Artistic Director and Chief Executive Officer National Centre for Writing

We are looking for someone who has a dynamic, forward-looking, collaborative and inspirational leadership and working style, and who would enjoy the opportunity to shape the future of NCW and the literature sector in the UK and beyond. We are looking for an individual who thinks strategically, is comfortable working with partners and myriad stakeholders both inside and outside of the organisation, and who has a passion for the work NCW is doing at Dragon Hall and online.

You will be someone who can build trust, lead, and inspire others through your communication style, someone who can develop and implement a creative vision, identify new ways of generating income and who can interrogate business models to ensure financial resilience. You will have an understanding derived from your own experience of the local, regional, national and international ecologies within which NCW is operating.

Your experience and knowledge will include a working understanding of the complexities of running an organisation that is both a charity and a company limited by guarantee. Ideally you will have held a Chief Executive or equivalent leadership role before, within an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation, and you should have an understanding of the challenges involved in operating a cultural venue and managing commercial activities within the creative and cultural sector.

Your understanding of NCW’s work and values, your capacity to lead and inspire, and your ability to work with the Board and SMT to deliver a robust and financially literate strategy are the most important things that will be considered.

About the Organisation

The National Centre for Writing (NCW) is a dynamic literature house for contemporary writing, housed in the Grade‑I listed medieval Dragon Hall, located on the historic King Street on the banks of the Wensum River in the heart of Norwich, England’s first UNESCO City of Literature. This landmark venue consists of a 120‑seat venue for live events, workshop spaces, a podcast studio, community kitchen, and accommodation for writers’ residencies, as well as office space for our core team of 18 staff members.

NCW exists to inspire connection, resilience and understanding through writing, literary translation, reading and the exploration of ideas. We are a place for the exchange of stories. NCW is a creatively distinctive, nationally networked and financially resilient centre of excellence that delivers benefits to writers, literary translators, the literature sector, and our physical and digital communities.

Founded as New Writing Partnership in 2003 and becoming Writers’ Centre Norwich in 2008, the organisation is a leading voice in the UK and international literature sector as well as a key member of Arts Council England’s group of seven regional writer and literature development organisations. Since our founding in the early 2000s, National Centre for Writing has grown into an important landmark in the UK’s literature sector and a thriving cultural centre for Norwich and our region.

We are the focal office for Norwich’s UNESCO City of Literature status (England’s first city, recognised in 2012) and continue to play a vital part in the cultural, civic and economic life of the city and county. In summer 2018, NCW was launched with the redevelopment of Dragon Hall following a significant capital redevelopment project. We are an Arts Council England (ACE) National Portfolio Organisation (NPO). We hold close strategic partnerships with the University of East Anglia, Norwich City Council and Norfolk County Council.