Head of Culture and Creative Economy

Date: 18 Aug 2026

Job Location:
Gloucester

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This is a Gloucester City Council job.

Job Title: Head of Culture and Creative Economy
Job Location: Gloucester City Council
Salary: £69,392- £84,154 per annum
Hours per Week: 37.00
Contract Type: Fixed Term
Duration: Two Years
Closing Date: 27/09/26
Job Requisition Number: 14755
This post is open to job share

We are looking for a special person to take on this exciting role which is a new and innovative partnership between Gloucester City Council and the University of Gloucestershire. This is a fantastic opportunity to lead Gloucester City Council’s in-house cultural service, managing relationships with funders and stakeholders and leading on several transformative projects for the city’s arts, culture and heritage sectors:

Be Project Champion for a new mixed art form venue, the Greyfriars Cultural Centre and Performance Centre, due to open in April 2028
Lead a cross-city partnership delivering a major culture and heritage programme to commemorate the bicentenary of the opening of Gloucester Docks
Implement the short-term recommendations of a roadmap to transform the Museum of Gloucester
Working with Gloucester Culture Trust and the University of Gloucestershire, create the action plan and implement the city’s new Cultural Strategy
Developing this exciting partnership between the City Council and the University to build the cultural system locally.

Gloucester is an important small city in the SW of England with a fast-developing cultural offer that is in the process of significant regeneration and investment.

This role presents a unique opportunity for the right person to lead Gloucester through a period of growth within its cultural offer.

Identified as a Priority Place by Arts Council England, Gloucester has attracted both capital and revenue cultural investment into the city’s cultural venues and the city has a number of organisations that are part of the Arts Council’s National Portfolio (NPO) scheme for 2023-2026. The ambition around culture remains high and this is demonstrated by its Cultural Strategy and the strength of the ongoing investment by into its culture and services. Levelling Up funding has been received for Greyfriars Quarter, which will unlock the development of a new cultural venue in the heart of the city.

The Head of Service for Culture and Leisure is a key role in the strategic development and delivery of the city’s cultural offer for the city of Gloucester. The post-holder will work with Gloucester Culture Trust and others to deliver the strategy and cultural vision for the city. In addition, you will lead the delivery of the city’s vibrant programme across its venues and public spaces, parks and squares.

The scope includes overall responsibility for the Museum of Gloucester and its collections, Gloucester Guildhall and the award-winning Blackfriars Priory. It includes the outdoor festivals and events programme and delivery of key events, as well as film and site permissions and the marketing of Gloucester through the Visit Gloucester channels.

You’ll also have line management responsibility for the areas of Cultural Development, Visitor Experience and Tourism and Destination Marketing and be the commissioner for Leisure services contract. You’ll be a great communicator, able to inspire and successfully deliver change and improvements.

Up to 2 years.
Full time
Gloucester/ hybrid
Job share considered

For an informal discussion please contact Ruth Saunders, Corporate Director at Gloucester City Council, ruth.saunders@gloucester.gov.uk, or Professor Angus Pryor, Head of School for Creative Arts at the University of Gloucestershire, apryor@glos.ac.uk.

Additional Information

To access the Job Profile, please follow the link below: -

Head of Culture and Creative Economy Job Profile

Applications from any Gloucester City Council's employees who are currently on the redeployment register or at risk of redundancy will be considered first at shortlisting stage.

The council is not currently able to offer sponsorship in this role. Candidates will need to have right to work that enables them to commit to at least 6 months employment. Right to work is not transferable from a sponsored role held with another employer.

Gloucester City Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people or vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Equality and Diversity

We recognise the positive value of equality and diversity and pride ourselves on growing a high-performing workforce that is diverse, skilled and talented; that represents the community it serves.

We aim to recruit a diverse pool of talent and will recruit the person who is most suited to the job without regard to their race, colour, religion or belief, age, nationality, ethnicity, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status, caring responsibilities or disability.

We are a disability confident employer committed to removing barriers to employment to those with disabilities or long-term health conditions. Reasonable adjustments will be made to the recruitment procedure to ensure that no-one is disadvantages because of their disability. Please contact the recruitment team if you require support or reasonable adjustments during the application or recruitment process recruitment@gloucestershire.gov.uk

If you wish to apply for this position on a secondment basis, please obtain approval from your current line manager that you may be released on a secondment before submitting an application form.

It is a legal requirement, under the Immigration Act 2016, that anyone appointed to a 'customer facing role' must be able to demonstrate an ability to fulfil all spoken aspects of the role with confidence in fluent English.