Managing Director

About Soul City Arts (SCA)

Soul City Arts (SCA) is a Birmingham-based arts organisation using the power of creativity to bring people together, amplify underrepresented voices and create encounters across culture, faith and identity.

Rooted in Sparkbrook and working from Port Hope, our reclaimed warehouse arts space, SCA creates bold, socially engaged work that combines artistic ambition with lived experience, dialogue and community connection.

Our work spans immersive performance, visual arts, public art and creative place-making, festivals, artist development and collaboration. We create spaces in which difficult questions can be explored, different perspectives can meet and communities can see their stories represented through ambitious artistic practice.

Our work is deeply rooted in Birmingham but our reach and ambition extend nationally and internationally. We believe that art can do more than entertain: it can build confidence and pride, challenge assumptions, open dialogue, connect communities and change who gets to participate in – and lead – our cultural life.

Founded by artist and curator Mohammed Ali MBE, Soul City Arts has developed a distinctive artistic identity at the intersection of art, faith, identity, place and social change.

As an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation, we are now entering an important next chapter – strengthening the leadership, partnerships, resources and organisational resilience required to match the scale of our artistic ambition.

Job Summary

The Managing Director will provide the strategic, organisational and business leadership needed to take Soul City Arts into its next stage of development.

Working closely with the Board and alongside the Artistic Director and Senior Producer, they will lead organisational strategy, financial sustainability, income generation, governance, people and organisational development, and build the high-level partnerships needed to unlock new opportunities, investment and reach.

A key priority will be strengthening SCA’s business model, diversifying income and ensuring its artistic ambition is matched by effective systems, capacity, financial planning and risk management. This is a role focused on creating the conditions in which ambitious artistic work can thrive.

Key Responsibilities

Strategy, Leadership & Organisational Development

• Lead SCA's organisational strategy and business planning.
• Ensure artistic ambition is supported by realistic organisational, financial and people planning.
• Build clear accountability, effective systems and strong ways of working across the organisation.
• Lead SCA confidently through its next stage of organisational development and change.

Financial Sustainability & Income Generation

• Hold executive oversight of SCA's overall financial position, budgets, forecasting, reserves and financial risk.
• Lead SCA's income-generation strategy and develop a strong, diversified funding and investment pipeline.
• Lead major funding bids and investment propositions, drawing together artistic, programme, financial and impact expertise from across the team.
• Ensure SCA's ambitions are financially viable and support long-term organisational resilience.

Strategic Partnerships & Growth

• Build and sustain high-level strategic relationships that strengthen SCA's investment, reach, influence and future opportunities.
• Develop partnerships across cultural, civic, public, education, philanthropic, commercial and community sectors.
• Strengthen SCA's position in Birmingham and the West Midlands while supporting its national and international ambitions.
• Represent SCA with funders, partners and senior stakeholders.

Governance, People & Organisational Capacity

• Act as the principal executive link with the Board and support strong governance, risk management and organisational accountability.
• Provide leadership and line management across the core team, building a positive, inclusive and accountable organisational culture.
• Ensure SCA has the skills, capacity, policies and systems required for its next phase.
• Maintain appropriate HR, organisational and compliance arrangements, drawing on specialist support where required.

Person Specification

Essential Experience and Knowledge

• Signficant senior leadership or management experience within an arts, cultural, charitable, social enterprise, public or other purpose-led organisation.
• Experience of developing and delivering organisational strategy and business plans.
• Strong financial literacy, including organisational budgeting, forecasting, cash-flow oversight and financial decision-making.
• A successful track record in fundraising, income generation and/or business development.
• Experience of developing significant funding bids, investment propositions or income partnerships.
• A strong track record of developing high-level strategic partnerships and stakeholder relationships.
• Experience of working effectively with a Board or governance structure.
• Experience of leading and managing people and supporting organisational development or change.
• Strong understanding of organisational risk, accountability and good governance.
• Ability to work successfully alongside artistic, creative or specialist leadership while maintaining clear areas of executive responsibility.
• Excellent written, verbal and interpersonal communication skills.
• Strong judgement and the ability to move confidently between strategic thinking and practical organisational decision-making.
• Commitment to equality, inclusion and culturally relevant practice.

Desirable Experience and Knowledge

• Knowledge of the UK arts and cultural sector and its funding environment.
• Understanding of Arts Council England investment and reporting frameworks.
• Knowledge of Birmingham and/or the West Midlands cultural and civic landscape.
• Experience within a founder-led or artist-led organisation.
• Experience of organisational transformation, growth or transition.
• Experience of developing public, private, civic or cross-sector partnerships.
• Experience of developing diversied income across more than one funding source.
• Understanding of socially engaged, community-rooted or interdisciplinary cultural practice.
• Experience of working with organisations operating locally while developing national or international partnerships.

Personal Approach

• Collaborative, while able to make and hold clear decisions.
• Ambitious and pragmatic.
• Able to build trust and strong working relationships.
• Confident working with creative people, ideas and processes.
• Able to constructively challenge as well as support.
• Entrepreneurial, curious and alert to opportunity.
• Financially responsible and comfortable making dicult choices when necessary.
• Clear and transparent in communication.
• Comfortable operating within a small organisation where senior leaders sometimes need to be hands-on.
• Able to navigate complexity without creating unnecessary bureaucracy.
• Committed to creativity, inclusion, community and cultural dierence.
• Motivated by building sustainable conditions in which ambitious artistic work can flourish.

Terms and Conditions

Hours: 32 Hours per week, over 4 days (TBC). Some flexibility required to meet the needs of the organisation.

Salary: £44,000 - £48,000 (Actual pro-rata 4 days pw) / £55,000 - £60,000 (FTE).

Annual Leave: 26.5 per annum (Actual, inclusive of bank holidays) / 33 days (FTE).

The role will require attendance at meetings and events in Birmingham and occasional travel elsewhere in the UK and potentially internationally. Some evening and weekend work may occasionally be required in connection with organisational or programme activity, with arrangements managed in accordance with SCA policies.

How to Apply

Application Deadline: 9am Monday 9th November 2026

First Interviews: Week commencing 23rd November 2026

Preferred Start Date: January 2027.

We want the application process to enable candidates to demonstrate their relevant experience and approach without creating unnecessary barriers.

Please submit:

• A current CV; and
• A supporting statement of no more than two sides of A4, or an equivalent audio or video application of up to 8 minutes, answering the three questions below.

1. What experience would you bring to leading Soul City Arts through its next stage of organisational development?

We are particularly interested in examples involving strategy, organisational leadership, financial sustainability and/or organisational change.

2. Tell us about an example where you developed new income and/or a significant strategic partnership. What was your role, what did you do, and what diference did it make?

3. How would you approach working within SCA's shared-leadership model alongside an Artistic Director and Senior Producer?

We are interested in how you would combine collaborative leadership with clear organisational accountability.

Applications should be sent to: [email protected]

Subject: Managing Director Application - [NAME]

Equality, Diversity and Access

Soul City Arts is committed to creating an organisation and cultural sector that respects and values the diversity of the communities with whom we work.

We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and particularly encourage applications from people and communities currently underrepresented within arts and cultural leadership.

We recognise that people develop valuable skills and experience through many different professional and personal routes and encourage candidates to apply even where their experience does not follow a conventional career path.

Applicants are welcome to submit their application in an alternative accessible format.

If you require adjustments or additional support during the application or interview process, please contact: [email protected].

If you would like an informal and confidential conversation about the role before applying, please contact: [email protected]

Find out more

To request the full job pack: [email protected]

Website: www.soulcityarts.com

Instagram: @soulcityarts

Other Social Channels: www.youtube.com/soulcityarts

Pay: £44,000.00-£48,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• On-site parking

Work Location: Hybrid remote in Birmingham B11 1JS