Lead Welsh culture scout

Closing date: 3rd October 2025

Salary: £1500 per month, for an initial commitment of 2 days per week

This is an exciting new opportunity to spearhead the Welsh Net, a pioneering scheme from Welsh National Theatre.

Welsh National Theatre (WNT) is the youngest theatre in Wales, founded in January 2025 by Michael Sheen, Sharon Gilburd and Tim Price. WNT announced its inaugural season starring Sheen in April 2025, opening in January 2026 with Our Town, followed by Gary Owen’s epic new play, Owain & Henry in November 2026. WNT is committed to showcasing Welsh talent in the creation of ambitious plays that resonate in Wales, and across the world.

Sheen, in sharing his vision for identifying and developing talent said: “Where the Welsh Not stifled Welsh expression in the 19th and early 20th century, the ambition of Welsh National Theatre is to create the Welsh Net to be its champion, creating pathways that have vanished, or never existed to help talented theatre makers and creatives across Wales overcome the barriers they may face in the industry."

In partnership with BBC Studios, we are looking for someone who shares our commitment and values to opening the sector to talent from all parts of Wales, and who has the experience to lay the foundations for a Welsh Net that can be up and running this year, and continue to thrive and scale long into the future.

The role

Working closely with WNT’s leadership team, you will play a vital role in shaping the future of the Welsh Net, ensuring that the voices of Wales continue to shine on local, national, and international stages.

You will be someone with a passion for the Welsh cultural sector, including TV, film and theatre. You’ll need a deep understanding of the Welsh theatre landscape, including Welsh institutions and organisations, across national, community and regional sectors. You’ll need to be adept at building strong relationships across Wales, to connect talent up to what might be the next critical step in their development. This is all part of creating the pathways that are core to the vision of the Welsh Net.

You will be responsible for building the foundations of the Welsh Net and a network of culture scouts across Wales. This will take time, but this early work is essential to bring much needed structure to both the finding and nurturing of talent across Wales.

Key responsibilities

• Creating the framework upon which the Welsh Net can be built
• Advising on the coverage of Culture Scouts across Wales, including approach to recruitment over time as the Welsh Net scales
• Collaborating within the sector, proactively engaging with local and national organisations in theatre, film and TV, building relationships to identify talent and development pathways across the whole of Wales
• Watching Welsh digital, TV, film and theatre content and attending productions
• Identifying exciting new talent and reporting back to WNT and our partners on a regular basis

Knowledge, skills and experience

• Demonstrable passion for Welsh Culture including Theatre, Drama TV and Film
• Experience of talent development
• Knowledge of the Welsh sector, including actors, writers, directors, producers and broader cultural sector professionals
• A sharp eye for performance quality, stage presence, and artistic potential, with the ability to identify new talent
• Excellent communication skills (Welsh language desirable - training can be given)
• An objective and open style, with the ability to create concise reporting on progress to the senior team and partners
• Experience of working with agents and building relationships
• Knowledge of how to manage confidential information with tact and sensitivity

Additional information

This is a freelance role on a retainer of £1500 per month, for an initial commitment of 2 days per week. Given the nature of the work, this could flex and we’re happy to discuss this in more detail during the appointment process. We do envisage that this role could expand over time.

WNT is based in Swansea’s Civic Centre, and BBC Studios are based in Roath Lock, Cardiff. Whilst the role is not location specific, we do expect the successful candidate to work from both locations on occasion.

This role will require travel across Wales and reasonable expenses will be covered.

Availability to start in post in October 2025 is preferred.

We welcome and encourage applications from candidates who are under-represented in the creative industries.

Please state in your application that you found this role through Creative Access.