Role Description

Post: Executive Director of Public Programmes & Audiences
Directorate: Public Programmes & Audiences
Accountable to: CEO
Responsible for: Strategic and joint decision making as a member of the Executive Team. Providing ownership and accountability for the implementation of those decisions including supporting the CEO in the creation of corporate plans.
For the specialist areas: Leading on defining how the public interact with the BFI through our digital channels, venues and festivals, including our education work, our Lottery-funded UK-wide audience development and our marketing and customer development teams
Location: Flexible/UK-wide as base. Our headquarters and BFI Southbank are in London, so some planned regular travel will be required

Main Aims

This is a key BFI leadership role, with collective responsibility across the Executive Board for co-designing and delivering strategic plans, collectively owning decisions, and role modelling our approach to collaborative working and people leadership.

The Executive Board are responsible for co-designing and delivering the BFI’s corporate plan, including our transformation into a digital-first organisation, embedding a collaborative working culture, and supporting the growth of our income generation.

This role leads on all responsible activities via a multi-functional team across:

Public programmes & events Working closely with curatorial colleagues and partners to develop a holistic strategy for BFI Player, BFI Southbank, BFI Festivals and BFI Distribution, including the development of international programmes, sales & distribution, and ensuring that our public spaces and platforms are welcoming, activated and inclusive including through outreach programmes
Developing our education programmes and partnerships Including a strategy for our in-house education programmes, our initiatives to develop our 25 & Under audiences; the BFI Film Academy; ensuring a close and strategic partnership with Into Film; and working with the Industry and Corporate Affairs team to inform our Education policy and strategy
Communicating our work as a charity prominently and consistently
Audience insight, data intelligence and customer development Encouraging innovative consumer press & marketing campaigns, developing our subscription/membership, pricing and retail strategy, ensuring excellent systems and engagement to grow customer across all our platforms and closer links with partners across the UK, and a closer programming relationship with BFI IMAX
Editorial activities including Sight & Sound, website, video content and publishing To ensure a broad range of knowledge and information is available to provide audiences with context and understanding, and enable further inspiration and discovery, and ensuring that expert voices across the BFI are amplified
UK-wide audience development

Including how we develop audiences in collaboration with venue partners, festivals, distributors, broadcasters and streaming services, online platforms, and a strategy for National Lottery funding of audience development

To ensure that diversity and inclusion are centered within all responsibilities and activities and across BFI teams.

The role is one of the BFI’s key cultural leaders and spokespeople. A compelling advocate for the power of the moving image, and leads the editorial voice of the BFI, with a goal to broaden audiences and community engagement across our programmes of work. With audience choice and diversity at the centre, and a focus on ‘digital-first’ and the growth of BFI Player, to help us reach the widest public audience across the UK and internationally, with an overall focus on growing our income and unlocking value in all that we do

This role is responsible for leadership in thought and expertise on setting and delivering the BFI’s public programmes and audience development strategy including an inclusive editorial voice to broaden our audiences across all platforms, providing engaging interpretation and access, supported by striking, engaging and accessible marketing and outreach campaigns that have maximum impact and reach

In line with the BFI’s Royal Charter objectives, to engage public audiences with a broad range of historical and contemporary moving image, embedding the work of the BFI’s Knowledge and Collections team into the programme – across film, television and digital media including immersive work and videogames

The role is responsible for maintaining a robust and effective compliance environment for all operational areas under your control, ensuring the reputation of the BFI is not put at risk.

Key Responsibilities

Executive Director

To support the CEO in developing and delivering the BFI’s strategic plans.
As a key leadership figure, role modelling our approach to collaborative working and people leadership:

- Co-leading the organisation: managing change, setting vision and strategy, fostering organisational learning, providing clear direction;
- Leading yourself: demonstrating ethics and integrity, developing adaptability, innovative, openness to new ideas, listening, entrepreneurial;
- Leading others: building and maintaining relationships, communicating often and openly, valuing diversity and difference, actively committed to being anti-racist and anti-ableist, developing others, promoting belonging, managing effective teams. Dedicated to listening, engaging, empowering and developing teams and supporting managers to do likewise.
To demonstrate and implement the BFI’s new values (attached) and purpose across the Directorate. Reviewing progress and supporting new ways of collaborative working, sharing knowledge and good practice.
Representing the BFI at relevant Government and stakeholder meetings both nationally and internationally, acting as an ambassador for the BFI and maintaining a professional approach at all times.
To keep up-to-date with best practice thinking, developments and research and provide advice to the CEO and Board of Governors as appropriate.

Public Programmes & Events

To provide strategic and creative leadership across all of the BFI’s public-facing platforms including leading the content strategy, user experience and customer-growth of the BFI Player.
Working consultatively with colleagues across the organisation – including curatorial, fundraising, communications and marketing – to determine the vision for the BFI to define, develop, deliver and present a distinctive and world-class public programme which promotes and inspires engagement with film, TV and moving image film culture nationally and internationally for a wide range of audiences and tastes.
To lead and innovate, acting as a cultural visionary for the BFI’s pubic programmes, identifying new ways to engage and develop audiences across the UK alongside FAN – and developing a digital-first approach to our programmes and platforms which ensures maximum enjoyment and opportunity for audiences across the UK alongside the programmes at the BFI Southbank.
With the Director of Festivals to continue development of the London Film Festival as the annual UK-wide event to engage with new and diverse audiences, to consider opportunities for new festivals, and to ensure that audiences BFI festivals including Flare and Future Film are engaged throughout the year.
Work collaboratively with the BFI’s curatorial team to ensure that the National Collections sit at the heart of the BFI’s programming online and in venue.
Activate spaces beyond the BFI’s screens and develop free public programmes including talks, exhibitions, shorts programmes – online and in venue.
Develop the ‘staff programming’ voice as a valuable resource, including introductions for every screening, staff picks and recommendations.
Further develop the programme of BFI IMAX, to retain its commercial success and reputation as the premiere cinema in the UK for viewing large format and big-screen experiences, and maximise opportunities for cross support / integration with the overall BFI programme.

Education and Learning

Ensure a strong programme of activities that encourage life-long understanding and engagement with the moving image, better film literacy, and to develop personal and professional interests – working consultatively to embed our education work across the BFI & into everything we do.
Oversee a digital-first approach to the education strategy to create the widest access to our programmes, including the production of innovative learning tools, and the development of our initiatives to grow audiences who are 25 and under.
Oversee the growth of BFI Film Academy as an accessible and well-known gateway for young people to learn more about screen craft and industry.
Ensure that our partnership with Into Film and other future delivery partners is aligned with the BFI’s objectives and programmes.
Work with colleagues in Industry & Corporate Affairs to ensure the BFI has a strong voice in education policy discussions within government and across the sector.

Audience Insight, Data Intelligence & Customer Development

Develop the BFI’s audience strategy, making creative use of material and platforms to develop new audiences and working with the Head of Marketing on campaigns, data and insights to inform our audience reach and grow new audiences.
Developing initiatives such as sensitive pricing and new membership programmes such as 25s & Under, to ensure that all sections of the public can access BFI programmes, spaces and knowledge.
Ensure that audience development is at the heart of the BFI’s public programme decision making – geographically, economically and socially.

Editorial and Context

Ensure a consistent approach towards providing context and understanding across the BFI’s platforms, including Sight & Sound, BFI.org, the programme guide and notes, BFI Player, newsletters, etc.

Supporting Income Generation

Create and developing programmes which balance creative and intellectual leadership with the commercial needs of the business plan.
Work closely with the Executive Director of Development and Enterprise to identify and develop strong fundraising proposals, offers and events.
To optimise trading income from the BFI public programme, generate growth and manage within the budgeted costs, making a full contribution to the financial success of the BFI.
Working with the Executive Director of Development and Enterprise and Head of Marketing to review our marketing and brand strategies to drive audience and commercial income growth.

UK-wide audience development

Oversee the National Lottery funding for UK-wide audience development – across support for venues and the distribution of films across the UK.
Support the development of partnerships and strategies which can further grow audience engagement with the BFI’s work and film, TV and the moving image more broadly.
Explore and exploit opportunities for collaborative working across the cultural exhibition and distribution sector both domestically and internationally.

General

To lead and inspire all teams and team members within the Directorate, within a collaborative culture ensuring that they are informed, engaged, appraised and professionally developed.
To ensure the effective management of data and information for all responsible areas, meeting all statutory requirements such as GDPR.
To carry out all responsibilities in a way that supports BFI values and promotes our desire to become a consciously inclusive employer of choice. To support us in delivering our all our commitments to inclusivity, especially our identified areas of greatest under-representation, race equality and disability equality.
To be aware of and act in accordance with the BFI’s environmental sustainability plans and approach at all times.
The post holder must at all times carry out their responsibilities with due regard to the BFI’s Policies and Procedures.
To undertake any other duties that may be reasonably required.

Salary and benefits

Salary: £120,000 plus benefits

Senior salaries are reviewed annually by the BFI Board’s Remuneration Committee

At the BFI we offer a wide range of benefits to our employees including:

BFI pension scheme
28-33 days paid annual leave (excluding Bank Holidays) Support for working families: contribution to childcare costs; childcare vouchers; enhanced maternity,4 weeks paid parental leave and enhanced shared parental pay
We promote and support flexible working and are UK wide
Our Employee Assistance Programme provides advice and support for employees and their close family members across all life events
Free tickets to BFI Southbank screenings and events plus access to other BFI Events and Film Festivals (inc, the BFI London Film Festival and BFI FLARE)

Plus a range of benefits including season ticket and computer purchase loans, Ride to Work Scheme, £100 towards annual Health Club Membership, discounts on BFI merchandise and at our on-site food and beverage outlets.