Chair of Trustees

Salary: Unpaid

Film & Video Umbrella is seeking an exceptional new Chair to work with its senior management team.

Would you like to contribute to the development of one of the UK’s leading arts organisations specialising in film and moving-image media?

Film and Video Umbrella (FVU) is a pioneering arts charity. For three decades, primarily under the leadership of Director Steven Bode, we have led the way in championing new creative talent and promoting innovative ideas by contemporary artists working with the moving image. During that time, we have commissioned many of the foremost figures in the field – including Ed Atkins, Cory Arcangel, Duncan Campbell, Simon Fujiwara, Isaac Julien, Rachel Maclean, Elizabeth Price and Marianna Simnett – and worked in close collaboration with a diverse range of museums, galleries and other venues, nationally and internationally.

FVU is a registered charity. Core funding comes from Arts Council England as one of their National Portfolio Organisations. We raise the vast majority of our additional funding and income on a project-by-project basis, from trusts, foundations and exhibition venues. Currently, a relatively small proportion of our project funding comes from other sources such as educational bodies, corporate sponsorship, and individual donors, and we supplement our overheads via commercial activities such as consultancy, publication sales and equipment rentals.

Following the news that our current Chair, Eddie Berg, is stepping down this summer and moving to the US, the Board seeks an exceptional new Chair to work with the senior management team to support the organisation through its next phase of development and business planning for the next NPO period. With strong leadership skills, excellent networks across the creative industries and beyond and an enthusiasm for artists working with film and digital media, the new Chair will work alongside a talented and committed group of Trustees with considerable experience and expertise across areas such as fundraising, PR, communications, film & tech.

Candidate profile

The Board is seeking to appoint an experienced leader who is an inspiring communicator and has:

• A significant record of achievement and extensive networks in the creative industries,
  which they are willing to use for the benefit of FVU
• An effective, confident and enabling approach to chairing meetings
• Experience of charity governance, as a Board member
• Diplomatic skills at building and balancing relationships with multiple stakeholders including Arts Council England
• An appreciation and understanding of the role and responsibilities of a national organisation
• Demonstrable business planning skills
• A strong commitment to equality and diversity
• An enthusiasm and empathy for the vision, mission and values of FVU

Role of the Chair

• Develop the charity’s vision and strategy and monitor its implementation with the senior management team and the rest of the Board
• Provide leadership of the Board and set its agenda, ensuring all legal and financial governance duties are effectively met
• Ensure the effectiveness of individual trustees and the Board as a whole
• Work closely with the Director and the Programme Development Director
• Be an ambassador, advocate and spokesperson for the Board, and represent the organisation, together with the Director and the Programme Development Director
• Ensure timely and effective succession planning of Board members, and other key roles
• Build and maintain positive relationships across the Board, leadership team and with key external stakeholders, including existing and potential funders
• Support the leadership team in fundraising for FVU and encourage other Trustees to contribute to this process.

For full details including how to apply, click here.

The closing date for this position is 10/09/2019 at 23:59