We will also ask if any adjustments are needed to make the interview accessible for you.
Please contact hayley@wearespectra.co.uk with any questions or if we can help make this opportunity more accessible to you.
Our website is currently under development, but still provides a good sense of our work: www.wearespectra.co.uk. Follow us @SpectraArtsCompany on socials too.