Job Details

This is a rare opportunity to guide the artistic direction of a nationally respected, disabled-led organisation – one that continually pushes for better access, richer representation and a bold, caring future for disabled creatives. If you’re someone who thrives 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.

• Artistic Leadership: Defining and leading the organisation’s artistic direction and strategy.
• Programme Oversight: Overseeing the delivery of our Creative Programme, including our online magazine, dis_place (virtual gallery), and public events.
• Talent Development: Designing and managing the Talent Development Programme to meet the professional needs of disabled creatives across all art forms.
• Community Nurturing: Growing and fostering our creative community of bloggers, artists, supporters, and community activators.
• Advocacy & Change: Championing disabled creatives, raising awareness of systemic barriers, and advocating for sector-wide solutions and opportunities.
• Team Management: In partnership with the Chief Executive, providing effective leadership to the rest of the team, managing performance and supporting professional development.

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 through Time Off in Lieu, flexible working and in our organisational planning.

Information Session:

We are holding a DAO Artistic Director recruitment information session on Thursday 11th December at 6pm. The webinar format will mean you won’t know who else is attending. There will be opportunities to ask questions anonymously. This will be recorded and uploaded to the job listing afterwards if you’re not available to attend live.

Please register for the information session to receive the Zoom link.

Please read, watch or listen to the job pack on the DAO website before applying. The pack is available in the following formats: PDF, Easy Read, plain text, BSL video and audio.

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, 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.