Salary: £55,000 per annum
Location:Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX
Contract: Permanet, full time
Closing date for applications: 23:45, Thursday 12th March 2020
Interviews: w/c 23rd March 2020
Southbank Centre is the UK’s largest arts centre and one of the UK’s top five visitor attractions, occupying a 17 acre site that sits in the midst of London’s most vibrant cultural quarter on the South Bank of the Thames. We exist to present great cultural experiences that bring people together and we achieve this by providing the space for artists to create and present their best work and by creating a place where as many people as possible can come together to experience bold, unusual and eye-opening work. We want to take people out of the everyday, every day.
As the hub of visual arts activity at SBC, Hayward Gallery presents a diverse exhibition programme that features monographic surveys of influential artists from across the world and major international group shows exploring pivotal themes and issues of the day. Following in the spirit of its adventurous architecture, the Hayward exhibition programme focuses on the work of pioneers and innovators while putting an emphasis on the quality and intensity of visitor experience. Hayward exhibitions seek to nurture a sense of possibility and discovery, risk-taking and spirited inquiry, and to welcome every visitor to an experience of art as an open-ended conversation in which their responses play a crucial role. Designed to be accessible to broad and varied audiences, the programme puts artists at the heart of its offer and aims to enable artists to exploit the possibilities offered by the Hayward’s unique architecture.
We are looking for a Chief Curator to develop a timely programme of outstanding exhibitions that can appeal to a broad public; and to work with the Hayward Gallery Director to develop a bold and engaging visual arts policy for the Hayward Gallery and wider Southbank Centre site. The Chief Curator will plan future exhibition schedules in consultation with the Director, putting forward and assessing exhibition proposals. They will personally curate selected exhibitions and artists’ projects and will lead and motivate the curatorial team to realise the whole exhibition programme. Finally, they will play a key role in fundraising activities to support Hayward Gallery’s ambitious artistic vision.
We are looking for someone who can bring a creative vision of the future of exhibition-making to shape a Hayward programme that is relevant and inspiring for diverse audiences. The successful candidate will have a thorough knowledge of contemporary visual arts together with a substantial track record in curating and organising a programme of international exhibitions. People leadership skills and experience and a track record of developing team members are essential, as are strong budget management, research and interpersonal skills. Experience of building and maintaining relationships with artists, funders, sponsors and partners and a proven ability to successfully fundraise in support of artistic activity are also key requirements. A commitment to increasing the diversity of audiences attracted to Hayward Gallery exhibitions is essential, as is a thorough understanding of the relationship between arts and education.
We present work for everyone and we welcome applications from everyone. We particularly welcome applications from people from a BAME background or those who are Deaf or disabled as they are currently under-represented in our workforce. If you wish to discuss reasonable adjustments for this role please indicate this on your application form and we will be in touch with you.
By attracting people to work for us from a broad range of backgrounds with diverse attitudes, opinions and beliefs we can continue to look at the world with fresh eyes and find new ways of doing things. We offer a stimulating and professional environment in which to work – and the pace and scale can be breathtaking. This is a remarkable place to work and our people require the ability to work in The Southbank Centre Way – to think, act and learn with speed and agility.
