CEO Recruitment

Waterperry Opera Festival is seeking to appoint a new CEO to lead and develop the Festival for more people to try opera and be enriched by it. “An emphasis on young talent, with internships and training, gives the event an atmosphere of infectious can-do energy,” wrote The Observer.

Hosted at Waterperry House and Gardens, The Telegraph called us “more Glastonbury than Glyndebourne, the Festival bringing opera to a new generation” where we have welcomed over 22,500 attendees, presenting innovative opera and musical experiences to new audiences, including children, from all backgrounds. Since the first Festival in 2018 the company has created 36 productions while employing 600 artists.

As well as trying to create a new generation of opera goers, Waterperry Opera Festival is also committed to investing in the next generation of opera makers. Many of the artists who have appeared at Waterperry have gone on to perform on some of the world’s most prestigious opera stages.

We are ambitious for the future. We are looking for a new CEO who is an entrepreneurial, collegial and creative leader who can work with the small core-team, founders and artists to realise the vision. They will develop the company, its funding and financial stability, and build our repertoire and audiences in the future. The ability to manage the day to day running of the organisation whilst maintaining a strategic overview is critical to this role, with a small but highly effective committed team in place, an engaged and experienced Board of Trustees and the support of the other co-founders.

We are looking for someone who has experience of managing programmes, budgets, fundraising, marketing, partnerships, and people, who is passionate about attracting audiences to opera. You will no doubt need resilience, collaboration and influencing skills, the ability to learn from experience, be able to mobilise through others and set a bold direction, while listening, learning and being yourself.

Please send your CV (maximum 3 sides of A4) and a covering letter (maximum 2 sides of A4) demonstrating how you meet the requirements of the role set out in the information pack available here to our chair of trustees, Judith Tew judithtew@sky.com no later than 5pm 5th May 2025, explaining your interest in the role.