Head of Festival Operations, Dark Mofo

Head of Festival Operations, Dark Mofo
1.0 to 0.8 FTE (negotiable)
$110,000 + super

Dark Mofo will return in 2025, bringing a significant offering of large-scale art installations and a wide range of events to Hobart in a variety of unique locations throughout the city of Hobart. The Head of Operations will work closely with Dark Mofo’s Artistic Director and Executive Producer, and alongside the Head of Production. Together the positions realise all events and bring the festival’s creative vision to life.

Managing a small team, the Head of Operations is a senior role on the Festival team and is responsible for overseeing the delivery, from an operational perspective, of the Dark Mofo festival across all event sites. To succeed in this role you will need to be a good communicator, self-driven, innovative and adaptable in order to operate in an environment with high change and ambiguity.

The Gig:

• Lead the development of event management plans and relevant permits and planning approval processes;
• Incorporating traffic and crowd management into all event and site planning;
• Lead environmental sustainability planning including review of existing DarkLab practices in view of continuous improvement;
• Contribute to accessibility considerations and initiatives in event planning;
• Work with the Head of Production in the management of the festival’s key suppliers including sourcing key relevant operations related suppliers and conducting procurement processes including contracting and contract management;
• Monitor and be responsible for the work of operations related consultants, contractors and suppliers including compliance with legislation, standards and brief/s;
• Contribute to the management of procurement, budget and contracts as well as contributing to the continuous improvement of Festival systems.
• Lead WHS related planning and its implementation including, with support from the risk consultant, oversee preparation of Festival risk assessments, safe operating procedures and risk management plans;
• Develop and maintain relationships with associated city and state-wide stakeholders, including emergency services and authorities;
• Contribute to the continuous improvement of Festival systems. Within the boundaries of the role, translate core festival production activity into effective policies, systems, technologies and procedures;
• Line manage associated Festival Operations team and Safety Consultant and risk reporting up the associated Executive committee.

The You:

• Experience working in commercial festivals or comparable environments;
• Advanced project management skills;
• Contract management and event scheduling experience;
• Proven ability to manage projects within approved budgets;
• Ability to work productively and in an agile manner in a fast paced environment;
• Strong interpersonal and negotiation skills;
• A confident team leader, capable of managing staff and problem-solving issues;
• Ability to work unsupervised and complete tasks within a specified timeframe;
• A collaborative and flexible approach to problem solving and information sharing;
• Experience with crowd management is desirable;
• Ability to use Vectorworks is desirable.

Applications close Monday 18 March 2024 at 9.00am. Applications will be reviewed as they are received.

Please note: This role does not require you to come from an event or festival background. While having experience as Operations Manager or Production Manager is preferable, there are applicable roles in other parts of the arts and culture sector and further afield. Have experience in building services or building or facilities management teams with museum and gallery environments? Perhaps you're a construction manager or similar? Or come from a background managing large and complex projects with lots of moving parts? This role might still be a good fit for you.