Officer, Capital Performance, Finance and Risk (COO75)

Contract: Permanent, working 35 hours per week. The Arts Council recognises the benefit of flexible working as a valued part of the way we work, and welcomes applications from individuals who require flexibility.

Salary: £33,643 per annum plus benefits including a final salary pension scheme, generous annual leave, and flexible and hybrid working.

Location: Manchester, Birmingham, Cambridge, Bristol or Brighton. The role will be based in any of the locations listed; however, we are operating a hybrid way of working and support our staff to make use of remote working options when combined with regular on-site contact days with other members of the team, normally 1–2 days a week.

This is an exciting opportunity to join the Capital Team as an Officer in a permanent role. Arts Council England delivers a range of capital investment programmes that contribute to the outcomes of Let’s Create, our 10‑year strategy. Capital Investment Programmes are programmes that invest in assets or infrastructure to support the long sustainability of creative and cultural organisations across England. These programmes include:

• The Creative Foundations Fund (£485m 2025/26 – 2029/30)
• Museum Estate and Development Fund (£126.25m 2025/26 – 2029/30)
• Libraries Improvement Fund (£25.5m 2025/26 – 2029/30)

You will report to the Senior Officer, Capital Performance, Finance and Risk and work across the Capital Team, including close working with the Relationships and Monitoring sub‑team to provide administrative and organisational support for the financial monitoring of capital investment.

You will assist Senior Managers and Senior Officers across the capital team in delivering our performance monitoring, risk, and assurance functions, ensuring a consistent approach across our capital investments to protect our investment. Working with the Senior Officer, Capital: Performance, Finance and Risk, you will complete assurance activities on individual capital investments as set out in the agreed Assurance Framework for the capital programmes to ensure compliance with our grant agreements. You will carry out assurance activities on individual capital investments to support compliance reporting against our monitoring requirements. This will include tasks such as gathering evidence from grant recipients of compliance with the Terms and Conditions of grants.

You should have experience of providing business and programme support. Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, as well as financial literacy and the ability to interpret complex information, are essential. Experience working to deadlines with competing priorities is highly desirable.

Arts Council are committed to being an inclusive employer, building an inclusive workplace, and recruiting a workforce that is as diverse as the communities we serve. We welcome you to apply for a role at Arts Council, whatever background you bring. If there are any adjustments that would support you in your application, please do let us know when you apply. We participate in the ‘Offer an Interview’ scheme which means that we offer an interview to any disabled candidates who meet the essential criteria for the role they’re applying to, subject to the volume of applications received. Disabled candidates, those living with a long‑term condition and/or neurodivergent candidates may be eligible for this scheme. The scheme uses the definition of disability from the Equality Act 2010 to determine eligibility. More information is included in the application guidance.

Arts Council offers a range of benefits to our employees including hybrid and flexible working, a generous annual leave allowance and the Arts Council Retirement Plan – a final salary scheme. Our Code of Ethics requires that employees of the Arts Council are not able to receive an Arts Council grant, investment or loan funding – either in person, as a member of a partnership, or for any organisation they own. There are also limitations on board or CEO positions employees can hold in organisations we fund. We believe our recruitment process should be inclusive and transparent.

Applications Closing date: 09:00am, 27 March 2026. Interviews (virtual) 10, 13, 14 April 2026. Please note: We do NOT accept CVs or cover letters as part of our recruitment process. If you require any documentation in an alternative format, please contact recruitment@artscouncil.org.uk.