Recruiting: History Research Group Lead

The application deadline for this role has now passed. No further applications will be considered.


Area: Research & Development

Fee: These fees have been resourced from a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant award. The fee is broken down as follows:

  • £600: consisting of “10 x 4hr Research Group Lead facilitations at £15ph (1hr prep, 2hrs delivery, 1hr clear up/report)”
  • £441: consisting of “recommendation analysis and report”
  • £551: consisting of “Specified time dedicated to: Setting up JDs and Person Spec for the History lead, placing ads and hosting interviews and project handover – 2.5 days”
  • £210: consisting of “2 half days training for volunteers (pay facilitator)”
  • £2,880: consisting of “20% Content Coordinator (based on £150 day rate)- reporting on project and social media content”
  • = £4,682 TOTAL FEE for roughly 31 day’s work.

Shares of an additional £4,411, ringfenced for “Quote and story building for 20 new plaques (7 existing plaques and 13 identified sites) – 0.5days each” may be accessed *if* the above work is conducted satisfactorily and the relationship is such that it makes sense to commission this work either following -or in league with- the above work. Applicants should make it clear if they hope to be considered for this, too.

The History Research Lead Facilitator will hold a purse of £275 for volunteer travel and £70 for volunteer refreshments, which will be balanced and returned to the Artistic Director and CEO, in full, at the end of the project.

Contract Type: Freelance fixed term contract

Responsible to: Artistic Director and CEO

Deadline for applications: 9am Mon 16 Aug 2021. Interview within the week for project start soon after

Application criteria: Cover letter stating a) why you want the project and b) why and how your experience or knowledge makes you the idea candidate. No more than 2 sides.

Overview

Liverpool Irish Festival seek a History Research Lead Facilitator to head up an exciting new project. Over the next 5 years, Liverpool Irish Festival, alongside our city and community partners, will undertake the revitalisation of the historic Liverpool Irish Famine Trail. The Trail will be restored with the involvement of local communities, providing an invigorated cultural asset for the city, and creating new roles and creative commissions in the process.

The History Research Lead Facilitator will recruit and lead a team of volunteers (hopefully c.5-10) to uncover and digitise the work of the Great Hunger Commemoration Committee using Liverpool Record Office records. You will assist with finding relevant information about each of the identified sites, their current custodians and in documenting the plaques and sites ready for application and web uploads.

The successful candidate will work closely with their team of volunteers to document, populate and develop the Trail and to develop a social media campaign that helps to communicate findings, developments and process to the Festival’s audience.

Whilst a relevant BA Degree or content creation and delivery experience is desirable, it is not essential. What we require is someone keen to learn, support our charitable aims and transfer skills to develop creative content that communicates our programme, grows audience and builds our artistic reputation. Similarly, arts and culture sector experience is beneficial, but not critical. Previous experience in leading a research project and handling volunteers is not essential, but would be beneficial. Applicants are asked to review our Artistic Policy for details on our ethos, methodology and aims.

History Research Lead Facilitator: Responsibilities

Reporting directly to Liverpool Irish Festival’s Artistic Director and CEO and against a pre-drawn activity plan, the History Research Lead Facilitator will be responsible for collating previous research, whilst engaging in new research relating to the Irish Famine and its impact on the city of Liverpool.

Archiving, transcribing and digitising research will be a key part of the job, along with recruiting and managing a volunteer team. You will coordinate travel expenses and refreshments for your volunteer team, totalling a maximum of £345, therefore rudimentary financial planning and accountability will be required.

The goal is to develop a cohesive story, using research resources to develop a historic narrative for the Famine Trail. The successful candidate will be expected to work with the Festival to generate interest in the project locally and internationally. They will agree outcomes with the Artistic Director and CEO in order to lead the team, conduct the research and produce a handover report -including digitised images- to build usable assets for the Trail.

The commissionee will work with the Artistic Director and CEO to…

  • establish a realistic target for reach using our platforms
  • coordinate a comms campaign with the Festival
  • create dynamic/engaging public campaign that raises awareness for the work including web content and social media coverage
  • foster positive relationships with volunteers
  • consider custodianship and stewarding of our annual partner list to capitalise on reach
  • pitch achievable creative ideas to the Festival to improve the work on the Trail
  • develop digital content and opportunities, using our brand voice, imagery and messages
  • set, manage and attain content goals
  • set up reporting mechanisms for the Trail programme
  • write copy and develop content for the Festival website and the project as required
  • play an active part in ensuring environmental sustainability and promote carbon reduction initiatives wherever possible.

The successful applicant willl work alone to…

  • research, identify, recommend and generate creative ideas, stories and content
  • generate and upload exciting and engaging digital content to Festival platforms
  • proactively initiate creative outputs, web content and social media posts
  • coordinate aspects of reporting alongside campaigns
  • manage project workflow and oversee day to day milestones
  • where relevant, record and track event/audience/prospect data and information, including budget information, registration lists and campaign results
  • identify networks that may attract connections and reach
  • complete day-to-day administration
  • help ensure the smooth operation of the office and other duties as assigned
  • have an awareness of, and comply with, rules and legislation pertaining to Health and Safety at work and to adhere to the procedures as set out in the Festival’s Policy Pack
  • adhere to other guidelines, procedures and policies provided by the Festival
  • balance the volunteer expenses to present at end of project..

The role is based in Liverpool and is designed primarily for home working, though in person meetings will be required. It is possible the role may require you to travel outside Liverpool (with travel costs arranged via the Festival). This will be in liaison with the postholder and wholly in relation to the post, training for the post or fundraising efforts.

Specification for History Research Lead Facilitator

Essential

  • Ability to
    • work well in one-to-one and team environments to promote charity initiatives
    • prioritise and manage multiple milestones efficiently
    • embody and advocate the Festival’s mission, vision and values
    • interpret a brief, incorporating brand assets, tone and needs
  • Knowledge on making content appropriate for the platform on which is it sited
  • Professional written and interpersonal skills are essential for communicating with volunteers and the public
  • Strong computer and English literacy skills, especially around SEO and writing for the web
  • An interest in fundraising for an arts and culture charity
  • A creative thinker with a will to test and pursue ideas, with high-quality control settings
  • A person who can sustain their energy for creating content, taking in to account political sensitivities and charity position
  • Confidence in testing new systems and ideas to create interesting and relevant content
  • Horizon scanner, keen to adopt new technology without losing existing audiences
  • Ability to work from home (e.g., had access to internet and Office conversant packages) and to work occasional (planned) evenings and weekends. *

* The Liverpool Irish Festival maintains an office in Baltic Creative CIC, which may be accessible if needed. However, computers are limited and -whilst this is a freelance position- IT is not available.

Desirable

  • 1-3 years of experience working in project management
  • Experience working with marketing and social media campaigns
  • Strong interpersonal skills, with a good sense of accountability, strong dependability, and impeccable integrity. This person will need to be able to show outward good humour when the chips are down
  • Someone with independent thinking, who is self-motivated to ask questions to minimise procrastination and challenge inaction
  • Someone who is emotionally intelligent and self-aware, with the ability to ask for/receive and offer assistance or recommendation, when and where needed
  • Experience or knowledge of GDPR, SEO and handling community news updates (e.g., donor thank yous, enewsletter content, etc.)
  • Commitment to social justice, equality of opportunity and intersectional positivity
  • Ability to generate interest in the project
  • Ability to communicate complex and emotive topics to different audiences through a range of data, written and verbal methods
  • Competency with information architecture and user experience best practices
  • Experience working with a diverse team and promoting a positive brand image
  • develop reporting to provide accurate forecasts and indications of campaign success/failure
  • proof-reading ability.

This job description and specification is not an exhaustive description of the role. Rather, it is indicative of the types of responsibility covered by this job. Liverpool Irish Festival reserves the right to make reasonable changes, as necessary, commensurate with the post held and to review as required.

This project and commission are funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

You can download a PDF of this information, here.

Please submit your application to our Artistic Director and CEO, Emma Smith, on [email protected]