Jobs

The Role

BIF is seeking an experienced and organised Artistic Administrator to play a key role in planning and delivering the Festival’s artistic programme. This is a permanent part-time position (three or four days a week) based at the Festival office in Buxton, with some home working possible between August and February. From March to July, office attendance and evening/weekend work during rehearsals and performances will be required.

The Artistic Administrator will report to the Artistic Director and work closely with the Chief Executive and the rest of the small, collaborative team. The role requires excellent organisation, negotiation and communication skills, with the ability to manage a wide range of tasks and deadlines.

Key Responsibilities

• Artist Management: Administer contracts, scheduling and communications for singers, conductors and instrumentalists; manage auditions; oversee the Young Artist Programme; liaise with agents; ensure visas, payments and financial records are processed accurately.
• Orchestral Coordination: Support rehearsals, recordings and performances; manage schedules and payments; provide logistical support for orchestral operations.
• Production Support: Organise artistic elements of productions and events; liaise with venues on technical and logistical matters; oversee budgets; arrange travel and accommodation for artists in Buxton and London.
• Library: Prepare, circulate and file orchestral scores and parts; maintain the library database.
• Planning & Administration: Maintain artistic planning documents; support fundraising and future bookings; handle PRS returns; provide accurate budget information; contribute to internal and external communications.

As a member of a small team, the Artistic Administrator will also provide general office and event support as required.

Person Specification

The successful candidate will be:

• Experienced in arts administration (2+ years preferred), ideally within opera or classical music.
• Highly organised with excellent IT, budgeting and scheduling skills.
• A strong communicator with proven negotiation ability and attention to detail.
• Able to work flexibly, calmly under pressure, and collaboratively in a small team.
• Enthusiastic about opera, classical music and the performing arts.

Desirable skills include experience of music library management, foreign languages, and previous work in a small organisation.

Terms

• Salary: £30,000–£32,000 pro rata, dependent on experience.
• Hours: 3–4 days per week, permanent contract, with TOIL for evening/weekend work.
• Location: Buxton, Derbyshire, with some home working outside the Festival season.
• Holidays: 25 days pro rata plus bank holidays.
• Benefits: Employee pension scheme.

How to Apply

Please send a CV and covering letter to recruitment@buxtonfestival.co.uk by 5pm, Friday 19 September 2025. Interviews will be held from 22 September.

Are you a strategic and creative marketeer passionate about the performing arts? Buxton International Festival is looking for a  dynamic Marketing Manager to lead our marketing, communications, audience development, and box office strategies. This is a unique opportunity to shape how one of the UK’s leading arts festivals is seen, experienced, and remembered.

You’ll join a small, high-performing team delivering an annual programme of opera, classical music, jazz, and books. With community, accessibility, and engagement at the core, you’ll create bold campaigns, manage digital content, and connect with audiences to drive ticket sales and grow our reach.

Location: Buxton (50% hybrid Sept – Mar)

Contract: Full-time, permanent (with 6 month probation period), 3 or 4 days per week

Salary: £35,000 FTE + benefits

To apply, email your CV and cover letter to: recruitment@buxtonfestival.co.uk.  AI generated applications will not be considered.

Deadline: 22 August 2025.  Interviews in the last week of August 2025

Click here to download the full job description

Be part of bringing live performances to Festival audiences

Buxton International Festival is a celebration of opera, music and books committed to delivering high quality live performances in the beautiful spa town of Buxton each July.

The Festival uses 5 venues in the town centre to host over 100 events – up to 10 per day.  BIF has always enjoyed the support of volunteers, particularly during the Festival period to help us welcome and look after our audience.  To deliver the Festival we need more volunteers than we have ever had before.  Can you help?

Benefits of being a BIF volunteer:

• Enjoy the buzz of the Festival

• Grow your social circle and meet new people

• Access free training and enhance your personal skills, knowledge and experience

• Volunteering is good for your mental and physical health

• Get to see some of the BIF events

• Work as part of the awesome BIF team

• Be able to say “I was part of that”

BIF volunteers are asked to:

• Provide a friendly and welcoming face for visitors

• Treat people with respect and courtesy

• Provide information about BIF to our visitors, answering queries and giving directions

• Seating the audience when venue doors open

• Working the microphone during Q&A sessions

• Sitting in on events

• Turn up on time (including training sessions)

• Commit to at least 5 event shifts (roughly an hour longer than the show)

Are you interested in being part of something special?

Please fill in the online form here and you will hear back from BIF to let you know the next steps.  Even if you have volunteered for BIF in the past, please fill in the form.  Our preference is to contact you by email, but where no email address is provided, we will telephone you.  If, when all your questions have been answered you are happy to join the BIF25 team, you will be sent an event rota to identify the shifts that you are available for.

We provide a festival briefing on Tuesday, 8 July 2025, coving a range of issues including health and Safety and festival procedures, which all volunteers need to attend.

Buxton International Festival is recruiting for committed people, full of creativity and initiative, to act as District Community volunteers for us, helping to promote our events both in person and via social media, and helping us to reach deeper into local communities.

As a community volunteer you will spread the word about our upcoming Festival to your networks and throughout your local community and have the opportunity to offer your own ideas for improving our marketing.

Although this is an unpaid position, being a volunteer for BIF comes with some perks including invitations to our launch event and post Festival thank you party. If you would like to work with one of the country’s finest festivals and become part of the BIF family, then this is for you.

Role description – To distribute brochures/posters/flyers – To promote BIF’s events and exclusive offers on your different social media platforms, this mainly involves reposting what BIF posts.– To promote BIF’s events and exclusive offers through word-of-mouth– To come up with new exciting marketing ideas to promote the Festival as a DCV.

What we are looking for– Confident, articulate people, willing to take on new challenges, who are skilled at working on their own initiative– Enthusiasm for music/books/opera and the work of Buxton International Festival– Potential interest in learning more about marketing and promotion

There is no age limit on this position, and we are happy to be flexible to fit in around your commitments elsewhere.

What’s in it for you?– Unique work experience, working directly with BIF’s marketing team.

– The opportunity to learn more about marketing, develop your creativity in this area, and put your ideas into practice– Invitation to a BIF event– Opportunities to meet the BIF team and attend a Team meeting focused on marketing.

We are currently looking for volunteers in each of the following areas:

Derby

Sheffield

Manchester

London

Liverpool

Birmingham

Stoke on Trent

Bakewell

Glossop

Ashbourne

Matlock

Leek

Baslow

New Mills

Marple

Chapel-en-leFrith

Whaley Bridge

Macclesfield

Stockport

Altrincham

Sale

Knutsford

Wilmslow

To apply, please send an email to James Fairclough at james.fairclough@buxtonfestival.co.uk outlining your interest in the role.