Head of Programme Delivery

Background

KANAL is a new, interdisciplinary museum of modern and contemporary art in Brussels established by the Brussels Capital Region, developed and managed by the KANAL Foundation in partnership with Centre Pompidou. Slated to open in 2024, it will be situated in a converted Citroen factory at the l’Yser square. 

Occupying galleries, auditoria and public spaces across and around the building KANAL’s programme of collection displays, exhibitions, live events and new productions bringing together established and emerging artists, will be conceived for and with our audiences. The programme will embrace art which crosses disciplines from music to film, painting to digital media, sculpture to performance. It will reflect the central position that time-based media, performance, immersive experience and participation occupy in contemporary art, tracing the history of pioneering art practices throughout 20th century. The programme and research will challenge traditional institutional formats to mirror the needs of our constituents and artists’ visionary ideas, while also interrogating the established narratives about art and its histories. 

Role

Working under the Artistic Director, you will work within KANAL’s artistic team – in particular, those responsible for exhibitions and research, the collection, library and archives, public engagement and performance arts – and will collaborate closely with the other departments (notably, the production and communication departments). You will establish and implement the process and policies for executing the KANAL programmes, while ensuring that best industry practices are applied. Your role will consist of supporting the Artistic Director in all aspects of programme and budget management and facilitating close and effective collaboration between the teams of the Foundation, fostering a culture of teamwork, inclusion, equality and respect.

Your tasks

Program

• Support the management and development of the Artistic team: establish and implement Kanal’s program delivery processes, ensuring timely and effective cross-departmental collaboration and efficient internal communication.
• Centralize and analyse strategic information regarding the programme, policies processes and audiences:

in consultation with Kanal’s Direction, peer professionals and external experts, develop and implement Kanal’s programme delivery policies, in particular in relation to accessibility, diversity and equality, environmental sustainability, participatory practices and safeguarding.

• Develop and implement a content overview and planning tool: support the Artistic Director and Directors of Production and Communication, as well as the planificator in monitoring and delivering an integrated programme and events offer that meet artistic, audience and financial objectives; maximizing impact through relevant partnerships.
• Working closely with the Communication and Audience Direction ensure the design, presentation and interpretation of the programme in public and digital space and across the future building is delivered in time, and provides an engaging and accessible audience experience.

Finance

• Provide financial and planning support to the Artistic Director and Production Director: coordinate the preparation, updating and monitoring of departmental project budgets 
• In collaboration with the Production Director, contribute to the preparation of financial reports and associated indicators.

Partnerships

• Develop Kanal’s touring cultural programmes and co-commissioning strategy for the programme and support the team to secure strong partners 
• Participate to appropriate contractual frameworks for collaborations with institutions nationally and internationally.

Your profile

We are looking for a person with the following qualities and skills:

Essential skills

• Deep knowledge and understanding of the artistic sector in Belgium and abroad
• Experience in management and the execution of complex cultural projects.
• Proven experience in managing staff, with a focus on staff motivation and development.
• Strong business planning skills, including financial management.
• Strong practical skills and an analytical approach for understanding all the processes involved in the coordination and management of exhibitions, events, orders, learning programmes and other projects.
• A good command of the Microsoft Office package.
• A good command of French or Dutch. Very good knowledge of English.
• Travel flexibility and able to assist with meetings outside of working hours according to need.

Know-how

• Ability to imagine and create new approaches and new processes to achieve institutional objectives.
• Interpersonal communication skills, necessary for interacting with a broad range of people at different levels when acting as an influencer, negotiator and facilitator.
• Excellent project management, organisation and planning skills – ability to prioritise and coordinate multiple activities in a timely manner.
• Sensitivity regarding issues of equality, inclusion, diversity and environmental sustainability to the extent that these affect the work of a large cultural institution, and evidence of integration of relevant strategies in programme planning. Ability to create an inclusive and respectful culture within a team. 
• Proven experience in problem-solving and finding innovative solutions.
• Ability to provide a strategic vision.

Assets – the following elements are desirable assets but not essential

• Knowledge of the second national language.

KANAL aspires to be a truly inclusive organisation, a reflection of Brussels, with staff and audiences as diverse as the communities it works for. We encourage candidates who subscribe to these values to apply.

We offer: 

• A permanent full-time contract.
• An attractive salary with extra-legal benefits: 

• • Hospitalisation insurance
  • Pension insurance
  • Meal vouchers worth 8 euros
  • STIB network subscription
  • Phone subscription
  • 8 days of additional leave

• Work in an exciting environment and in a museum under construction!

Interested? 

Send your application (cover letter and CV) by email in a single PDF file, for the attention of Nathalie MARTIAT, HR Manager, to the address jobs@kanal.brussels, by no later than 23/11/22. Please quote the reference “Program Delivery” in the subject line.

Interviews will be held on the 9^th of December. The interviews will be hold by internal and external panel.

Credits Image: It never ends, exhibition view 22, 2020. © Fondation_Stichting KANAL – Hugard_Vanoverschelde