Film Office Manager

Job Introduction

In 2024, Staffordshire County Council and its partners committed to launching a film office for the county as a pilot project over three years. Following an extremely successful launch and first year of delivery, we’re looking for an industry expert Film Office Manager to lead on their predecessor’s work in developing and maintaining the film office’s offer to the UK Film and TV Sector, unlocking the opportunity to generate proposals, interest and demand.

To do this, you'll will work closely with Creative UK’s Filming in England team and the Film Office Steering Committee whilst guiding filming across the county alongside key strategic partners. You'll maintain and grow the digital/marketing presences that Screen Staffordshire has established (sector databases, website, and associated collateral) and will lead on the planning and delivery of industry familiarisation trips before the end of the programme.

You will also finalise the implementation of a permitting scheme with the appointed provider and service level agreements with key public sector partners, ensuring the criteria for successful delivery of both are consistently adhered to. Wherever possible and appropriate, you will seek opportunities to represent the film office and wider county at sector events and trade shows.

Continuing to showcase the return on investment for this pilot will be key, and working with the head of service to establish clear KPI’s at the end of year two in preparation for the programme’s final year will help monitor performance of the film office service whilst providing sufficient evidence of impact to be published at regular intervals.

In addition to budget management, collaboration will be essential - working with key internal partners including the Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Local Visitor Economy Partnership (LVEP), Staffordshire County Councils Skills & Employability service and Culture and Communities Service to leverage relevant opportunities to support increased awareness and take-up of our visitor economy offer, labour market and cultural offer.

This is a hybrid role of remote and office working, with a significant amount of travel around the county and occasionally elsewhere in England likely and, possibly, occasional evening and weekend work required. 

Main Responsibility

You will:

• Lead on the continued successful delivery of Screen Staffordshire, following strategic objectives and KPIs for the remainder of its second year before curating aligned targets for year three.
• Enable high-profile filming activity on location in Staffordshire – working proactively and reactively to attract productions and providing a solutions-focused approach throughout prep, shoot and strike, in turn increasing chances of more/repeat business.
• Oversee targeted marketing activities and supporting collateral, including managing Screen Staffordshire’s digital presence.
• Manage the film office as the key contact and ‘front door’ for enquiries, meeting the requirements of the production industry whilst protecting the interests of Staffordshire citizens.
• Manage the day-to-day administration of robust and effective filming permissions and location support processes, including IT, legal, property and highways, respecting these and health & safety protocols in line with SCC policy.
• Manage relationships with a broad range of internal and external stakeholders, including the film office steering committee and key contacts across our district and borough authorities to ensure delivery of a robust, competitive and effective Film Office service.
• Work proactively with the production and film industry to maximise the opportunities to improve skills and secure employment for residents.
• Support the head of service to ensure a competitive and financially sustainable business model for the service by managing Staffordshire Film Office’s budget and generating income to meet financial targets. Administering filming fees and charges in tandem with regular benchmarking and close working with internal colleagues.
• Manage and track KPIs and leading on the monitoring and reporting of all agreed qualitative and quantitative Film Office data, ensuring robust accuracy, reporting and management of data.
• Represent Staffordshire County Council, Stoke-on-Trent City Council and district and borough partners at major filming visits and meetings, taking a detailed approach to understanding production requirements and presenting attractive solutions.
• Identify opportunities to build bids and business cases for future funding and projects with Visit England, Arts Council and Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) in partnership with the Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Local Visitor Economy Partnership (LVEP) and Culture and Communities service, supporting our mission to showcase Staffordshire as a creative county with a vibrant arts and cultural scene.

The Ideal Candidate

The minimum criteria that will be used to shortlist for this role will be:

• a degree or relevant higher level qualification in creative arts/media/events or extensive experience in film/TV/media/events production role
• demonstrable experience in working in locations for film and tv, across all formats including scripted.
• demonstrable project management experience and successfully delivering complex projects and/or events under pressure within deadlines
• demonstrable experience of managing a complex stakeholder landscape
• demonstrable experience advising on reputation management via different means of communication including liaising  directly with senior management, members and other stakeholders
• knowledge and experience of evaluating the impact of the film office service and its productions it supports including data gathering, evaluation and report writing to ensure clear evidence of return on investment.
• an understanding of the role of marketing in promoting Staffordshire as a place to live, work and visit, and how filming activity can directly support the visitor economy, cultural offer and inward investment to the area
• excellent written, verbal and presentation skills, with the ability to engage, influence and build effective relationships with senior and diverse stakeholders through public speaking, networking and partnership management.
• effective ICT Skills, analytical  with the ability interpret data and information for evaluation and continuous improvement
• the ability to work autonomously and have excellent time management skills with the ability to manage and prioritise own workload, conflicting demands and pressures