Place Partnership Project Lead

• Place Partnership Project Lead
• Berkshire Cultural Skills Hub
• Freelance contract – £225 per day
• Equivalent of 1.5 days per week
• 9 months initial term
• Hybrid: remote, Reading Rep Theatre and partner organisations across Berkshire

Reading Rep Theatre is looking for a freelance Project Lead to help set up and begin delivery of the Berkshire Cultural Skills Hub, our Arts Council England Place Partnership.

Although contracted by Reading Rep Theatre as grant holder, the role is explicitly partnership-facing and will work across the agreed governance structures of the Berkshire Cultural Skills Hub. The Berkshire Cultural Skills Hub brings together Reading Rep, the University of Reading, Activate Learning, the Cultural Education Partnership and cultural delivery partners including CultureMix Arts, Readipop, Jelly and RABBLE. The programme aims to build a joined-up pathway from early cultural engagement into paid work in the creative and screen industries, with a particular focus on underrepresented young people aged 14–24.

We are looking for someone who is collaborative, relationship-led and confident working across multiple organisations. This role is about getting the partnership working well, supporting co-design, setting up clear systems and ensuring the first phase of delivery is ready to progress.

The successful contractor will:

• build strong relationships with cultural and education partners;
• support partners through the co-design phase;
• map partner strengths and contributions;
• coordinate partnership meetings and communication;
• support activity planning and early delivery;
• manage grant administration, records and reporting requirements;
• help establish clear decision-making, evaluation and reporting systems.

We are particularly interested in hearing from people with experience of partnership working, project coordination, creative/cultural skills programmes, education or skills partners, and funder reporting.

Find out more and apply

Download the job pack

To express interest, please send your CV and a short statement of no more than two pages answering the following questions:

1. What experience do you have of building and managing partnerships across multiple organisations?

2. What relevant experience do you have in creative skills, cultural learning, education partnerships or funder reporting?

3. How would you approach building trust and ensuring all partners have an equal voice in the Berkshire Cultural Skills Hub?

Please send your expression of interest to HR@readingrep.com by 31st August 2026.

We also ask applicants to complete a separate equal opportunities monitoring form. This will not be seen by the shortlisting panel.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdi0OIPMmkoGrYiU1ay4fAekws0kJgknevdb9R1LRLyXj54-A/viewform

Reading Rep Theatre is committed to equality of opportunity. Please let us know if you require any access support or reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process.