Institute for Cultural and Creative Industries

Location: Chatham
Salary: £41,526 to £48,114 per annum
Grade: Grade 8
Post Type: Full Time
Contract Type: Fixed Term - 36 Months
Release Date: Thursday 20 May 2021
Closing Date: 23.59 hours BST on Sunday 20 June 2021 (unless otherwise stated)
Interview Date: Wednesday 07 July 2021
Reference: CSF-231-21

This is a unique and exciting opportunity to lead an ambitious project. The Docking Station is a flagship building designed to inspire future development in the region and beyond. Its facilities will include a community café and social spaces, gallery and exhibition spaces, workshops flexible teaching areas, a state-of-the-art immersive digital interactive space and start-up/accelerator zone. It is a partnership project between the University, Medway City Council, and Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust. Construction is planned for 2024 with the building opening in 2025.

The Docking Station Project Manager will develop and maintain robust oversight arrangements ensuring all aspects of the project are co-ordinated and delivered effectively. Working with the Director of Culture and Creative projects to manage a strategic initiative for the University of Kent, the Project Manager will be central to achieving and delivering this exciting project.

You will manage and lead on all aspects of the Docking Station development and implementation. You will liaise with the Director of Culture and Creative Projects and project partners to co-ordinate fundraising campaigns and initiatives, to write bid applications and to supply the necessary information both budget and financial to support this. Clear, robust financial management will be essential as will effective management of governance and evaluation.

You will have a proven track record of successfully delivering complex and/or large projects to time, cost, quality and benefits realisation requirements. You will need to have exceptional organisation skills, the ability to be agile, highly resilient and comfortable working in a fast-paced, changing and at times challenging environment.

The Docking Station will address the digital skills gaps, focusing on Gaming /Immersive technologies, recognising the wider application of these skills and connecting with Kent and Medway Medical School and the Centre for Higher Degree Apprenticeship. Place and place- making will be an intrinsic part of the work of the Docking Station, working closely with the School of Architecture, the Dockyard, Creative Estuary and Medway City Council.

The Docking Station will play a crucial, strategic role in the post-COVID recovery of Medway and Kent, driving a future-focussed plan for co-working, creating, training and teaching. It will offer new skills and opportunities, new experiences and tools, new methods and thinking to benefit the local communities, artists and makers, students and professionals. Supporting activity which will bring resources into the region, it will enable economic growth and contribute to long term sustainability and quality of life in Kent.

The Docking Station will be the home for the Institute of Cultural and Creative Industries, working across schools to recognise the need for a fusion of creative, digital and entrepreneurial skills to equip students to adapt as production methods and commercial models change.

The University of Kent has an impressive history of supporting arts and culture in Kent, in particular through the work of its Gulbenkian Arts Centre. In 2014 the exceptional work carried out by the team at Gulbenkian was acknowledged when it became a National Portfolio Organisation with Arts Council England and it has since developed a national and international profile through an innovative multi-arts programme and pioneering projects such as ART31 and bOing! International Family Festival. The University is very proud of its venues but recognises that, as a Civic University, we need to do more to widen cultural participation, champion diversity and promote arts excellence across Kent.

It is in this context that our arts and culture activity, including the Creative Estuary project, now sits within the Institute of Cultural and Creative Industries (iCCi). This dynamic new Institute delivers a distinctive model of skills acquisition and education, built on innovative research, a dynamic arts programme, and partnerships with artists, practitioners and the creative industries. Through iCCi, the University is connecting research, teaching, industry and community, so that new and amazing things can happen.

Please use the Apply button to view the full job description and to apply for this post. For further information regarding the application process, please contact the Resourcing Team at jobs@kent.ac.uk quoting ref number: CSF-231-21