The Lavender Menace Queer Books Archive has grown out of Scotland’s first LGBTQ+ bookshops, Lavender Menace and West & Wilde. Bob Orr and Sigrid Nielsen, the owners of the original Lavender Menace Bookshop founded the Lavender Menace Queer Books Archive in 2019 to keep this valuable LGBTQ+ book heritage alive and share it with the community.

We have a mission to bring together the queer community in Edinburgh and beyond; celebrate LGBTQ+ authors and their works; and collect and preserve LGBTQ+ books (focusing on those published between 1970 and 2000). We work to create and maintain a free and welcoming community archive space for reading, research, and socialising. The archive is open to visitors and hosts a variety of author events, workshops, community groups and book clubs. We also have a digital catalogue of our collection.

To support the next stage of our growth, we are seeking a General Manager to build the sustainability of the Archive and ensure effective delivery of our programmes. Working closely with the Board, this exciting new role will lead organisational development, fundraising, financial administration, governance, and long-term planning, while managing and leading the work of a high performing staff team. Specifically, the postholder will provide high-level oversight of collections policy, ethics, and risk, ensuring the archive remains accessible, cared for, and responsive to community needs; whilst also leading the team to effectively deliver our new project “Unlocking Scotland’s LGBTQ+ Heritage”, which is made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players, we will be able to expand the reach of the Archive, and better connect communities to their heritage.

This role would suit a proven leader with professional experience in archives, libraries, museums, or heritage collections, who has a strong degree of LGBTQ+ cultural competence and who is able to operate with autonomy in a collaborative and supportive way. It presents a fantastic opportunity to grow your leadership and project delivery skills, and contribute to the long term sustainability of a vital community resource in Scotland.

We are looking for a new Change Programmes Lead to join the FST Team!

Scotland’s performing arts sector is full of talented people, ambitious organisations and inspiring ideas. It also faces significant opportunities and challenges that no single organisation can address alone. Increasingly, progress depends on bringing people together, building partnerships and turning shared ambitions into practical action.

That’s why this role matters.

We’re looking for someone who enjoys combining strategic thinking, partnership-building and practical delivery to help shape programmes that strengthen Scotland’s performing arts sector. Someone who can understand complex challenges, build trusted relationships, develop realistic plans and ensure ideas are followed through to meaningful outcomes.

The Change Programmes Lead plays a key role in helping FST turn ideas into action.

Working closely with members, partners and colleagues, you’ll identify opportunities for positive change, develop practical responses and lead programmes that strengthen Scotland’s performing arts sector.

Some programmes are already well established and ready to grow. Others are emerging ideas that require research, partnership development and careful planning. This role therefore combines strategic thinking with practical delivery, helping shape both current and future areas of work.

Current programmes span areas such as workforce development, mentoring, accessibility, environmental sustainability, organisational resilience and leadership development. While every programme is different, they all share a common purpose: helping Scotland’s performing arts sector become stronger, more connected and better equipped for the future.

This isn’t simply a project management role. It’s about understanding complex challenges, bringing people together, building trusted relationships and creating the conditions for meaningful change. You’ll work across organisations, balancing different perspectives while maintaining a clear focus on shared ambitions and tangible outcomes.

Current Programmes & Priorities

The Change Programmes portfolio continues to evolve in response to member needs and emerging opportunities. Some of the current programmes and workstreams you’ll help lead and develop include:

Bursaries & Professional Development

Leading FST’s professional development bursary programme while exploring opportunities to strengthen its impact, reach and long-term sustainability.

Mentoring & Coaching

Refreshing FST’s mentoring offer through reconnecting previous participants, piloting new models and lighter-touch support surgeries and peer learning.

Workforce Development & Training

Developing and delivering programmes around technical skills, leadership, sustainability and Fair Work through partnerships and targeted professional development opportunities.

Access & Inclusion

Working with Birds of Paradise, Creative Scotland and sector partners to support the future development of Access Scottish Theatre, Scotland’s engagement with the UK-wide All-In programme and wider accessibility infrastructure.

Emerging Needs & Opportunities

Working with FST members and partners to identify new priorities, develop collaborative initiatives and secure partnerships and funding that support the future development of Scotland’s performing arts sector.

We are seeking a Funding Manager to lead on securing grants, sponsorship, and developing, delivering and evaluating new approaches to generating income for our community arts charity. The role will primarily involve securing income, researching trusts, foundations and other funders, preparing grant applications, building relationships, and developing ideas and frameworks for income generation with the Co-Directors. All employees of Glasgow Zine Library also assist with staffing a proportion of our public facing activities, including Glasgow Zine Fest.

The Work Room is seeking new Board Trustees

We are seeking 4 – 5 people to join our Board of Trustees to support The Work Room in its mission to empower artists in making thoughtful and pioneering dance for diverse contexts at home and internationally.

Our Trustees include artist-members of The Work Room as well as people who bring expertise and experience from other sectors to our governance.

"The support offered by The Work Room is vital in these precarious times. Whether it be through advocacy, one-on-one advice or international exchange; residencies, bursaries or yearlong peer-supported research; The Work Room ensures that artists continue their work and that the Scottish dance sector remains vibrant and relevant. The impact of The Work Room is inspiring. Yet equally inspiring is the deeply embedded ethos of the organisation and the meaningful engagement with members that shapes how decisions are made and programmes are developed." - Kirsty Alexander, Co-Chair & TWR Member

Who we are looking for?

As a registered charity, The Work Room’s board of trustees are legally and ethically responsible for governing the organisation. The board includes artists from our membership as well as people who bring their experience from other areas of work. Collectively they support the strategic vision and leadership of the charity and ensure The Work Room remains true to its values, relevant to our artist communities, is well managed and financially sustainable.

The Work Room operates with a small, efficient and experienced staff team. We practice an alternative leadership model in the performing arts; one that embraces multiplicity rather than being focused on a singular artistic vision. Our approach leans into the collective; actively distributing power, shared agency & collegiate decision-making. A commitment to this, rather than traditional hierarchical dynamics, is critical for staff & trustees.

We’d love to hear from you if you share our values and are:

• Keen to generously share your experience and skills to support our work with independent dance artists;
• Committed to working inclusively to ensure our work is accessible and relevant;
• Interested in experimentation and new ideas as we respond to current and future challenges.

Some of the skills and knowledge that would be useful include:

• Organisational culture and HR;
• Research and Higher Education;
• Ethical and fair working practices;
• Experience and knowledge in dance, across different styles & genres;
• Communications
• Digital working and new technologies.

You don’t need to have previous experience of being on a board and for many of our existing trustees, this has been their first experience in such a role. The Trustees work collectively and you will be provided a full induction to help you understand the role and responsibilities of being a charity trustee. We also encourage trustees to undertake training opportunities which guide on best practice in governance.

These are voluntary roles with travel and access costs covered. We are committed to putting in place any access support required to enable full participation in board meetings, including childcare costs, providing BSL interpretation for meetings or providing information in different formats. We also want to make sure our board is made up of a diverse range of intersectional identities and experiences.

What the role involves

The role of the Board of Trustees is to support the work of The Work Room and provide leadership and strategic governance, in line with the core purpose and policies of the company.

The Work Room is a charity, and our board of trustees are guided by the guidance and good practice provided by the Office of Scottish Charity Regulator. OSCR (Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator) The board usually meets four times a year online and at an annual in-person away day. In addition to this we have an AGM (Annual General Meeting) of all members, and board members may get involved in events, training or on sub-committees focused on specific areas of work.

In preparation for these meetings and to enable us to move decisions forward there is also in between work anticipated such as reviewing board papers including financial reports. A key aspect of the role is to build a collegiate working relationship with The Work Room staff team and other board members contributing to collective and considered decision making.

We consider key qualities of board member include:

• Asking questions and participating in discussions leading to collective decision making;
• The ability to act discreetly and to respect confidentiality;
• A genuine interest in and commitment to The Work Room’s work, dance and artists as leaders;
• A willingness to learn about the wider context in which The Work Room is situated.