Job description

Company Overview

Charcoalblue is widely regarded as the most exciting and innovative specialist theatre, live performance, events, and AV consultancy in the world. We imagine, design, and deliver captivating spaces that entertain, educate. and transform individuals through collective experiences. Guided by listening, collaboration, and a passion for innovation, excellence, emotion, and theatricality, we strive to create extraordinary moments. Since our inception in the UK in 2004, Charcoalblue is now the largest organization of its kind, delivering projects to every corner of the globe. We operate as a cohesive and collaborative team with studios in London and Bristol in the UK, New York, Chicago, and San Francisco in the US, and Melbourne in Australia.

Description Of The Role

We are seeking a candidate to join our Theatre Consultancy team in the UK as a Theatre Consultant (Team Leader). You will be responsible for leading projects within our EMEA portfolio, leading and coordinating our internal design team that includes theatre design, acoustics and technical design: stage engineering, stagelighting and audiovisual. You will be the main interface with architects, clients and collaborators and will ensure our deliverables are fully executed to the highest standards for the duration of the project, communicating with and motivating our internal design team and ensuring smooth project delivery throughout. It would be advantageous for you to have prior experience with theatre technical systems, either as a theatre practitioner and/or systems designer and / or experience as a team leader or project manager.

As a Team Leader, you will likely be an experienced theatre or events practitioner, ideally with a proven record in project management, and an excellent general knowledge of all aspects of technical theatre. You will have a strong interest in shaping the way the next generation of performing arts and events spaces are built, a sense of future industry developments and performance practice along with likely technological and digital developments. We anticipate that you will quickly become involved in high-profile projects with significant construction and technical budgets. As well as our UK portfolio of work, we have a growing number of clients in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and therefore domestic and international travel may be required.

Theatre consultancy is an extremely specialised field, and we are not expecting you to be fully experienced in all required disciplines. You will work closely with the existing team leaders, who will provide help, support and training, as required. During the first few weeks of your employment, you will undertake an induction process to familiarise you with the company and to expose you to the Architectural and Construction industry practices, as well as Theatre Consultancy practice. Within a year we would expect you to have developed into an invaluable part of our team and be contributing fully to the success of the company.

You will report to one of our Associate Directors and your project assignments and workload will be managed by your line manager. You will have the chance to meet regularly with your line manager to ensure you are fully supported in your role and since theatre consultancy is a specialist field, we will provide role-specific inductions, and ongoing training to help you succeed.

Key Responsibilities

Act as Team Leader on projects in the EMEA and Asia regions and ensure that the demands of the projects are fully met, adhering to agreed timescales, scope of service and deliverables and budgets.
Act as the main interface and point of contact with clients and collaborators, disseminating information and coordinating with our internal design team.
Arrange and chair internal project meetings including ‘start-up’ meetings, design workshops, coordination meetings, design stage review meetings, value engineering, ‘lessons learned’ and other project related meetings, as required.
In collaboration with our designers, help to specify and design technical theatre systems, advise on backstage planning and venue functionality.
Collaborate with our internal design team to present a holistic design solution which balances all aspects of performance functionality and budget.
Collaborate and communicate with client teams to describe our design, functionality solutions and end user operational considerations and ensure they reflect the right fit which balances the needs of various project constituents.
Attend external meetings with clients, design and engineering collaborators and other stakeholders.
Record meeting minutes and actions for dissemination to our internal design team with clear actions, deliverables and timescales.
Compile interim and end of design stage reports, including budgets for our specialist packages, issue for internal quality assurance review and then issue to our clients.
Become familiar with the RIBA work stages and regional design stages variations, and understand the deliverables and documentation required at each stage.
Arrange, lead and participate in study tours, as required, to precedent venues to the project.
Lead and participate in site visits for commissioning, witness testing, construction progress, and other purposes as required.
Adhere to project commercial goals to ensure project fees are balanced against available team resources, highlighting any changes that may affect profitability to the appropriate Project Principal or Director.
Produce fee proposals and scopes of service as required for potential new projects and produce proposals for any changes to existing projects as required.
Plan your time and resources to ensure your project portfolio is appropriately serviced.
Expand your knowledge of the theatre and construction industry through self-led research and supported by our Training & Development programme.
Attend and actively participate in Team Leader forums and other internal forums as required to enhance and develop your skills and personal development.
Participate with all staff in actively delivering and developing the Charcoalblue core values.
This position will require occasional travel, including international/overseas travel.

Qualifications & Key Skills Required

We are open to receiving applications from candidates with a varied range of experience and education. If you meet most of the qualifications below, we encourage you to apply.

Essential

Minimum five years’ experience of working in live performance or event venues.
Experience communicating with people at all levels and, importantly, feel confident that you can introduce new ideas using your personal experience as a backdrop. You will also be aware of the need to listen, to avoid a ‘one size fits all’ or dictatorial attitude and to take a proactive approach to finding solutions which meet all the constraints of a given project.
You will have a good understanding of the technical infrastructure of a performance venue including lighting, rigging and/or AV systems and an awareness of good backstage architectural planning, seating and sightline issues as well as environmental and acoustical issues.
Demonstrable project management experience along with proven people motivation skills.
Professional experience with the standard suite of Microsoft Office and products.
Professional experience with Adobe Acrobat and / or Bluebeam – we operate a paperless office and use the Adobe/Bluebeam PDF format for all documents.
Professional experience with online and/or offline CAD viewing software.

Desirable

Excellent communication skills through verbal explanations, interpretation of data, sketch drawing, budgets, written communication and formal presentations.
The ability to self-manage and set work plans for the successful delivery of work against deadlines with minimal input from management.
A strong understanding and commitment to environmental and sustainability issues to apply to our projects at all levels.
Higher education qualification or completion of a Technical Theatre/Production Arts course at a Drama School, College or University, is desired.
Experience as a production manager, stage manager, event manager in the live events industry, or technical theatre discipline.
Experience as a consultant, vendor or specialist installer in the world of Architecture, Engineering or Construction with design and/or leadership responsibilities.
A practical knowledge of Theatre Health & Safety practice and it would be advantageous to have some knowledge of current relevant Health & Safety and CRM regulations.
Sensitivity to graphic design and layout, graphical display of information, adhering to design standards, and incorporating corporate branding.
Knowledge and experience of the operation and/or construction of theatre buildings.
Experience of working on capital projects and understanding of contract documentation for technical and seating systems on new construction or architectural renovation projects in the UK and / or EMEA.
Experience in putting together reports and presentations including the ability to lay out text, photographs and drawings will be advantageous. Some ability to manipulate images for inclusion in reports (using InDesign or a similar package) would be advantageous.
Experience working with a distributed global team across different time zones.
Experience and interest in live performance, broadcast, and/or events.
Experience in computer drafting of some form such as AutoCAD or REVIT.

Interpersonal Skills

Highly organised, excellent time management skills, and reliable.
Collaborative and sensitive to the communication needs of others.
Attention to detail and high level of accuracy.
Excellent verbal and written communications skills.
Adept at multi-tasking.
Able to work calmly under pressure.
Friendly and professional manner.
Ability to work successfully on own initiative, as well as part of a local and global team.
Flexibility and adaptability to changing business needs.
Ability to manage and prioritize a diverse workload, sometimes in a pressured environment.
Ability to meet deadlines, as well as maintain both perspective and a sense of humour.
Ability to manage simple budgets and basic finance related tasks, as required.

Apply via charcoalblue.peoplehr.net