THE Joseph Rowntree Theatre is seeking a director of volunteering to join its board.
The new volunteer board member will be jointly in charge of helping to manage and support the York theatre’s volunteer staff.
Dan Shrimpton, the JoRo’s chair of trustees, says: “This role is vitally important to the smooth running of our fabulous community venue. Although unpaid, the post offers enormous rewards to the right candidate, including belonging to a very supportive board and enjoying the magic of theatre first-hand.
“You will be involved in one of the country’s top community-led theatres, working with remarkable people from a wide range of backgrounds to deliver great entertainment to the people of York.”
Barbara Boyce, the JoRo’s director of volunteering already in post, says: “The appointed trustee will be responsible for organising the scheduling of volunteers, both front of house and backstage.
“The workload will be shared between both of us. We are looking to recruit an exceptional person who will be crucial in ensuring the effective staffing of each production staged at the theatre.”
The coordination of the volunteers is done mainly electronically, using an online database and communication tools, hence having strong computer skills is a must.
Established processes are in place already, but there will be opportunities aplenty for the new director of volunteering to make their own mark on how the role is carried out. The successful candidate must have first-class communication skills and enthusiasm for managing volunteers.
The time commitment will vary, depending on the JoRo’s scheduled activities, but it is anticipated the role will usually take up approximately four to six hours per week.
In addition, the new trustee will attend 12 board meetings each year, each lasting approximately two hours, usually on the first Monday of each month. At present, meetings are held over video conferencing, so prospective applicants need to be willing to familiarise themselves with this way of communicating.
All trustees act as duty managers within the theatre several times a month. On a typical show evening, the duty manager arrives by 6pm for a 7.30pm performance, usually leaving the Haxby Road building by 10.30 pm.
Anyone interested and keen to find out more should email volunteering director Barbara Boyce at barbara.boyce@jrtheatre.co.uk to arrange a visit for an informal discussion with two or three trustees, once such meetings are permitted under Covid strictures.
After the informal discussion, an interview with trustees will be held for shortlisted candidates.