Jobs

Executive Director

We are seeking an experienced and emotionally intelligent leader who will build on the remarkable achievements of Garsington Opera, and who will continue to shape and evolve our strategy so that we successfully expand our reach, our influence and our impact.

The Executive Director is ultimately responsible for the successful delivery of the Garsington Opera festival each summer.. The Executive Director is also responsible for the effective leadership and management of Garsington Opera, working in close partnership with Artistic Director Douglas Boyd; they report jointly to Garsington’s Chair and Board of Trustees.

The Executive Director is also a Trustee of the company. The ability of the Executive Director to bring complementary skills to form a strong and collaborative working relationship with the Artistic Director is critical to Garsington Opera’s future success. Between them the Artistic Director and Executive Director oversee every aspect of Garsington’s strategy, artistic output and operations, and are responsible for leading a small, established, strong and experienced senior management team.

This is a role that calls for both partnership and professional acuity — someone who can balance big-picture thinking with hands-on delivery, and who brings the clarity, warmth and strategic insight needed to help the company to continue to grow and thrive.

Post: Executive Director
Reporting to: Board of Trustees
Application deadline: 9am BST on Monday 7 July 2025
Interviews: Perrett Laver interviews w/c 21 July 2025, first round interviews will take place on Tuesday 12 August with a final shortlist of candidates being invited to second round interviews on Monday 15 September

Executive Director Job PackAnnual Review

Staff Benefits: Garsington Opera is committed to making sure that all our staff are supported in both their professional and personal lives. As part of this, we are able to offer members of staff a range of benefits including:

• 32 days of annual leave (inc. bank holidays and Christmas office shutdown)
• Annual leave allowance increases with length of service
• Staff pension scheme
• Cycle to work scheme
• Death in service scheme
• Tech scheme
• Electric car lease scheme
• Enhanced maternity/adoption/shared parental leave
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Dress rehearsal tickets during the Season
• Free on-site parking and “at-cost” EV charging

How to apply: For details of the appointment, including further information about the job description, person specification and how to apply, please visit https://plusportal.perrettlaver.com quoting reference 7920

For an informal and confidential discussion about the role, please contact Isabela Betoret on isabela.betoret@perrettlaver.com

As a seasonal festival, each year there are various opportunities to work at Garsington Opera both on and off the stage in a wide variety of roles. To find out more about how to apply for these opportunities, please see our Seasonal Roles page.

Applications for our 2025 Chorus and Emerging Artists’ Programme have now closed.

If you would like any further information please email auditions@garsingtonopera.org or explore our Emerging Artist page via the button below:

Emerging Artists

Each year, we offer a week of intensive work experience for a limited number of young people between the ages of 16 and 18.  It’s a great chance to find out how a producing theatre works and to highlight the many career opportunities in producing and making shows, in our case particularly opera.

This intensive experience covers a full range of departments across the organisation, offering the opportunity to learn how a theatre/opera business works and how all departments contribute to the company’s overall delivery of Opera.  There will be opportunities to shadow various departments: Marketing, Development, Box Office, Learning & Participation, Company / Artist Management and backstage technical departments.

As part of this opportunity you will:

• Connect with creative industry professionals across various roles in the sector
• Discover the extensive range of career opportunities within a theatre/opera company
• Understand and learn the key skills required in the workplace: listening, speaking, problem solving, creativity, teamwork and staying positive

The application window for our 2025 work experience placements has now closed.  Applications for 2026 opportunities will open again in the Autumn.