Help launch County Durham’s newest cultural landmark. Opening in summer 2026, The Light will bring together art, science, history, creativity and community, welcoming up to 100,000 visitors a year. We’re looking for an exceptional Venue Operations Manager to shape an outstanding visitor experience from day one. About the Role You’ll lead all day to-today operations to ensure The Light is welcoming, safe, accessible and brilliantly run. You’ll help build and motivate a new team, oversee -day operations to ensure The Light is welcoming, safe, accessible and brilliantly run. You’ll help build and motivate a new team, oversee front of house excellence, and manage key commercial areas including food and beverage, retail-house excellence, and manage key commercial areas including food and beverage, retail and venue hire. As part of the venue’s leadership team, you’ll play a vital role in setting the standards and culture that make The Light a place people return to again and again. About you You will be: An inspiring team leader with proven track record in galleries, museums, multiuse cultural venues or you will demonstrate clear transferrable skills from other sectors. Skilled in delivering exceptional front of house operations. Highly organised, with strong rota building and financial management-building and financial management skills. Proven track record in compliance, health and safety and operational best practice. A positive, flexible problem solver who thrives in fastpaced-paced environments. Experienced in target driven retail, catering or commercial hire to achieve required income Passionate about accessibility, inclusion and engaging diverse communities. What we offer: A career defining-defining opportunity to help open and shape a major new cultural venue. The chance to build systems, teams and standards from the ground up. Supportive leadership and a collaborative, creative working environment. Generous local government benefits, training and flexible working options. Join us in creating a cultural beacon for County Durham. For more information about Working at The Light please visit our website. WHAT WILL I NEED? You should be educated to NVQ Level 5 or equivalent in a relevant discipline (or equivalent experience). Please refer to the attached Person Specification for the full criteria. INTERVIEWS It is expected interviews will be 9th and 10th April 2026. We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants that can show they meet all the essential criteria and have indicated they have a disability, are a looked after young person, care leaver or a veteran. OUR OFFER TO YOU We offer a competitive rewards package that includes attractive salaries, a generous annual leave entitlement of 27 days (rising to 32 after five years’ continuous local government service), membership of the excellent contributory career average Local Government Pension Scheme, and a range of flexible working arrangements including hybrid working (home and office) where applicable. Explore the full range of rewards and benefits on our website. Rewards and benefits are subject to individual terms and conditions. EQUALITY, DIVERSITY, AND INCLUSION We are a proud equal opportunities employer and believe a diverse workforce brings fresh ideas and drives service improvement. We welcome applications from everyone and make employment decisions based on skills and ability. As a Disability Confident Leader, we actively encourage applications from disabled people and offer support throughout the recruitment process. HOW TO APPLY Please note, we do not accept CVs. All applications must be submitted online via the Northeast Jobs portal. Use the ‘Person Specification’ section of the form to clearly demonstrate how you meet the essential (and where possible, desirable) criteria. Applications that do not evidence the essential requirements will not be shortlisted. For guidance on completing your application, visit our website. If you require assistance when applying for this role, please contact our Recruitment Helpdesk on 03000 26 27 27, or via email RecruitmentREG@durham.gov.uk All correspondence relating to your application will be sent from donotreply@northeastjobs.org.uk. Kindly check your spam/junk folder regularly to ensure you don’t miss any updates. CONNECT WITH US Follow us on Instagram Like us on Facebook Visit our website VPRS/161