Programme Director: Creative People and Places, Croydon

Job Summary

We are seeking a visionary, collaborative and community rooted leader to guide the new Croydon Croydon People & Places programme from its early development phase through to established delivery.

Job Description

The Programme Director leads the strategic delivery of all aspects of the CPP programme. You will guide the programme from its initial stages of setup to established delivery, ensuring it is community powered, creatively ambitious, operationally strong and publicly accountable.

This role blends strategic leadership, partnership development, creative producing, operational delivery and community engagement. You will manage the CPP delivery team which is likely to include a Data Officer & Story Archivist, Communications Officer, Apprentice Cultural Learning & Participation Officer, freelance Community Hosts and a Community Producer. You will report to the consortium and attend Consortium meetings as a non voting member. The delivery team holds full operational responsibility for the programme, with Stanley Arts providing employment and HR support on behalf of the Consortium.

You will hold final responsibility for contractual arrangements with providers of arts and cultural activity such as workshops, exhibitions, participation projects and large scale community events. You will oversee and delegate day to day management of smaller commissions to the wider team.

In your first months, you will prioritise time on the ground listening, mapping local interest, building trust and identifying the programme's first focus areas. You will translate community insight into a clear three year plan, co developed with residents and partners.

The Programme Director is accountable to the Consortium for achieving programme outputs, outcomes and milestones, and for providing timely information (including proposed contractual details) to support the Consortium's oversight and reporting responsibilities to Arts Council England.

Job Requirements

Essential Experience

• Proven leadership in arts, culture or community development.
• Track record of delivering ambitious creative programmes with measurable impact.
• Experience working inclusively with communities facing barriers to cultural participation.
• Strong partnership building and fundraising skills.
• Excellent communication and negotiation abilities.
• Commitment to cultural democracy, diversity and accessibility.
• Experience programming artistic work across scales and settings.
• Demonstrated ability to engage communities as decision makers.
• Experience working in areas of low arts engagement.
• Budget management and resource planning.
• Experience of monitoring and evaluation.
• Experience of managing staff and leading teams.

Desirable Experience

• Knowledge of Croydon, its communities and cultural landscape.
• Experience managing arts projects with budgets of £200,000+.
• Familiarity with national cultural policy and funding frameworks.

Job Responsibilities

• Grow partnerships across sectors.
• Support artists and residents to collaborate.
• Deliver a programme that ranges from neighbourhood based activity to large scale public moments.
• Embed evaluation and learning into everyday practice.
• Ensure the programme reflects Croydon's diversity, creativity and community leadership.
• Act as the key connector between residents, partners, the host organisation and Arts Council England.

• Job Title: Programme Director: Creative People and Places, Croydon
• Artform: Combined arts
• Role: Creative
• Contract: Contract
• Location: London South East

How to Apply

Applicants are invited to submit:

• A CV (max 2 pages)
• A cover letter (max 2 pages) outlining your relevant experience and your vision for CPP Croydon.
• Optionally, applications may be submitted via voice note or video (uploaded privately with a link provided).
• Completion of an equal opportunities monitoring form.

Applications should be submitted by email to louisa@stanleyarts.org with the subject line: Your Name: Programme Director – Croydon CPP.

Stanley Arts is a vital home for cultural expression and discovery for a growing community of artists, audiences & stakeholders. Stanley Arts welcomes everyone but is particularly interested in engaging with artists & communities previously excluded from creative spaces. As a radically inclusive space we seek to foreground under-represented voices, providing black, global majority, working-class, neuro-divergent & LGBTQI+ creatives with a platform to reach out to audiences across South London.