Department/Team: Production

Responsible to: The 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 Associate 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 an Associate Director to support a leading director on a revival of a modern classic from December 2025 – March 2026.

Areas of responsibility
The position will span circa 4 months. During this time, the Associate Director will:

• Act as an Associate Director on a new production at The Old Vic. The production begins rehearsals on 08 December 2025. Attendance is required on an exclusive first-call basis from the rehearsal start date until the Press Night on Wed 04 February 2026, thereafter on a non-exclusive first-call basis until the end of the run on 21 March 2026.
• Take weekly notes during the run of the show to maintain its artistic standard.
• Take responsibility for understudy rehearsals.
• Support with preparation work on behalf of the 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 two professional productions (not rehearsed readings or runs of less than 4 weeks) and assisted on a number of professional productions of scale.
• Experience of working as an Associate Director.
• Confident with research tasks to support the Director as required.
• Experience of working with understudies and confidence in planning and leading understudy rehearsals.
• Experience of working with high-profile artists.
• Demonstrate a genuine commitment to building a career as a professional theatre director.
• Candidates must also have the independent right to work in the UK to be eligible.

The successful candidate will be required to undergo a DBS check as the role may interact with vulnerable adults and/or children.

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 either virtual or in person conversation
• 2nd stage either virtual or in person conversation
• You may be asked to complete a work based skills assessment or challenge.

The closing date for this role is 18 October 2025. First Conversations are likely to take place w/c 20 October 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.