1 Permanent position Opportunity in Scotland

Location: Cove Park, Argyll & Bute, Scotland

Reporting to: CEO

Permanent, 3/5 days per week negotiable, flexible working supported

Salary based on experience

If you have fundraising experience in an arts/culture, heritage, or education setting, this could be your dream role!

Cove Park is an international artists’ residency located on an outstanding 50-acre rural site on Scotland’s west coast, one hour north of Glasgow. Over its 22-year history, Cove Park has hosted approximately 4,000 national and international artists and researchers, working in all art forms and at every career stage. We are committed to supporting artists by offering the time and support required for research, the production of new work, peer-to-peer exchange, and fostering a stimulating context in which new ideas can be developed, tested, and shared. An average of 10 artists are on site at any one time, taking part in a range of residencies and programmes that run throughout the year, creating opportunities for the collective discovery of alternative approaches, the acquisition of new skills and knowledge.

Francesca Bertolotti-Bailey (CEO) was appointed in November 2020 and leads a cohort of twelve professionals responsible for all aspects of the organisation’s programmes and operations.

Under this new leadership, Cove Park is moving beyond the boundaries of the traditional ‘time, space, freedom’ residency, towards an enquiry-based model to encourage cross-disciplinary work and collective intelligence around pressing global concerns. This vision hinges upon a deeper engagement with our geographical and socio-economic context in the belief that working at a hyper-local level helps us to understand and affect change at a planetary scale. This approach is founded upon the belief that artistic research is uniquely placed to unpack some of the most intractable, multi-scalar problems of our times, and that art’s transformative power is amplified when the arts work in collaboration with other disciplines. Cove Park is currently expanding the range and number of artforms and disciplines involved in its programme and involving other sectors – such as those of academic and scientific research, technological innovation, and the creative industries as a whole.

The role

The director of development is a new role, developed in response to the ambitions of Cove Park, its renewed vision and its ever expanding programme, and the current funding climate. The role will work in close collaboration with the CEO and will be responsible for planning, developing and delivering Cove Park’s fund-raising and business development strategy. The role will initiate, nurture and leverage strategic relationships locally, nationally and internationally with funders, donors and prospective supporters, and will actively create or seek out new business opportunities for Cove Park – all with the aim of ensuring the financial resilience of the organisation.

Key responsibilities will include:

• Support the CEO on the development of the organisation’s business plan, ensuring it clearly demonstrates how we will meet Creative Scotland goals, as well as our own priorities
• Develop and deliver a wide-ranging, long-term fundraising strategy which delivers the objectives of Cove Park and its renewed vision, including governmental sources, international agencies, trusts & foundations, corporate, HNWI, legacies, and donations
• Work with the CEO, the Board and the Team to redesign and implement Cove Park’s individual giving scheme
• Work with the Programme Team to develop and deliver a national and international programme of independently-funded residencies for individuals, groups, corporate and institutions
• Develop and deliver new, alternative ways of developing Cove Park’s core business, including devising new types of events or formats that may attract new partners to the organization
• Oversee and develop commercial income generation opportunities, including sales of limited editions and merchandise
• Plan and manage the Development budget, including assessing feasible goals and setting robust income targets, reporting on updated forecasts to the CEO, and to the Finance and Fund-raising Subcommittees as appropriate
• Develop an effective fundraising/customer relationship management (CRM) database, compliant with GDPR, and other ICT tools including income tracking & tax compliance in collaboration with the Finance Manager
• Work with the team to ensure effective evaluation of Cove Park’s activities and to support reporting, advocacy to funders and inform strategic planning
• Work within the context of the Cove Park’s IDEA policy and other policies, in the planning and delivery of services, and in all internal and external relationships

Knowledge, skills, experience

Essential

• Track record of raising substantial funds from trusts and foundations AND/OR
• Track record of soliciting major gifts from individuals AND/OR
• Track record of successfully delivering entrepreneurial/commercial strategies
• Fundraising in an arts/culture, heritage, or education setting
• Developing databases, data analysis and reporting
• Commitment to inclusion, equality, diversity, and access
• Setting and managing income and expenditure budgets
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Effective team player, able to influence and be influenced
• Strong planning and organising skills

Desirable

• Wide-ranging, high level donor contacts in the arts and/or in Scotland
• Knowledge of contemporary arts and creative industries
• Understanding of Creative Scotland RFO
• Experience of successful capital fundraising campaigns
• Experience of planning and delivering philanthropy events such as benefits, galas, tours etc
• Experience of pitching, securing and building effective corporate partnerships
• Experience of international fundraising, including US 501(c)(3)
• Driving license

How to apply

If you would like to have an informal conversation about this role, please contact CEO Francesca Bertolotti-Bailey on 01436 850500 or via francesca@covepark.org

To apply, please submit a CV and a short covering letter (no more than 2 sides of A4) by noon on 23 June 2022. Click 'apply' to find out how.

First stage interviews will be held at Cove Park, or via Zoom, on 6–7–8 July 2022.

We encourage applications from all backgrounds, communities and industries, and we are committed to having a Team that consists of diverse skills, experiences and abilities. We actively encourage applications from African Diaspora people; South, East, and South-East Asian Diaspora people; Middle Eastern and North African Diaspora people; ethnically diverse people; disabled people; and all those who have been historically underrepresented and systemically excluded within the cultural sector. Our intention is to better reflect society as a whole in our Team in terms of race, national or ethnic background, religion or belief, ability, gender, age, socio-economic status, and educational background.

Please make sure that you state in your application that you found this role via Creative Access.