Sr Arts Manager

British Council; New Delhi; On-site; INR 1,500,000 - 2,500,000; Full time

Job summary

British Council in New Delhi seeks a senior arts leader to manage the country Arts portfolio, ensuring high standards in programme delivery and contract governance. The role requires strategic planning, strong stakeholder networks, and a commitment to inclusive, anti-racist practices across programmes.

You will collaborate with global Arts teams and CE colleagues to align with UK priorities, while developing opportunities for national arts and creative industries in India.

Qualifications

• University degree or equivalent professional experience in a related field.
• Experience of managing national arts/creative industry projects.
• Specialist knowledge and understanding of current trends and practices in arts and creative industry in the country.

Responsibilities

• Manage the country Arts portfolio day-to-day, ensuring global standards on programme and contract management.
• Assure quality and impact relating to relevant programmes.
• Oversee finances of the Arts programmes, and ensure governance and due diligence.

Skills

Program management

Stakeholder engagement

EDI and inclusion

Financial management

Education

University degree or equivalent

Job description

Role Purpose

Are you passionate about using arts and culture to create connections and drive impact

Role Accountabilities

Leadership Management

• Manages relevant Arts portfolio in the country day-to-day ensuring global standards on programme and contract management are achieved.
• Is responsible for assuring quality and impact relating to relevant programmes.
• May line manage members of a small Arts team in country.
• Ensures effective financial management and compliance on relevant Arts portfolio.
• Actively works to mainstream EDI and become anti-racist in our cultures and practices within our organisation and in our programmes.

Strategy and/or Planning

• Supports with planning process for country arts portfolio within the Arts global programme portfolio.
• Manages design, development, delivery and closure of projects and or programmes as needed
• Considers the role of digital products, services and channels in optimising the impact and sustainability of the portfolio, working with marketing and digital colleagues.

Sector/Subject Expertise

• Uses their own expert knowledge on the arts and creative industries, intelligence and insight from other sector stakeholders, opinion formers and funders to support the ongoing development of global arts programmes that meet the specific needs of the country/cluster while also providing value to a diverse range of UK arts and creative industry organisations.
• Through ongoing relationships with the global Arts team, builds and maintains good understanding of UK arts and creative industry sector priorities and HMG priorities.
• Represents British Council in country as a recognised, credible authority in Arts and the creative industries to external stakeholders and audiences.
• Identifies and develops opportunities for the UK Arts sector to work in and collaborate with peers in country

Relationship Stakeholders

• Builds and maintains a broad, diverse and dynamic network of key creative and cultural sector representatives in country, including artists, creative professionals, creative hubs, arts organisations, arts advocacy groups, intermediary and sector bodies, etc.
• Builds and maintains the sector institutional relationships that will help open doors for artistic collaboration, cultural exchange and creative economy work.
• Represents British Council Arts externally and internally
• Develop and nurtures relationships across Cultural Engagement to ensure strategic objectives are aligned, understood and achieved.

Brand and sector positioning

• Promotes and positions the diversity of the UK arts and creative industries sector in country.
• Ensures that British Council's reputation for quality and as a valued not-for-profit partner remains high and contributes to our organisational mission of building trust between the UK and other countries.
• Works closely with colleagues and experts in CE to feed sector/customer insights into the programme development planning cycle, to ensure the British Council's offer is sector relevant for the country and the UK, demand-led and consistent with the British Council and FCDO objectives.
• Contributes to the development of internal and external communications materials to highlight impactful stories from the country Arts portfolio.

Business development

• Contributes to business and partnership development for the portfolio, aligning with country, Arts and CE priorities, systems and processes.

Programme management

• Ensures that agreed activities delivered through the Arts global programmes are tailored to the specific needs of country, through collaboration with colleagues in globally dispersed programme teams.
• Oversees finances of the relevant Arts programmes and can interpret financial information
• Holds delivery partners, team members and consultants to account including supply chain management.
• Where applicable has responsibility for managing all country contractual obligations on programme or project.
• Maintains governance frameworks and manages compliance on a project.
• Oversees procurement, grants management and due diligence on programmes.

Qualification

Essentials

• A University degree or equivalent professional experience in a related field

Experience

• Specialist knowledge and understanding of current trends and practices in arts and creative industry in the country
• Experience of managing national arts/ creative industry projects