Department/Team: Production

Responsible to: The Associate Director and General Manager

Contract: Fixed Term Contract

Location: The Old Vic, 103 The Cut, London, SE1 8NB

Salary: £828.60 - £905.59 per week

Role Summary

The role of Baylis Assistant Director provides a unique opportunity for early to mid-career directors to work with and learn from experienced professionals in the industry. The selected candidate will also be invited to connect further with The Old Vic and become embedded in all areas of our work during their time with us.

We are currently looking for a Baylis Assistant Director to support on an Undisclosed Project, from May – August 2025.

Areas of responsibility

The position will span circa 4 months. During this time, the Baylis Assistant Director will:

• Act as a Baylis Assistant Director for a project that will play at The Old Vic from w/c 23 June – 23 August 2025 inclusive. The production begins rehearsals on 19 May 2025. Attendance is required on an exclusive first-call basis from the rehearsal start date until the Press Night on Wed 09 July 2025, thereafter on a non-exclusive first-call basis until the end of the run.
• Take weekly notes throughout rehearsals and the run of the show, maintaining its artistic standard.
• Take responsibility for understudy rehearsals.
• Support with preparation work on behalf of the Director and Associate Director.
• Spend time with other departments at The Old Vic, either in person or remotely, becoming part of The Old Vic team, networking with staff and learning from creatives.
• Act as an ambassador and attend Development events where appropriate, learning about how the funding model works for an unsubsidised not-for-profit theatre.
• Collaborate with our Education and Community team as part of their outreach work.

This is not an exhaustive list of duties and the Theatre's management may, at any time, allocate other tasks which are of a similar nature or level.

Person Specification

Essential

• Have directed at least one professional production (not rehearsed readings or runs of less than 3 weeks), and/or assisted on a number of professional productions
• Have experience working with understudies
• Have experience working on musicals
• Demonstrate a genuine commitment to becoming a professional theatre director
• Candidates must also have the independent right to work in the UK to be eligible.

Florence Kleiner Bursary

As part of our commitment to attracting talent outside of London and to remove the financial obstacles that often prevent candidates from applying, The Old Vic are delighted to offer The Florence Kleiner Bursary to qualifying candidates in addition to the Baylis Assistant Director fee, if their application is successful.

This bursary seeks to provide an emerging director, currently based outside of London, with a year-long attachment to The Old Vic, which would begin with their appointment as Baylis Assistant Director on the Undisclosed Project should the successful candidate qualify for this bursary.

While the Florence Kleiner Bursary and attachment are only available to those who meet these specific criteria, we welcome, encourage and shall equally consider applications from people of all backgrounds for the role of Baylis Assistant Director on the Undisclosed Project.

The Florence Kleiner Bursary is £14,000 across 12 months and will be offered for living expenses to include relocation costs, rent, food and travel in addition to and any other paid work at The Old Vic or otherwise throughout the year. The successful candidate will receive the following:

• mentoring throughout the placement, to include setting needs out at the outset, checking in throughout the engagement and preparing for the next step after the engagement comes to an end;

• invitations to all of The Old Vic’s Press Nights throughout the engagement;
• access to industry networking opportunities;
• opportunities to take part in production workshops;
• opportunities to support strands of work on Old Vic Education & Community programmes, subject to the needs of the theatre; and
• opportunities to assist on The Old Vic’s supporting programming strands, subject to the needs of the theatre.

If you are eligible for The Florence Kleiner Bursary, please note this in your application.

How to Apply

We understand that everyone is different and we want you to apply in whichever way you feel best shows your skills and experience. There are a range of ways that you can apply with us:

• 1. Sending a short video file of yourself (no longer than two minutes in length), detailing your experience, why you are applying for the role and what about working at The Old Vic interests you (have a look at the person specification in the job description).
• 2. Sending a short audio file of yourself (no longer than two minutes in length), detailing your experience, why you are applying for the role and what about working at The Old Vic interests you.
• 3. Completing our application form.
• 4. Uploading your CV and covering letter, explaining why you are interested in the role and working at the Old Vic.

As a Disability Confident employer, The Old Vic has made a commitment that all applicants with disabilities who meet the essential criteria for this job will be invited to interview. However in the event that we have a high volume of applications all of whom meet the criteria and identify as disabled, meaning it is not practicable to interview everyone, we may apply a weighting to the shortlisting criteria, or add an additional shortlisting stage before any interviews take place. In all cases we will take care to ensure that any criteria or weightings do not disadvantage disabled applicants.

All appointments are made subject to satisfactory references and proof of eligibility to work in the UK. 

The Process

The recruitment process for this role will be two stages:

• 1st stage in person conversation
• 2nd stage virtual or in person conversation

The closing date for this role is 7 April 2025. First Conversations are likely to take place w/c 14 April 2025.

Equal Opportunities

We actively support and encourage people from a variety of backgrounds, experiences and skill sets to join us and help shape what we do. We are particularly keen to receive applications from people of the global majority, LGBTQ+, neurodiverse and disabled candidates.

We may take positive action, in cases where candidates are equally qualified, to increase the employment of under-represented groups at The Old Vic.

In the event that we ask you to attend the theatre for a conversation and you are struggling financially, we may be able to reimburse you for any reasonable travel costs.

We partner with a range of inclusive organisations, to find out more please read our FAQs. 

FAQs

Read our recruitment and selection and equal opportunities FAQs here.