Push the Boat Out: Edinburgh’s International Poetry Festival is a brand-new platform for poetry, spoken word, and hip hop, delivering our first outing October 14-17^th 2021.

We are seeking an exceptional candidate to join our team to support the development of our program for Push the Boat Out. We are a small, new, organization at a very exciting time in our journey and are looking for a collaborative, flexible, proactive colleague to work with our festival management team to deliver our first iteration to the highest possible standard.

Our ideal candidate is resourceful, practical, and loves taking an idea and making it happen. With a focus on getting things done, we’re also looking for a team member who has exceptional communication skills, understands the importance of administration in delivering complex projects, and is a flexible and resilient team player. As the festival is new we are keen to work with people with a broad, adaptable skill set and attitude. The role is focused on the development and delivery of the program and supporting the participation of our poets, but also on supporting the overall evolution of the festival as we deliver our first piece.

Key Responsibilities

• Working with the director to understand the requirements of a particular strand of the festival (Poetry in the City, Walking with Poets, Sound & Vision etc.) and to help achieve it
  • This includes program planning, coordinating technical requirements, sourcing archive material, preparing material for presentation in the festival
• Working with the director to respond to queries and requests from program contributors to ensure all guests are fully briefed and happy with their involvement in the festival, troubleshooting as necessary
• Coordinating invites, liaising with artists and arranging their participation in the festival, including booking travel and accommodation, and producing itineraries
• Coordinating program information (headshots, bios, event descriptions) for the festival program and marketing info
• Working with our digital event partner and operations manager to manage production of our online strands as required
• Supporting the participation of poets and writers during the festival itself, ensuring a high quality, seamlessly organized experience for everyone involved, including managing program/artist volunteers

Required Skills and Experience

• Relevant demonstrable programming or producing experience in a similar role, ideally with experience in festival delivery (minimum 3 years)
• Direct experience working with writers or artists in a similar role
• Creative approach to problem-solving, able to respond proactively and with imagination to the challenges presented by working in a shifting environment in a new organization
• Excellent communication skills, personable, able to handle challenging situations with professionalism and warmth
• Administrative skills – meticulous, detail-oriented, extremely well organized and able to drive and deliver to organizational deadlines
• A great in-team communicator, with a willingness to pitch in, and the ability to remain calm under pressure and in dealing with unexpected situations

Desirable Skills and Experience

• A strong interest/knowledge of literature, poetry, spoken word, and the magic of festivals

Fee

£150/day, totalling 30 days

Flexible and to be negotiated, initially approximately 1 day/week as required in June & July rising as we approach the festival itself.

Application Deadline

5pm on May 31st.

We welcome and encourage candidates from a diverse range of backgrounds and protected characteristics and will happily accommodate any access needs. Please get in touch if you have any questions or we can support you in any way with this.

Applications including a CV and covering letter as well as any questions regarding the position should be directed to info@pushtheboatout.org.