Watershed Chair of Trustees

Watershed is looking to appoint a Chair of their Board of Trustees.

After 20 years on the Board, James Touzel, our current Chair is stepping down.

We are looking for an experienced, inclusive and thoughtful Chair who understands Watershed’s vision and values, is able to support both creative risk-taking and building financial resilience.

We welcome questions from anyone who is interested. In the first instance please email Laura Stepney on Laura.s@watershed.co.uk and we can put you in touch with a member of the Executive Team, the current Chair or another Trustee to arrange a chat.

What are we looking for?

We are looking for a Chair who is excited about our work but also happy to challenge us in order to help us grow. They will contribute to our thinking, strategy and business planning and be naturally aligned to our values.

Our new Chair doesn’t have to have worked with an organisation like Watershed before. We welcome applications from inside and outside the culture sector and would love to hear about your transferable skills, but would particularly like to hear from individuals who can demonstrate experience in any or all of the following:

• Strategic resilience: to support us in building a sustainable, post-covid business model
• Income generation: to support our work around profitability and fundraising
• Advocacy: to help us demonstrate our value and tell our story more clearly
• Regenerative and responsible capital development: to help us address the challenges we face around our heritage home

Successful applicants will be curious and generous in their thinking, committed to inclusion and social justice and as good at listening as they are at sharing their thoughts. They will understand the tensions and challenges of balancing creative ambition with operational reality and fixed resources and how to build consensus in an interdisciplinary setting.

How to apply

We believe our work will be stronger with greater board diversity and welcome applications from those who bring balance to our current trustee team. Page 17 of Balance and Belonging shows the demographics of our board.

Whilst we hope that trustees will feel comfortable to bring their whole self to their work with us, we expect all members of our Board to consider inclusion in all aspects of what we do, and do not expect individuals to represent specific groups or demographics.

If you are interested in applying to become Chair please take a look at the pdf information pack on our website.

The closing date for this position is 15/11/2023 at 09:00