Assistant Director

Creative Lives in Progress; North West Leicestershire; Hybrid; GBP 80,000 - 100,000; Part time

Job summary

A local community arts organization seeks an Assistant Director for 'Stories We Tell', a project in Rochdale. This role is ideal for those aged 18-25 who are interested in gaining direct experience in directing and storytelling. Responsibilities include collaborating with a creative team and engaging with local communities. The position offers £1,500 for 10 days of work from November 2025 to February 2026, with a mix of remote, studio, and on-location tasks.

Qualifications

• Candidates must be 18-25 years old.
• Must live, work or study in Rochdale Borough.
• No prior formal experience necessary; skills development opportunity.

Responsibilities

• Work with the Artistic Director and Producer to execute project delivery.
• Collaborate with a creative team to plan and organize.
• Participate in community engagement throughout Rochdale.

Skills

Interest in directing

Excellent communication skills

Organisational skills

Strong IT skills

Experience working with underrepresented communities

Education

Experience in Directing or related field

Job description

About Breaking Barriers:

Breaking Barriers is a Rochdale-based, multidisciplinary production company whose work is rooted in amplifying unheard voices and bringing ambitious work to local streets and people.

We work with communities, young people and artists from a rich diversity of backgrounds and lived experiences, and through co-creation like to tell stories in ambitious digital formats that open minds, elevate appetite, and transcend socio-economic barriers.

Stories We Tell Rochdale

We are currently working on an exciting commission for Rochdale Town of Culture. Stories We Tell Rochdale will be an immersive guided audio tour through Rochdale Town Centre. Think of it like a roaming gallery or storybook, where the streets come to life with stories of the people who call Rochdale their home!

The streets become a canvas; using window fronts, video projections onto houses and binaural sound to create an immersive outdoor piece that brings magic and spectacle to local doorsteps. We’re working with local communities from across Rochdale to gather oral histories from neighbours and friends asking them what Rochdale means to them, capturing stories of belonging and hope.

After the success of the first edition of Stories We Tell in Deeplish in 2021, Breaking Barriers were invited into other communities such as Halifax, Nelson and Gosport to support them to create a similarly personalised and authentic view of their town and people’s stories.

Now, 5 years later, we re-visit the original piece in Rochdale asking ourselves what has changed, what has remained and what stories hide between the walls.

You can find past examples of Stories We Tell here.

Creative Team:

As part of ‘Stories We Tell’, we are building 5 new roles for young adults (18-25) to become our Assistant Team, working alongside the core Creative Team to make, create and deliver our exciting Stories We Tell commission for Rochdale Town of Culture.

Our Creative Team will be there to guide and support you within your role. The Creative Team includes:

• Parvez Qadir: Director
• Jodie Ratcliffe: Executive Producer
• Ella Marshall: Producer
• Andy Hough: Production Manager
• Ed Waring: Sound Designer
• Matt Radcliffe: Videographer/Photographer
• Jaydev Mistry: Composer

Applicant Criteria:

• All candidates must be 18 - 25.
• Must live, work or study in Rochdale Borough.
• We encourage applicants of all experience levels, including those without formal work experience or job titles, to apply. This is an opportunity to build or develop skills in Directing and storytelling for an exciting creative project in Rochdale.
• We actively encourage applicants from the global majority and artists underrepresented in the arts and would particularly love to hear from people from Rochdale.

Assistant Director Criteria:

• Have an interest in directing (of any medium, whether that’s film, theatre, dance etc) and have perhaps studied it at school/college or has a keen interest at home or in extra curricular activities.
• Want to gain more experience in Directing and in learning how it can be used in a real-life production. Want to work alongside a Director to learn their craft, and build the narrative, theme and content for the production.
• Have a strong interest, education or experience in Directing, making theatre and events, and working with performers and other creatives.
• Have a passion/experience for working with underrepresented communities and with young people.
• Have excellent communication skills; written and verbal.
• Be excited by the prospect of exploring and creating a cultural project that uses digital technology and storytelling to engage communities and audiences.
• Have strong IT skills, organisational skills and time keeping.
• Be comfortable working from home on a semi-regular basis, and having online meetings on Zoom or Teams.
• Be comfortable travelling to different locations around Rochdale for the work, to meet with different young people, community groups and to work on location.
• Be comfortable with working with other Young Assistants, as part of the Young Company.
• The role might also require the need for Safeguarding Training and an updated DBS. (We can cover the costs of this if you haven’t already got one).

The Assistant Director will be working closely with the Artistic Director (Parvez Qadir) and Producer (Ella Marshall), as well as the wider creative team, to plan and execute the delivery of the project. We’re looking for someone who can work well in a team as well as be able to work independently.

Location:

The work will be taking place in Rochdale. Breaking Barriers is based at Richard Street Studios. This will be a hybrid role with a mixture of working at home, in the studios and on-location.

Fee:

£1,500

To include 10 days’ work between November 2025 - February 2026

As the delivery of the project will be during evenings and weekends, you will be required to work during this period whilst we are delivering the performances. Please note that when we reach production week, the performances will take place outdoors in the evenings in January / February 2026. Prior to the performance, our typical working days are Mon - Fri 10am - 5.30pm.

Terms:

As this role is offered on a freelance basis you will be responsible for your own tax and national insurance contributions.