Finance Trustee
Shape Arts Closing date: Mon, 01 Jun 2026
- Full time
- Unpaid
- Apply now
Thu, 22 Jan 2026 "> published -
Job Summary
Job Description
Who are we?
We are a disability-led arts organisation which works to improve access to culture for disabled people by providing opportunities for disabled creatives, training cultural institutions to be more open to disabled people, and through running participatory arts and development programmes.
Our programmes have run for fifty years, supporting disabled creatives and those facing disabling barriers to creative careers or audience participation. Our current programme finds us opening new avenues for disabled creatives through commissioning, exhibitions, and learning-based support such as residencies, advice, and guidance.
We continue to break new ground in digital spheres and advocating for disabled people struggling to access the arts and creative industries through our consultancy services.
We work across three main areas:
- A creative programme, working directly with disabled creatives
- Heritage projects, documenting the social history of disabled people
- Access consultancy, including training and auditing
We receive funding from Arts Council England and the Heritage Lottery Fund to support our creative programme and heritage projects.
We are recruiting disabled and non-disabled voluntary Board members. As a member of our Board, you will gain an insight to how the arts and cultural industries in the UK work. From lived experience to professional experience, we are looking for people from all backgrounds who are passionate about the arts and its potential to change disabled people's lives to join our Board.
Please read or listen to all guidance on our site before applying!
Job Requirements
The Board and Shape's Executive Team meet four times a year - once every three months. Each meeting takes up about half a day.
In addition, Trustees are expected to attend the Annual General Meeting (AGM) and the yearly Away Day, both of which happen once per year.
The main responsibilities of any Charity Trustee are outlined by the Charity Commission. You can browse their '5-minute guides' for Trustees on their website.
The Nolan Principles of Public Life set the standards for how our trustees are expected to conduct themselves. These are:
- Selflessness
- Integrity
- Objectivity
- Accountability
- Openness
- Honesty
- Leadership
You can read more about these principles on the UK Government's website.
Job Responsibilities
Our team of Trustees are responsible for ensuring that:
- Shape complies with its Memorandum and Articles of Association, and that it pursues only the objectives which are defined in it
- Shape complies with charity law, employment law and other relevant legislation or regulations
- Shape is financially viable
- the Board is defining goals and setting targets for the organisation, and that performance is evaluated against these targets
- Shape's ethos and reputation are safeguarded
- Administration is effective and efficient and we are accountable to our stakeholders and funders
The Board are also responsible for:
- Contributing to the Board's role in giving firm strategic direction
- Appointing the Chief Executive and monitoring their performance
- Sitting on appraisal, recruitment and disciplinary panels, as required
- Attending either the Finance, HR and Risk, or Programme and Development Sub Committees
Useful Links
Job Overview
- Job Title: Finance Trustee
- Salary: Unpaid
- Hours: Full time
- Artform: Visual arts
- Role: Admin, Secretarial & PA
- Contract: Permanent
- Closing date: Mon, 01 Jun 2026
- Location: Remote
How to Apply
If you would like to apply, please write to us with an expression of interest in an email to our CEO David Hevey on [email protected] with the email subject title ‘Shape Arts Board Application’, along with your CV and a brief summary of why you’d like to be on our Board and what interest areas, skills, or life experience you think would bring.
If you would like a no-obligations conversation with our CEO and Artistic Director, David Hevey, you can get in touch via the email address above. We can also arrange an informal chat directly with our Board Members.
If you have been shortlisted, we will invite you to an informal interview with the Chair Tony Heaton OBE and the CEO David Hevey. This will be a 30 minute conversation conducted via Zoom.
We can provide any of this information in an alternative format. Please email David Hevey with any questions relating to the provision of alternative formats or accessibility across the recruitment process.
- Contact name: David Hevey
- Contact email: [email protected]