The Tim Stead Trust is looking for a Director

If ever the world we live in needed a special place like The Steading to be all it can be for generations to come, it is now!

The Tim Stead Trust is seeking an imaginative, enterprising Director who will play the leading role in planning and delivering the Trust’s vision and outcomes. You will be working for and with a Trust whose mission is to secure a future for creativity and inspiration through engagement with wood by preserving and maintaining for public benefit the name and works of Tim Stead MBE, Artist and Craftsman, and by raising awareness of his environmental philosophy.

JOB TITLE: 
DIRECTOR, TIM STEAD TRUST
Salary:
£35,000
Location:
The Steading, Blainslie, Scottish Borders
Place of work:
The Steading, Blainslie and remotely on occasion
Contract duration: 
Two-year contract initially with the expectation that this will be extended
Working Hours:
Circa 37.5 hours per week with occasional weekend, public holiday and evening work envisaged
Reporting to:
Trustee Line Manager
Closing Date:Midnight on Thursday 7th July

This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to be the first Director of The Steading.  The Director will be in at the start-up phase and be the sole employee of the Trust. You will work with trustees, potential volunteers and partners in funding agencies and sister organisations where partnership work benefits all parties and contributes to Scotland’s cultural sector.

You will have a central role in driving forward the wide range of tasks identified in the development plan. Core aspects of this are about preserving the Steading, archive and collection, building upon Tim’s wider legacy and fundraising to support this programme. This will be driven by the recently agreed Project Viability Report. The post holder will have the support of, and report to, the board of Trustees as well as access to an independent mentor.

The Tim Stead Trust was founded in 2015 and, following a successful fund-raising campaign in 2020-21, purchased The Steading.  The Steading was both a creative centre and home to the Stead family across several decades.

Following Tim’s passing in 2000, Maggy Stead worked tirelessly to find a future for The Steading and a large collection of Stead’s work. The Steading home itself has been recognised as a tangible monument to Tim’s work and in 2020 was awarded Category A listing. This inspires the truly accurate descriptor of ‘a unique legacy’.

The Tim Stead Trust’s ambition is to turn The Steading into a centre of inspirational learning that will promote enjoyment, education and wellbeing, and to promote Tim’s work in its widest sense both national and internationally. People will be connected physically and digitally through a creative range of workshops, exhibitions and community partnerships.

The recruitment of a Director marks a key stage at the beginning of our project, being the first step in implementing the recommendations of a recent Project Viability Report.

Director Job Description 

  1. Manage the day-to-day running of the Trust’s work, including running The Steading complex.
  2. Work with the Board to develop strategy, projects and budgets, and also to develop the organisational culture and vision necessary to nurture a creative environment for delivering new ideas.
  3. Co-ordinate and deliver a programme of activities within The Steading and develop an outreach programme. 
  4. Develop funding applications, including ongoing support for the Director’s post.
  5. Develop relevant, purposeful partnerships with the community, like-minded organisations, volunteers and funders within the national and local cultural, artistic and learning contexts in which the Trust operates.
  6. Promote the work of the Trust locally and nationally.
  7. Prepare operational and financial reports for the Board.  
  8. Draw up and implement specific project plans and proposals with clear budgets and timescales, reflecting the longer-term objectives of the Trust.

Person Specification

Essential

  • Educated to degree level or equivalent in a relevant discipline.
  • A confident, engaging and influential self-starter with a commitment to the role of arts and culture in addressing the Trust outcomes.
  • An organised, flexible and target-driven individual.
  • Ability to develop and nurture both volunteer and external relationships. 
  • Ability to provide effective management of the organisation’s day-to-day financial affairs along with experience in setting, maintaining and reporting on, budgets and financial plans. 
  • Clear commitment to national equalities, diversity, and inclusion policies.
  • Excellent IT skills, competency with core software packages and confidence with website management and social media.

Desirable

  • Previous experience working for a charity and working with a board
  • Previous experience in the arts/ culture sector
  • Well-developed project management skills and experience of managing operations and facilities.

To discuss the post further and to receive more background information, contact our chair, Nichola Fletcher chair@timsteadtrust.org

To apply please send a copy of your CV together with a brief covering letter to Nichola Fletcher using the following email: chair@timsteadtrust.org

Additional detail:

Due to the location, a current driver’s licence and access to a car is required.

Accommodation at The Steading could be made available by separate agreement.

The Steading is a No Smoking – No Pets destination.

Mileage allowance: HMRC rates, currently 45p per mile

Equipment: Laptop and mobile phone provided, used for Trust business.

Holidays: 28 days including statutory holidays.

Expenses: Reasonable expenses will be reclaimable monthly, to be signed off by the Line Manager Trustee.

Pension: Statutory pension contribution.

                                                ………………………………………

With support from