Fierce is very excited to begin the search for our Executive Director.
This is an incredible role for a passionate arts leader to steer the organisation and collaborate with the Artistic Director to realise the Festival programme, to care for the artists and audiences we work with and continue to hold and embody Fierce’s values of Trust, Rigour, Disruption and Joy.
“We thought a lot about that title ‘Executive Director’. For the past couple of years we’ve had quite an unusual structure at Fierce with three co-directors – one responsible for operations, one producing and one the artistic programme. In reality though everyone at Fierce has alway done a bit of everything – we are a values-led organisation and collaboration is at the heart of everything we do – which is what led to this structure. We also try to constantly reflect on how we do what we do and why. So, when two of the three directors happened to get new jobs within a week of each other, we looked again at the structure and considered how it might best suit the current nature of Fierce’s work, the political climate and the opportunities that might appear over the next few years. What we ended up settling on is this post, which we considered a variety of titles for – collaborator, co-conspirator, executive producer – before settling on Executive Director. Arguably the most boring option, but perhaps one that is most understood in terms of the sort of things we want this person to hold and care for at Fierce. All of this is a slightly long-winded way of saying that we’re pretty open to who might do this role and how. Historically Fierce has adapted to the people leading the organisation and we will continue to do this.”
Paul Burns, Fierce Board Chair
This job is for an exceptional arts leader who will manage all aspects of organisational operations, leading on finance and HR and taking an active role in the delivery of the biennial festival, informed by an understanding of (and ideally lived experience of) the progressive politics that is implicit in Fierce’s work. You will lead on all aspects of organisational operations, leading on finance and HR as well as taking an active role in the delivery of the biennial festival.
Location: Birmingham
Salary: £39,713 pro rata, 4 days a week
Deadline to apply: 9am, Monday 7th July 2025
We will not penalise applications that are a few minutes late but please be respectful of other applicants by not submitting applications hours or even days later.
Interviews: First interviews will be held online the week beginning 14th July and second interviews will be held in person the week beginning 28th July.
To apply, you will need to send a CV, cover letter and Equal Opportunities Monitoring form, see full Job Pack for more information.