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About the Role

The Arts Partnership Manager will support the Country Director (CD) Australia to develop, secure, and steward strategic partnerships and funding opportunities that strengthen the British Council’s arts and cultural relations work in Australia. This role provides practical leadership on partnership development, including prospect research, opportunity identification, proposal development, and managing partnership pipelines.

Responsibilities

Meets income targets by developing and implementing partnership and income-generation strategies for the Cultural Engagement portfolio in Australia.
Works closely with the Country Director and programme team to identify and progress strategic partnership and funding opportunities.
Maintains oversight of partnership pipelines, priorities, and timelines.
Contributes to business planning processes and supports the integration of partnership development activity.
Leads the coordination and development of high-quality partnership proposals, funding submissions, concept notes, presentations, and partnership agreements.
Undertakes prospect research and stakeholder mapping to identify new partnership and funding opportunities.
Supports the Country Director in preparing for external meetings, presentations, negotiations, and strategic engagement activity.
Coordinates internal input into partnership opportunities, ensuring timely contributions from relevant colleagues.
Supports the stewardship and management of existing partners and funders, ensuring strong communication, reporting, and relationship management.
Represents British Council Arts in relevant sector, partnership, and stakeholder meetings.
Builds and maintains effective working relationships with colleagues across Cultural Engagement, global Arts teams, and wider British Council functions.
Builds relationships with key external stakeholders in Australia including government agencies, cultural institutions, foundations, trusts, philanthropists, corporate organisations, and sector networks.
Supports collaborative working with UK and international partners to develop and deliver partnership opportunities and programme activity.
Contributes to positioning the British Council as a credible, trusted, and innovative partner within the Australian arts and creative industries sector.
Supports the development and implementation of funding agreements, contracts, grants, and partnership documentation.
Coordinates due diligence, governance, compliance, and risk management processes relating to partnerships and funding arrangements.
Monitors partnership deliverables, reporting schedules, and financial commitments.
Supports budget monitoring, financial reporting, and resource planning associated with partnership and funded programme activity.
Maintains accurate records, reporting systems, and partnership documentation.
Works collaboratively across teams to strengthen partnership development capability and knowledge sharing.
Contributes to an inclusive, equitable, and anti-racist organisational culture.
Demonstrates British Council values and behaviours and supports a culture of collaboration, accountability, and continuous improvement.

Requirements

Significant experience and successful track record in partnerships, business development, fundraising, stakeholder engagement or related roles within the arts, cultural, international relations or not-for-profit sectors.
Significant experience working with Australian government stakeholders, foundations, trusts, corporate partners or philanthropists.
Strong knowledge of, and networks in, the Australian arts funding landscape.
Experience supporting the development and delivery of funding proposals, partnership agreements or grant applications.
Demonstrated ability to coordinate complex projects and manage multiple stakeholders and competing priorities.
Experience preparing high-quality written materials including reports, presentations, briefing papers and external communications.
Experience supporting financial management, budgeting or reporting processes.
Strong understanding of partnership management, governance, compliance and due diligence processes.
Exceptional written and verbal communication skills in English.
Experience working in an international cultural relations or public diplomacy context (Desirable).
Experience working collaboratively across multidisciplinary or geographically dispersed teams (Desirable).
Knowledge of UK-Australia cultural or creative sector collaboration (Desirable).
Experience working with public funding bodies or international development programmes (Desirable).
Experience using CRM or partnership pipeline management systems (Desirable).
Candidates should ensure they have natural legal right to live and work in the country where the role is based.
Visa sponsorship and relocation assistance are not provided.

Skills

Partnerships
Business Development
Fundraising
Stakeholder Engagement
Arts
Cultural Relations
International Relations
Not-for-profit Sector
Australian Government Stakeholders
Foundations
Trusts
Corporate Partners
Philanthropists
Australian Arts Funding Landscape
Funding Proposals
Partnership Agreements
Grant Applications
Project Coordination
Stakeholder Management
Priority Management
Report Writing
Presentation Skills
Briefing Paper Preparation
External Communications
Financial Management
Budgeting
Reporting
Partnership Management
Governance
Compliance
Due Diligence
Written Communication
Verbal Communication
International Cultural Relations
Public Diplomacy
Collaborative Working
Multidisciplinary Teams
Geographically Dispersed Teams
UK-Australia Cultural Collaboration
Creative Sector Collaboration
Public Funding Bodies
International Development Programmes
CRM Systems
Partnership Pipeline Management Systems

Location

Sydney, Australia
Melbourne, Australia

Work Type

Full-time
Fixed Term Contract

Experience Level

Significant experience and successful track record in partnerships, business development, fundraising, stakeholder engagement or related roles within the arts, cultural, international relations or not-for-profit sectors.
Significant experience working with Australian government stakeholders, foundations, trusts, corporate partners or philanthropists.
Strong knowledge of, and networks in, the Australian arts funding landscape.
Experience supporting the development and delivery of funding proposals, partnership agreements or grant applications.
Demonstrated ability to coordinate complex projects and manage multiple stakeholders and competing priorities.
Experience preparing high-quality written materials including reports, presentations, briefing papers and external communications.
Experience supporting financial management, budgeting or reporting processes.
Strong understanding of partnership management, governance, compliance and due diligence processes.
Exceptional written and verbal communication skills in English.
Experience working in an international cultural relations or public diplomacy context (Desirable).
Experience working collaboratively across multidisciplinary or geographically dispersed teams (Desirable).
Knowledge of UK-Australia cultural or creative sector collaboration (Desirable).
Experience working with public funding bodies or international development programmes (Desirable).
Experience using CRM or partnership pipeline management systems (Desirable).

Salary/Compensations

130,000 AUD + super

About the Company

We support peace and prosperity by building connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and countries worldwide.
For 90 years we have shaped brighter futures through education, arts, culture, language, and creativity.
Working with people in over 200 countries and territories, we are on the ground in more than 100 countries.
Cultural Engagement (CE) is one of two global strategic business units within the British Council. It brings together our work in Arts, Education, English and School Education and research.
With a workforce of approximately 1,000 globally and annual income of around £200 million, CE delivers impact through research and insight, sector engagement, policy dialogue and a mixed portfolio of commercial and grant and partnership funded work.
CE delivers much of its work through global programmes and programmatic frameworks aligned to the British Council’s strategic outcomes and international priorities.
The British Council’s Arts teams in the UK and across the global network work collaboratively with artists, cultural organisations, creative industries and policy stakeholders to build trust, foster international collaboration and support inclusive growth through the arts.
Australia represents an important strategic partner for the UK in culture, education and international engagement, with strong opportunities for collaboration across the creative industries, higher education and policy development.
Climate, innovation and equity, diversity and inclusion are focus areas across these sectors.
The British Council Australia Arts portfolio works with artists, organisations, governments and creative sector partners to support long-term cultural exchange between Australia, the UK and the Indo-Pacific region.
There is increasing opportunity to secure co-investment and strategic partnerships from Australian government, philanthropy and corporate stakeholders to support arts programming, sector development and cultural diplomacy objectives in Australia and internationally.
The Country Director currently leads senior external relationships and strategic partnership conversations, with this role created to strengthen operational partnership development capacity and accelerate the conversion of opportunities into funded programmes and partnerships.
The role operates within a complex matrix environment, requiring close collaboration with colleagues across Australia, the wider region, the UK and global Arts and Cultural Engagement teams.
Our programme framework - Our Arts teams in the UK and in our global network of offices, work together with the arts and culture sectors to achieve significant impact and change by finding new ways of connecting and seeing each other through the arts and contribute directly to peace and prosperity.
Our work is delivered through two global programmes. Art in Action connects UK and international artists and creative organisations, encourages innovative collaborations and supports them to access new markets and audiences around the world.
We enable creatives to play a part in addressing global challenges and support under-represented groups to be heard.
Creative Growth supports the UK and countries around the world to unlock inclusive and sustainable economic growth and innovation through advocacy, sector development and showcase programmes for the creative and cultural industries.
A connected and trusted UK in a more connected and trusted world.

Equal Opportunity

We are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion and welcome applications from all sections of the community as we believe that a diverse workforce gives added depth to our work.
The British Council is a Disability Confident Employer.
The Disability Confident scheme helps challenge attitudes, increase understanding of disability and ensure staff are drawn from the widest possible pool of talent.
We guarantee an interview for disabled applicants who meet the minimum role requirements.
We welcome discussions about specific requirements or adjustments to enable participation and engagement in our work and activities.
The British Council is committed to safeguarding children, young people and adults who we work with.
We believe that all children and adults everywhere in the world deserve to live in safe environments and have the right to be protected from all forms of abuse, maltreatment and exploitation as set out in article 19, UNCRC (United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child) 1989.
Appointment to positions where there is direct involvement with vulnerable groups will be dependent on thorough checks being completed in line with legal requirements and with the British Council’s Safeguarding policies for Adults and Children.