Applications are now open for The Extant Hive!
Collective Dreaming Residency, Hawkwood College, January 2026
About
Extant is the UK’s leading professional performing arts company that explores visual impairment to create unique and innovative artistic experiences. We place visually impaired people at the centre of all we do: from the productions we create, to the artists we support to build deeper careers in the sector, to the audiences we perform to and the participants we work with.
Founded in 1997, Extant will celebrate its 30th anniversary in 2027 and as part of this journey, we are transforming. Our new leadership team which will be called The Extant Hive.
We are recruiting: two Performing Arts Leads, a Strategic Lead and an Innovation and Partnerships Lead (non-arts experience required) and have been an Arts Council England (ACE) National Portfolio Organisation (NPO) since 2010. We are currently in receipt of NPO extension funding for 2026/27 which is expected to continue in 2027/28.
Extant has made a commitment to working towards all its internal roles being held by visually impaired* people by 2033. The Extant Hive will begin this process.
The Roles
Performing Arts Lead (2 positions)
0.6 / £38,000 FTE
This is a co-artistic leadership role within The Extant Hive. At a time of significant and exciting change at Extant, as Performing Arts Lead, your main responsibilities are artistic direction and delivery, artistic partnerships and positioning, and collaboration to ensure that Extant delivers against its organisational priorities.
The ideal candidate is someone who has experience of working within the publicly subsidised arts sector, understands disability arts in the UK, and is interested in supporting ethical, radical and inclusive models of working. You will have a strong access-led creative arts practice, especially with regards performance, theatre, participation and production, have led arts projects from inception through to evaluation, have a wide network of arts partners to bring to Extant, and have a strong understanding of how arts organisations work.
Strategic Lead
0.6 / £38,000 FTE
This is a co-leadership role at a time of significant and exciting change within Extant. As Strategic Lead, your main responsibilities are organisational and financial leadership, HR, partnerships and positioning, fundraising and evaluation, ensuring we deliver against organisational priorities. You will also work with other members of Extant and the board to ensure the organisation operates with a sense of mutuality and care whilst playing a lead role in evaluation, reflection and development.
The ideal candidate is someone who understands the publicly subsidised arts sector, and/ or the context of disability arts in the UK, and is interested in supporting ethical, radical and inclusive models of working. You will have strong strategic leadership experience, have guided organisations through moments of change, have embedded evaluation across organisations and marketing, have a wide network of partners that Extant can benefit from and a flexible and adaptable approach and enjoy working as part of a small team.
Innovation and Partnerships Lead (non-arts background required)
0.4 / £38,000 FTE
This is a co-leadership role at a time of significant and exciting change. As part of our commitment to fostering innovative approaches and fresh ideas this role is designed to attract expertise from outside of the arts. We recognise the insight, knowledge and critique this role can bring as we develop a new strategic focus will ensure that Extant remains at the forefront of visually impaired practice and thought leadership in the UK.
As Innovation and Partnerships Lead, your main responsibilities are organisational leadership and being present in fields outside of the arts to identify opportunities for us outside of our known worlds. We’re excited to hear what insights you will bring which could affect, impact, change or revolutionise our existing programmes and future projects. You will also work with other members of Extant and the board to ensure the organisation operates with a sense of mutuality and care whilst play a lead role in sourcing opportunities, partnerships and income from outside of the arts.
Requirements For All Roles
Location: Extant, 2.06 Carlton Mansions, Brixton House, 385 Coldharbour Lane, London, SW9 8GL.
We support flexible working, but we expect you to work from our Brixton office (London) at least one day per two weeks, to collaborate with the rest of the team.
We recognise that The Extant Hive is a new structure and will need time at the start to work out and establish modes of agreement, discussion and reflection to establish a sense of inter-relatedness at its core. This time will be built into a full and robust collaborative induction from October 2026-March 2027.
Whilst each member of The Extant Hive will have a formal line management relationship with one of the co-chairs, we want them to create a mutual peer management and pastoral support system that ensures mutuality and care sit at the heart of the organisation.
Prior to confirming any offer of employment we will undertake certain checks including references, confirmation of the right to work in the UK, willingness to undertake an enhanced DBS check and that you are comfortable working in an environment where guide and other assistance dogs may be present.
Salary and Benefits
These are permanent (subject to securing new ACE NPO funding from April 2028) part-time PAYE contracts paid at £38,000 pa / FTE starting on 5th October 2026.
Performing Arts Lead (2 positions) – 0.6 FTE
Strategic Lead (1 position) – 0.6 FTE
Non-Arts Lead (1 position) – 0.4 FTE
* We support the University of Oxford’s definition of visual impairment as a ‘loss of sight that cannot be corrected using lenses.’
Responsible to: Co-Chair(s) of The Board.
Line Manages: The Strategic Lead manages the Operations Lead and one of the Performing Arts Lead manages the Artist Development Manager.
25 days holiday per year plus 8 statutory holidays (pro rata).
Occasional evening and weekend work will be required for which Time off in Lieu will be given.
Pension, Employee Assistance Programme, Training and Development and theatre ticket budget.
Probation and Notice
6-month probation period.
One month notice on either side during the probation period, 3 months thereafter.
How To Apply
We are holding 2 online x1hr Zoom FAQ sessions where you will have a chance to ask any questions about the role.
FAQ1: Date TBC
FAQ2: Date TBC
To sign up for the FAQ sessions please email [email protected] and the Zoom link will be emailed on the day.
If you wish to apply for any of these posts, please send your CV (no more than 2 pages, including details of two referees), a 1-minute audio recording (in mp3 format) of yourself talking about why you are the right person for Extant at this moment of change, which post(s) you’re interested in and outline how you meet the job description and person specification in one of the following formats:
Cover letter of no more than 2 pages or a video, no longer than 3 minutes or an audio recording no longer than 3 minutes.
Please send your files (CV, audio recording and how you meet the job description and person specification) to [email protected] by 12noon Tuesday 25th August 2026.
All written attachments should be in Word (.doc), as pdf documents are not always accessible to screen readers.
Extant does not use AI in any part of its recruitment processes. The multi-stage interview process will test an applicant’s ability to operate without AI.
- Stage One (online) – solo interviews will take place on Monday 7th, Wednesday 9th and Friday 11th September.
- Stage Two (online) – group discussion and questions will take place on the afternoon of Tuesday 15th September.
- Stage Three (in person) – planning, presentation and group interview will take place on Thursday 17th September.
For the candidates who are invited to attend Stage 2 and Stage 3, we would offer £300 and cover their return travel expenses to London.
Please complete an equal opportunity monitoring form which can be found here: www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/ExtantEqualOpps
If you wish to arrange an informal chat about any of the posts, please email [email protected] to arrange this prior to submitting your application.
Access
We will endeavour to support any access requirements you may have during the recruitment process and make reasonable adjustments where required.
If you have any access requirements that you would like to discuss, please do not hesitate to let us know at any stage of the application process.
For more information on how to apply, please view the job pack below: