Resident Director

The Role

The Resident Director will work closely with the Head of Drama to maintain and develop the artistic and professional standards of Magdalen College School drama productions. This will include leading weekly sessions for the MCS Theatre Academy group (years 9-11), devising and delivering a broad range of skills development workshops for the students.

The Resident Director will be expected to direct at least three of the school’s productions over the year, working with a range of age groups. This will include reading scripts and choosing the title and aims for each production in agreement with the Resident Producer and Head of Drama. The Resident Director is expected to generate the overall vision and concept, hold auditions and cast, take rehearsals and lead the technical rehearsals. The students’ skills and abilities should be developed through this process in a creative and supportive manner. The Resident Director will lead the lower school Theatre Academy, for years 7-8, which performs at least one play during the course of the year. The resident director will usually take a school production (with a Sixth-Form cast) to the Edinburgh Fringe (or equivalent tour) during August.

The Resident Director will normally assist on the main summer production in Oxford Playhouse as part of the Arts Festival.

Please see the Information Pack for more information.

The Candidate

Skills and Experience

• Proven previous directing experience.
• Serious interest in and understanding of the current theatre landscape.
• Previous experience of working with young people in participatory arts.
• Excellent communication skills
• Ability to keep calm under pressure
• Organised and efficient, able to prioritise and take initiative

Personal Attributes

• Passionate and inquisitive about theatre making and directing
• A genuine desire to further develop your directing skills
• Proactive, hard-working individual
• Naturally collaborative, with enthusiasm and an ambition to succeed
• A team player who is sensitive to colleagues’ pressures and instinctively supportive
• Ability to work long and unsociable hours

Application Process

Candidates should submit the “MCS Application Form with Supplementary Resident Director Questions ” which can be found on the Job Vacancy link of the website (www.mcsoxford.org). To access Click here. To apply for the position please send the following two documents to the Recruitment Officer, Miss Yelena Molcanova (recruitment@mcsoxford.org).

1. “MCS Application Form with Supplementary Resident Director Questions” Form
2. CV (Curriculum Vitae)

All documentation should be sent no later than Tuesday 7th May May 2024 at noon; early applications are highly encouraged. The school’s preferred method of communication is by email and it will not be necessary to send a hard copy of the documents by post.

References may be taken up in advance. If you do not wish references to be called for at this stage, please make that clear on the reference section of the application form.

We anticipate holding 1st Round online interviews from Wednesday 8th May and 2nd Round in person interviews on Thursday 16th May . We will be in contact with shortlisted candidates by telephone.

Equal Opportunities

Magdalen College School recognises and is committed to ensuring applicants and employees from all sections of the community are treated equally regardless of race, gender, disability, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief, gender reassignment, marital and civil partnership status, or pregnancy and maternity. We welcome applications from all sections of the community.

Safeguarding Policy

Magdalen College School is committed to the safeguarding of pupils, and any offer of employment will be subject to an enhanced DBS disclosure, the receipt of satisfactory references, the school’s pre-employment medical questionnaire, plus sight of relevant original ID documentation and degree certificate(s). This role will be in regulated activity and will require a children’s barred list check as well as an enhanced DBS check. The enhanced DBS check is due to this role being exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.

Remuneration and other benefits

This is a full-time fixed-term position running from 1st September 2024 to 31st August 2025, Salary will be £26,425 pa. Although the post will reflect the school’s academic year of 1st September 2024 through to 31st August 2025 it will, as part of the contracted period, include school induction days and additional handover periods with the current post holders through the summer of 2024. Given the nature of the role the post-holder will be required to work during weekends and evenings during, and in the run-up to, productions.

Non-teaching staff are automatically enrolled in the school’s contributory Group Pension Scheme. This is a defined contribution pension scheme into which the employee contributes 5% of gross salary and the employer contributes 10%.

There is a wide range of benefits on offer to staff, including a free lunch during term time and complimentary use of school sports facilities. Head to mcsoxford.org/vacancies to find out more.

Please note that MCS is an inner-city school, with very limited parking. Staff are encouraged to use public transport wherever possible for their journey to work.