Royal Philharmonic Society
For over 200 years, the RPS has been at the heart of music, creating opportunities for musicians to excel, and championing the vital role that music plays in all our lives.
It all began in 1813 when a group of musicians set out to raise awareness of their work and established a series of orchestral concerts in London. The Society’s regular performances attracted world-class artists including Mendelssohn and Wagner, and it commissioned exhilarating new music for an eager public to hear: most famously, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. In its founding gesture, the Society created a lasting culture. Other orchestras found their footing and their music resounds across Britain today.
200 years later, the Society – a registered charity – continues to celebrate and empower musicians who, like our founders, strive to enrich society with all that they do. Through grants, commissions, courses and performance opportunities, we help exciting young performers and composers fulfil their calling. Through the renowned annual RPS Awards, we celebrate the quality, impact and ingenuity of the finest artists and creative forces at work today. Through RPS Membership we aim to cultivate national pride and curiosity in classical music, and rouse audiences to recognise the vital and valued role they play in the country's thriving musical heritage. Through all our endeavours, we are dedicated to proving classical music’s rightful and powerful place in society.
royalphilharmonicsociety.org.uk
Above: Chineke! Britain’s first Black, Asian and ethnically diverse orchestra – inaugural recipients of the RPS Gamechanger Award in 2019; baritone Roderick Williams and pianist Joanna MacGregor opening up the process of rehearsing at a recent RPS event | Overleaf: participants in an RPS Women Conductors course, presented in association with the Royal Opera House and National Opera Studio
Cover: RPS Gold Medal winner Jessye Norman; RPS Award winner Streetwise Opera; RPS beneficiaries, the Barbican String Quartet; Ludwig van Beethoven whose Symphony No.9 the RPS commissioned; RPS Award winner, the National Open Youth Orchestra; composer Anna Meredith who the RPS supported as she was establishing her career; RPS Award winner ‘Classically Yours’ presented by Orchestras Live and East Riding Council in Yorkshire; conductor Alice Farnham leading one of our RPS Women Conductors courses
Role overview
The RPS has a small team in which you can play a big part. The role of Administrator is central to everything we do. The productivity and efficiency of the charity relies on having a devoted and enthusiastic Administrator in post.
This is a promising moment in the history of the RPS. We have embarked on a new Strategic Plan, set to consolidate and advance everything we do to fulfil our charitable object of furthering curiosity, engagement and pride in classical music. We are evolving each of the step-change opportunities we offer musicians, from our acclaimed Women Conductors courses, addressing an age-old gender inequality in classical music, to our Composers programme for those starting out in the profession. As we newly, substantially set about building Membership of the RPS – welcoming and drawing music lovers and music makers closer together – we have also introduced a new series of filmed talks and events in which great artists and unsung musical heroes share their stories: offering a renewed, relatable picture of classical music-making today. Our venerable RPS Awards – often regarded as the BAFTAs of classical music – are evolving too: this year saw us broadcast them online for the first time and introduce a new award nominated by the general public, honouring inspirational achievements in lockdown.
The Administrator not only has a key role in all these initiatives, but also in ensuring and enhancing an efficient organisational foundation upon which all such ventures run. Reporting to the General Manager, you will bring meticulous care and energy to fulfilling and fine-tuning the elemental details that make all our activities a success. You will take pride in helping to deliver our range of events and the potentially life-changing opportunities we offer musicians, going ‘the extra mile’ to reach the most deserving candidates, and working closely with a range of partner organisations, industry professionals and the beneficiaries themselves year-round. You will often be the first point-of-contact for people approaching the RPS, applying the same convivial spirit and stewardship here that you will bring to overseeing our social media and some of our digital communications. Your astute organisational instincts and scrutiny will also be vital to the smooth daily running and financial management of the charity.
In return for bringing the best of yourself to the role, we are dedicated to helping you amass the experience, expertise and contacts to help you thrive in the long term. Taking on the role of Administrator will give you the opportunity to:
• assume a central position in a much-respected, well-connected organisation at the heart of the music profession, through which you can attain many lasting contacts
• develop valuable skills across all aspects of classical music administration, putting you
in strong stead for future challenges
• possess a prominent, respected voice in your organisation and how it is efficiently run
• be integral to a mission that aims to transform the scope of the organisation and all the
good it does for classical music
If you are interested in applying for the role, please take time to familiarise yourself with
everything we currently do on our website at royalphilharmonicsociety.org.uk.
Key responsibilities
Courses and Opportunities
• Play a lead part in organising our Women Conductors courses, Composers
programme, Instrument Purchase grants, and other opportunities annually offered to musicians
• Apply an enquiring and targeted approach to promoting all such
opportunities, enlisting colleagues sector-wide to help spread the word and identify talent nationwide
• Deliver the components of each opportunity through timely planning and fostering
strong contacts with partner organisations, industry professionals and the beneficiaries themselves
Events and Awards
• Coordinate key aspects of our programme of talks and events, planning logistics to run
smoothly, overseeing attendee lists, and ensuring all guests are warmly welcomed
• Play a central role in the planning and delivery of the RPS Awards: welcoming and
to feature in the presentation and publicity, processing bookings and liaising with guests, and overseeing logistics of the event, its broadcast and its promotion
Communications
• Assemble digital updates to keep the profession engaged with the RPS and its
activities; proactively manage our record of professional contacts to ensure wide and optimal reach
• Curate the charity’s social media profile, ensuring it strongly communicates our
opportunities and message, and tactfully engages and interacts with followers and colleagues sector-wide
• Take pride in accurately maintaining and updating the RPS website using our content
management system
Finance and Administration
• Take primary responsibility for the charity’s day-to-day financial transactions, ensuring
timely payments and invoicing, bookkeeping with exceptional care, and compiling monthly dispatches of financial records for our accountant
• Oversee digital systems and calendar, and office supplies and equipment, ensuring the
organisation runs as efficiently and resourcefully as it can
General
• Be a bright, engaging first point-of-contact for organisational enquiries on the phone,
in person and digitally
• Support the Relationships Manager in initiatives to cultivate RPS Members, and
undertake any other tasks as required to support the General Manager and Chief Executive
Person specification
With a big mission but a small team, the RPS relies on dedicated, hard-working staff who come to work each day ready and eager to make a difference.
Given the part it plays in all our activities, for this role we are seeking a capable individual who has already proven themselves organisationally, demonstrating meticulous care and attention to detail in a range of responsibilities. You should know what it takes to work in a busy arts organisation, and be able to fulfil numerous priorities with efficiency and spirit.
Essential
• At least one year’s professional administrative experience in an arts or educational
setting
• Proven ability to prioritise and balance simultaneous responsibilities, and to work
productively at a significant pace but always with care
• Exceptional attention to detail and strong numeracy that you have demonstrably applied
in a professional setting
• Proficiency at communicating confidently and warmly in person, by phone and in
writing with a wide range of people
• Experience of using digital marketing and social media to engage audiences
• Experience of maintaining records accurately
• Active interest and engagement in classical music
• Fluency in Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, Outlook, etc)
Useful
• Experience of basic bookkeeping and an organisation’s financial transactions
• Familiarity with updating a website using a content management system
• Experience of being a representative or first point-of-contact for an organisation
• Familiarity with communication software (such as Mailchimp), and design / media
software (such as Photoshop, InDesign, iMovie)
Terms
Given its centrality to everything we do, we are looking for someone to undertake the role of Administrator full-time, working at our London office. Currently, owing to the pandemic, we are working partly in the office and partly at home but – all being well – hope to be back full-time in the office in early 2021.
Regular hours of work are Monday to Friday, 9.30am – 5.30pm plus occasional evening and weekend activities.
The Royal Philharmonic Society’s office is at 48 Great Marlborough Street, London W1F 7BB.
Annual leave is 25 days plus statutory bank holidays. Salary: up to £24,000 depending on experience
How to apply
To apply, you should email the following to Robin Sheffield, General Manager at robin@philharmonicsociety.uk by the closing date of 11am on Tuesday 9 February
2021:
• a covering letter of no more than two pages detailing your interest and suitability for
this role, saved as a PDF (not a Word document)
• an up-to-date CV of no more than two pages outlining your relevant experience, saved
as a PDF (not a Word document)
Please note that late or incomplete applications cannot be accepted.
We hope to invite select candidates for an initial interview, social-distancing permitting, on Tuesday 23 February.
If you are interested in applying but would like to find out more first, we’d be delighted to hear from you. We warmly welcome you to contact us with any residual queries or to ask for an informal chat. In the first instance, please email robin@philharmonicsociety.uk. 17 December and 3 January will be answered as soon as we can the week commencing
