Who are we?

At Toonspeak, we offer a unique opportunity to be part of a dynamic and creative organisation that empowers young people through the arts. We are known for our innovative approach to theatre and performance, providing free, high-quality artistic opportunities for young people from diverse backgrounds.

Joining the team means being involved in meaningful work that encourages creativity, confidence, and community. We value collaboration, inclusion, and personal development, offering a supportive and inspiring environment where our staff can grow professionally while making a real impact on the lives of young people.

What will you do as Head of Operations?

• Partnership Management: Act as an ambassador for Toonspeak, building and maintaining relationships with arts and third-sector partners to ensure successful programme delivery.
• Team Leadership: Lead and support the team, ensuring effective delivery of workshops and core activities.
• Staff Development: Coach and support staff, fostering a positive environment and encouraging professional growth.
• Health & Safety and GDPR Compliance: Ensure compliance with Health and Safety, GDPR, and data protection regulations. Oversee and enforce HR regulations, including recruitment, performance management, and equal opportunity policies.
• CRM & IT Management: Oversee CRM systems and IT infrastructure for smooth operations and data handling.
• Funders Reporting & Financial Oversight: Manage funder reports, salary processing, contractor payments, and annual audits.

What we are looking for

• Leadership Skills:Demonstrated experience in managing teams and providing leadership within an operational context.
• Strategic Thinking:Ability to contribute to high-level decision-making and strategic planning.
• Operational Management Expertise: Extensive experience in managing day-to-day operations, ensuring quality assurance, compliance, and smooth programme delivery.
• Financial Oversight: Proficiency in budget management, financial reporting, and overseeing audits.
• HR and Compliance Knowledge: Familiarity with HR processes and legal obligations, including Health and Safety, GDPR, and recruitment policies.
• Partnership Management: Proven experience in building and maintaining strong partnerships with key stakeholders.
• CRM and IT Competence: Experience in managing CRM systems and IT infrastructure to ensure efficient operations.
• Advocacy and Networking: Strong ability to represent the organisation at external events and build networks across sectors.

The demand for Impact Arts’ work continues to grow and this role reflects the organisational need to bring in a new member of the team to support our creative delivery. Impact Arts’ work is wide ranging and covers various art forms from performance to visual art to music and digital. Similarly, we work across a range of sectors including employability, education, health, play and place making. We do not expect the successful candidate to have experience in all of these areas, but they must be able to demonstrate adaptability and excellence in coordination.

This role will predominantly support participant recruitment and the development of Impact Arts’ parental employability work but may also support areas of work including Impactful Starts and CashBack to the Future, attainment and employability programmes for young people, as well as Art Therapy.

We are looking for someone who is dynamic, who will bring considerable experience, creativity, energy and passion to the role and who wants to join our mission in tackling inequalities across Scotland. In return you will join a fun and vibrant team and an organisation which highly values our people.

Could you make a difference for members of the LGBT+ community in Edinburgh and beyond?

The Lavender Menace Queer Books Archive has grown out of Scotland’s first LGBT+ bookshops, Lavender Menace (1982-87) and West & Wilde (1987-97). They sold what we now call queer books – by, about or for LGBT+ people – at a time mainstream bookshops would not stock them. The bookshops also provided openly queer meeting places, where LGBT+ people were able to connect and felt affirmed and welcomed.

Bob Orr and Sigrid Nielsen, the owners of the original Lavender Menace Bookshop, in 2019 founded the Lavender Menace Queer Books Archive to keep this valuable LGBT+ book heritage alive and share it with the community. Through its amazing collection of books, the archive tells the story of queer people’s resistance, and the rise of what is now known as ‘queer pride’. These books told the stories of queer lives; they were written honestly and positively for the first time, and they changed lives.

This post represents a unique opportunity to work with Edinburgh’s Lavender Menace Queer Books Archive to develop an Oral History Project (OHP). The OHP will explore the impact and legacy of the Lavender Menace and West & Wilde Bookshops (1982-97), and more generally community experiences of reading LGBT+ books and magazines, and ways reading – now and in the past – has impacted on their identity. Stories and interpretation will be shared online as well as through a programme of events and a temporary exhibition.

The Oral History Project’s key activities are:

• Recruiting, supporting, training and coordinating volunteers to become involved in the OHP.
• Identifying OHP interview participants and devise ways to capture the individual and collective voices and stories of LGBT+ community members.
• Working with partners and stakeholders in the development and delivery of the project.
• Acting as the main point of contact for the volunteers and interviewees, to arrange and set up interviews, liaise with volunteers and interviewees.
• Ensuring policies, systems and processes are in place to collect, store and use all audio and visual material collected.
• Promoting the OHP and its programme of events, creating materials for use on social media, website and in the temporary exhibition, and ensuring the Archive’s profile is raised through these activities.

These activities build on the existing programme of events and projects under the responsibility of the Community Project Coordinator with the team of volunteers. The post holder will thus be able to tap into their experience, contacts and knowledge in taking this work forward.

Employee benefits package

• 35 days of leave (pro-rata including public holidays)
• Enhanced pension scheme
• Flexible working options
• Training and development opportunities