Artistic Director

Creative Scotland; Northern Ireland; Remote; GBP 27,000 - 29,000; Part time

Job summary

A leading arts organisation in the UK is seeking an Artistic Director to guide its artistic direction. This part-time role involves collaborating with the Chief Executive to develop an ambitious creative strategy. Ideal candidates will have strong experience in artistic leadership and a passion for promoting the rights of disabled creatives. The position offers flexible working arrangements to accommodate creative practices.

Qualifications

• Proven experience in artistic direction within the arts sector.
• Ability to develop and implement bold artistic strategies.
• Passion for advocating for the rights and representation of disabled creatives.

Responsibilities

• Guide the artistic direction of the organisation.
• Work closely with the Chief Executive to create and implement the strategy.
• Nurture creative communities and promote access and representation.

Skills

Artistic direction

Strategy development

Talent development

Advocating for disabled creatives

Job description

DAO is recruiting for the newly created role of Artistic Director. This is a rare opportunity to guide the artistic direction of a longstanding, nationally respected, disabled-led organisation.

As DAO celebrates 20+ years of championing disability arts, we're looking for a disabled creative leader who's excited to play a pivotal part in shaping the next chapter of our story. This is an opportunity to guide the artistic direction of an organisation that continually pushes for better access, richer representation and a bold, caring future for disabled creatives. If you thrive on big ideas, collaborative working and nurturing creative communities, we'd be delighted to hear from you.

This pivotal part-time role involves working closely with the Chief Executive to create and implement a bold artistic and creative strategy. You will use your lived experience as a disabled person to ensure our work is authentic, ambitious, and aligned with our mission.

Overview

• FTE Salary: £45,000-£48,000 per annum
• Pro-Rata Salary: £27,000-£28,800 per annum
• Hours: Part-Time (21 hours per week)
• Location: Work from Home (with some required travel for work)

This role is only open to disabled applicants due to the experience necessary to carry out the work authentically, representing the DAO community from a position of personal lived experience. The successful candidate will have proven experience in artistic direction, strategy development, and talent development within the arts sector.

We acknowledge that institutional racism, discrimination and inequality exist in our sector and understand that disability is an intersectional experience. As such, we are strongly committed to ensuring that people from global majority backgrounds and all protected characteristics are part of our organisation, across our staff and board, as well as the freelancers we work with.

You must be passionate about creating opportunities and advocating for the rights and increased representation of disabled creatives. If you don't meet every requirement in the person specification detailed in the job pack (on the DAO website), please don't let that hold you back. We're genuinely interested in your potential as well as your experience, and can offer on-the-job training and support where needed.

The role is designed to be part-time (21 hours per week) to offer better access and flexibility for candidates. If you wish to maintain a creative practice alongside this job, we will do everything we can to accommodate this.

Before applying, please access the Artistic Director Job Pack on our website. Available in PDF, easy read, plain text, BSL video and audio formats.

Location: All Scotland ,England, Wales, Northern Ireland

The deadline is Monday 19 January 2026 at 09:00.

TAGGED

• Crafts
• Dance
• Design
• Fashion
• Equalities
• Film
• Music
• TV
• Theatre
• Traditional Arts
• Visual Arts
• Literature and Publishing
• Participatory Practice