Development Officer

Candidate Pack

Kootam, choreographed by Saju Hari, photo by Rocio Chacon

About The Place

The Place is the UK’s premier contemporary dance centre, based in central London. Since its inception in 1969, The Place has been a driving force for contemporary dance in the UK and Europe and one of the world's key resources for dance development. It has pursued a global vision for a world with more dance and is a world-leading centre of artistic excellence, creating an ecosystem for dance unlike any in the world. 

The Place offers conservatoire education and training through London Contemporary Dance School; a busy programme of boundary-pushing performances in our theatre supported by innovative audience development activities; an extensive professional artist development programme; a growing producing and touring house; and learning and participation opportunities for all ages and skill levels. The commitment to artistic development underpins a portfolio of residency, workshop, training and commissioning projects for professional artists from the UK and the rest of the world. Our reputation in the field of contemporary dance reaches beyond the borders of the UK. 

As an organisation, The Place is involved in the entire lifecycle of dance – from education and training to the creative process that leads to new ideas and conception of new work, through to its creation, production and performance. 

Our mission...Powering imagination through dance 

We do this by fostering a learning culture which promotes innovation, deep human connections and critical thinking; by developing dance opportunities which span a lifetime and by creating experiences through dance that make us more alive. 

The Place receives funding as an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation. Annually, it commissions over 45 professional artists and supports over 100 artists. In addition, the theatre and artist development team present over 120 performances to audiences in excess of 25,000 in London with 77,000 audiences reached nationally and internationally through the touring programme. There are over 2,000 learning and participation sessions with engagement from 6,000 pupils from local schools, whilst there are over 30,000 participation sessions primarily for adults, via the highly popular evening and weekend programme of classes and courses.  

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Job DescriptionDevelopment Officer

The RoleFollowing a period of significant organisational transition, the development team are delivering transformational change in fundraising activities in order to secure The Place’s position as a vital part of the international dance ecology for the next 50 years. 

The Development Officer position is a key part of the team, with particular responsibility for supporting the retention of current supporters, the growth of individual giving, trust and foundation applications and reporting, raising the profile of the team across the organisation and the general administration of the department. Working with the Director of Development to meet the annual fundraising target by:

Leading on the coordination of supporter cultivation and stewarding events Supporting the submission of grant applications Reporting to funders Undertaking prospect research Managing the fundraising database

Reporting to: Director of Development.

Key Department Relationships: You will need to form strong working relationships across the organisation in particular with the Theatre & Artists Development, Visitor Services and Communications teams.

Responsibilities

Event Coordination• With the Director of Development, design a schedule of innovative donor

cultivation and stewarding events• Lead on developing guest lists for events, co-ordinating and managing the lists • Craft invites, Save the Dates and follow up correspondence • Co-ordinate and manage staff roles and responsibilities for events

• Ensure the preparation of comprehensive briefing notes and guest biographies for events, to brief the Director of Development, Chief Executive, and Governors, and any other staff attending events as appropriate, ensuring that key events are put in diaries ahead of time

• Co-ordinate the delivery of events• Manage guests as appropriate and required for events• Ensure staff follow up is implemented after each event and co-ordinate the

process.

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Trust and Foundation Fundraising • Undertake appropriate research and networking to identify potential supporters

and their affinity and capacity to support core activities, projects as well as scholarships and bursaries

• Work with the Director of Development to develop the trust fundraising pipeline• Support the writing and submission of funding applications for grants

• Coordinate the trust and foundation reporting schedule and work cross organisationally to provide regular updates and reports on the progress of the organisation and the impact of their support

Donor Relationship Development and Management Support the development and execution of cultivation plans for prospects and act

as a key contact point into The Place• Lead on all development enquiries (via post, email, website etc.) ensuring

relevant team members are implementing follow up as required• Ensure the up keep of the fundraising database and create data queries; run

appropriate reports; and ensure records are kept up to date and cleaned.• Ensure general thank you letters, and email templates are updated regularly and

processed for all donors within an agreed timeframe.• Support the Director of Development in developing monthly variance reports and

quarterly board reports.• Adhere to the highest standards of donor care

Administration Maintain administrative systems for all income including recording the receipt of

all gifts/pledges and tracking prospects To be responsible for the management and accuracy of the information stored on

the Opportunities Module of the Spektrix database and the general development of the system

Ensure Gift Aid Declarations are recorded and up to date and Gift Aid is claimed annually

Work with the Communications department to produce print material to facilitate fundraising activity and make changes to our website to encourage people to find out more about our needs and give.

Other duties• Attend events at The Place as appropriate / required• Ensure compliance with GDPR Undertake any other duties as may be reasonably required.

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This job description is a guide to the nature of the work required of this post and duties will change from time to time within this framework. It is not meant to provide an exhaustive list of duties.

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Person Specification

Essential

Knowledge/Qualifications Graduate or equivalent experience

Experience

Experience of maintaining data CMS systems/audience or donor databases and undertaking accurate data entry

Track record of managing competing priorities and working to tight deadlines

Experience of dealing with confidential information and acting with discretion

Experience of supporting funding applications

Experience of monitoring and evaluating projects and reporting to funders

Experience of managing communications, organising events and general office administration

Skills, abilities and attributes

Excellent Microsoft Office skills, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook.

Ability to undertake financial processes such as keeping budgets up to date

Excellent planning/organisational skills and good judgement

High level of attention to detail with proven ability to maintain a high standard of accuracy

Resourceful and entrepreneurial approach to income generation

Outstanding verbal and written communication skills

A flexible, collaborative approach and ability to work under pressure and to multiple deadlines

Demonstrable commitment to The Place’s vision and mission

A commitment to equal opportunities, cultural diversity and broadening access to the arts

Willingness to work outside of normal office hours

Desirable

Knowledge/QualificationsExperience of an arts/education fundraising environment

An understanding of charity regulations

Experience Experience of working with specific databases, namely - Spektrix and Raisers Edge

Skills, abilities and attributes

Experience of prospect research tools and methodology

Experience of working in a dance environment

Salary, Hours of Work and Benefits

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Salary £26,000-£28,000 per annum dependent upon experience.

Salaries are reviewed in April each year when any cost of living increases are made. No salary changes are made until the post holder has completed a six-month probationary period.

ContractThis is a full-time, open ended permanent contract. Whilst in the six-month probationary period the notice period will be two weeks. Once this period is successfully completed the post holder will be confirmed in post and the notice period will be six weeks.

HoursThe Place’s normal working hours are 40 hours per week. This is a full-time position inclusive of a one-hour paid lunch break each day. Hours are recorded annually to reflect fluctuations in workload. Your hours of work will be agreed with the line manager.

The post requires a flexible approach as there will be evening and weekend work for which time off in lieu will be given in agreement with your line manager.

PensionAll employees will be automatically enrolled in our pension scheme after three months service. We offer two contribution levels for both employee and employer, an entry level where you contribute 5% and we contribute 5%, or a higher level in which you contribute 6% and we contribute 9%.

HolidayThe Place’s full-time holiday allowance in 25 days plus 8 bank holidays per year. The annual leave allocation runs from January to December each year, holiday entitlements will be pro-rated for postholders starting in the middle of the year.

Other Benefits Interest-free season ticket loan (after three months) Theatre ticket allowance of up to £100 per year Free and discounted access to The Place’s evening classes (subject to

availability) Subsided café and bar prices Salary sacrifice scheme for the purchase of bicycles and related equipment Subsided staff yoga/Pilates and staff choir

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Applications and Interviews

How to ApplyCompleted applications should be returned to jobs@theplace.org.uk by 12 noon Mon 20 Jan 2020.

Equal OpportunitiesThe Place is committed to equality and diversity and welcomes applications from all sections of the community.

In accordance with our Equal Opportunities Policy, we ask that each applicant complete our Equal Opportunities Monitoring form, this can be accessed here. Monitoring information is collected and processed separately to applications, if you do not wish to disclose this information please return a blank monitoring form.

Interviews will be held W/c 27 Jan 2020 at The Place.

The Place is an equal opportunities employer and we are keen to ensure everyone applying for employment has an equal experience when attending an interview. Should you have any queries about, or wish to make us aware of, any support required to attend an interview or to work at The Place or would like this pack in alternative format please contact Laura Naldrett, HR and Administration Manager who will be happy to discuss this with you in confidence on 020 7121 1002 or email: laura.naldrett@theplace.org.uk

We apologise that we are unable to respond to every application individually. If you have not heard from us by one month after the closing date, please assume that your application has been unsuccessful.

Thank you for your interest in The Place.

Dec 19

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