Senior Artist Manager (12 Month FTC)

Selfridges; Greater London; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A prestigious UK retailer is seeking a Senior Artist Manager to lead the development of its Entertainment Strategy and create extraordinary talent-led experiences. Responsibilities include curating global talent, managing multiple projects, and ensuring exceptional event delivery. Candidates should have over five years of experience in the Entertainment industry with excellent project management skills, strong financial acumen, and the ability to network effectively. This role offers the chance to create engaging experiences for customers, reinforcing the brand's market leadership.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of high-level experience in the Entertainment or Events industry.
• Demonstrated project management experience with successful team leadership.
• Exceptional negotiation and communication abilities.

Responsibilities

• Lead the ideation and delivery of innovative market-leading events.
• Cultivate relationships with external contacts in the Entertainment industry.
• Manage project budgets and deliverables to high standards.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to communicate effectively.

Skills

High level Entertainment/Experiences/Events industry experience

Excellent Project Management Skills

Networker and people manager

Strong financial acumen

Excellent verbal and written communication skills

Exceptional research skills

Highly effective negotiating skills

Strong organizational skills

Job description

Senior Artist Manager (12 Month FTC)

Job Introduction

As Senior Artist Manager, you will have a wide range of experiences within the entertainment & experience industry that will enable you to lead on developing Selfridges Entertainment Strategy and creating a line up of extraordinary 'Only at Selfridges' Artist/Talent led experiences for our customers.

In the role you will be responsible for bringing in and curating both Global and Emerging Talent and aligning opportunities with artists/talent against Selfridges business objectives. Additionally you will be able to provide counsel and recommendations on talent bookings across the Experiences Team as required to support Selfridges & Brand Partner programming. Over the year of the FTC a key KPI of the role will be securing 12 'showstopping' moments with globally renowned talent.

You will be experienced and able to manage multiple, simultaneous, complex projects, whilst managing various stakeholders and working with teams across the business. In the role you will be responsible for managing experiences from ideation, negotiation and into production.

You won't be afraid to push the boundaries, ensuring that Selfridges remains a leader in experiences. You will be an excellent communicator who will keep everyone up to speed and will bring teams and stakeholders on the journey with you along the way.

Role Scope

Own the ideation, planning and delivery of innovative, highly effective, market leading events with Artist/Talent that create a new approach to how we programme experiences at Selfridges. You will be well connected within the Entertainment & Experience industry with an established network of external industry contacts. You will also have the ability to research and propose new artists/opportunities to Selfridges that would be recognized on a global scale and create extraordinary moments for our customers.

You will be a senior member of the Experiences team and act as a strong and influential 'voice' across the Experiences Team, manage key internal stakeholders from Executives to Shareholders and work across multiple teams in the business including Creative, PR, Social, Retail Ops and buying.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead on the curation, development, booking and delivery of strategic Artist/Talent projects across our stores
• Support the development of the Entertainment Strategy with the Entertainment Lead and how this supports the wider Experience & Customer strategy
• Bring new Talent/Artist moments to Selfridges that have a potential for brand partner funding as a revenue stream to the business
• Find artist/talent opportunities to align with brand partner objectives
• Actively networking with external contacts in the Entertainment & Experience Industry, pursuing potential opportunities and leads
• Provide expert knowledge on talent bookings in Music, Arts, Sports, Celebrity etc to the wider Experiences Team as required
• Produce, Project Manage and Deliver events and activities to an exceptionally high standard, collaborating with team members to push objectives for Christmas and Internal events
• Collaborate with Customer Engagement Team and the Retail Operations Teams team to communicate projects effectively to the customer via Selfridges communication channels and other channels
• Attend and be a considered voice within project meetings and communicate effectively across the business with all project stake-holders in Customer, Communications, Creative, Buying, Finance, Legal and Retail Operations Teams with senior stakeholders
• Manage conversations and relationships with external partners and suppliers to ensure that project deliverables are met
• Manage Project budgets and affectively monitor and report finance, raise POs and manage suppliers
• Provide production and technical expertise on all new proposals to support project teams and share knowledge
• Manage internal business stakeholders such as Customer Engagement, Personal Shopping, Buying, Graphics, Multimedia Creative, 3D Creative, Visual Merchandising and Retail Operations to ensure projects are briefed and delivered seamlessly
• Utilise strong leadership skills and industry expertise to develop event and project proposals to ensure they reflect the Selfridges vision and are market leading with their selection of talent/artists/entertainment
• Ensure that Senior Leadership teams receive regular updates regarding all planned activity and act upon feedback where appropriate
• Generate and present detailed project reports analysing status and KPIs for senior audiences

2026 KPIs AND DELIVERABLES

• Artist & Entertainment Strategy-With the Entertainment Lead, continues to build out the Entertainment Strategy for Selfridges and works closely with the wider experience team to deliver the strategy across the year.
• 12 Showstopping Moments- Across 2026 secure, produce and deliver 12 showstopping moments with globally recognized talent that drive headlines/fame, footfall to our stores and deepen our customer engagement/relationships.
• Membership Experience Programming- On a monthly basis secure opportunities with emerging, UK and Global talent to create experiences that enhance our Membership Experience Programming across all levels.
• New destination-Lead on the artist/talent strategy for our new destination to support existing product and creating unique only at Selfridges experiences for customers and artists
• Revenue Opportunities-Identify opportunities with artists to create potential revenue for Selfridges through product collabs, brand & endemic partnerships, or venue hires (Cinema at Selfridges)
• Talent PR/Content/Social Opportunities-Identify and secure opportunities with talent that supports PR/Content/Social opportunities for Selfridges
• 'Friend of Selfridges' Black Book-Lead on the development of Selfridges' black book of artist, industry contacts, cultural tastemakers, creative etc.

Key skills

• High level Entertainment/Experiences/Events industry experiences (5 years)
• Excellent Project Management Skills
• Proven experience leading high performing and successful teams (internal and external)
• Exceptionally good networker and people manager who possesses effective leadership and mentoring skills
• Possess strong financial acumen with budget tracking and reporting experience
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Excellent presentation, pitching skills
• Exceptional research skillsCreative flair and a commitment to quality programming
• Highly effective negotiating skills
• Strong organisational skills, being able to manage multiple projects at the same time
• Has the ability to work under pressure calmly and effectively, and to tight deadlines