RECRUITING: Talented Production Manager with a social conscience, for a small ethical agency making video, animation and digital design.

Location: We’re in Glasgow. If you’re not, we will consider candidates based elsewhere who could work remotely.

Flexibility: We’re open to flexible working, flexitime, compressed hours, a mix of working in the office and WFH. This job might suit a parent, someone with caring responsibilities, or anyone who wants redress their work/life balance

Skills and experience: We need someone with skills and experience; but aptitude is more important than formal qualifications. If you’ve had an unusual or interrupted career path, but you can persuade us that your skills are transferable to this role, get in touch.

We positively value diversity, so we specially welcome applications from people under-represented in our industry.

media co-op is a well-established ethical business based in Glasgow, running successfully since 2004. We work exclusively for the Third Sector and Public Sector, on communications projects to promote social justice.

We make non-broadcast video and animation, social media content, graphic design, digital design, and occasional TV documentaries on social issues.
We’re a busy office with many concurrent projects at different stages of production.

Start date: Ideally January 2022, but negotiable.

About you

Background
You might be a Production Manager in a corporate video company, or a factual indie company.
You might be a very experienced Production Coordinator, ready to step up.
You might have an admin or management role in a charity, and a strong interest in comms and video.

Ethics
We’re looking for a new colleague who has a demonstrable commitment to social justice. That could be through your professional work, or volunteering for a charity or a campaign.

Professional skills
We are looking for a Production Manager with flair, expertise, creativity and enthusiasm in:
– Budgeting
– Scheduling
– Contracting
– Fluency in digital tools eg MS Excel, Google Docs, Slack, using a macbook
– Excellent negotiating skills
– Critical thinker/problem solver
– Excellent organisational and time-management skills
– Excellent written and verbal communication skills
– Working on own initiative and organising own workflow
– And personal integrity

Desirable skills
– knowledge and/or experience of the Third Sector (e.g. charities, social enterprises) and/or the Public Sector (e.g. NHS, Scottish Government)
– corporate video production experience
– animation production experience
– digital & cross-platform projects experience
– broadcast TV experience
– Contacts with freelance talent in the film and digital industries in Scotland
– Interest & expertise in financial management and cost reporting for a small company
– Gaelic language or other languages an advantage

There’s more detail below about the day-to-day job description.

Salary, hours, start date

Salary
Because media co-op believes in equality, we pay everyone on the staff the same rate, no matter what their job title or grade. Currently the annual salary for everyone in the team is £28.5k.

Working days
Flexible.
We’re looking for someone to work a full-time 37.5 hour week; but we’re open to flexible working, compressed hours, a mix of working in the office and WFH, job-sharing, and potentially less than full-time hours.
Paid holiday entitlement 32 days a year.

Starting date
Ideally January 2022, but negotiable. There will be a 3-month probationary period.

About the company
media co-op is an unusual production company.

We’re motivated by social justice. Every one of our projects promotes positive social change, and all of our clients are in the Third Sector (e.g. charities, social enterprises) or the Public Sector (e.g. NHS, Scottish Government). We make ambitious campaigns and awareness raising films, on everything from mental health to refugees.

Our projects tend to be low-budget, but our creative standards are high. We’ve won many awards – even when our low-cost corporates have been up against high-end broadcast competition at the Royal Television Society Awards. RTS said “media co-op punches above their weight.”

One of our specialities is participatory production – facilitating members of the public to take active creative roles, to make productions that work better for their peers.

The company structure is unusual. We’re a workers co-operative and a social enterprise, meaning the business is 100% owned by the workers. We’re still a professional company with clearly defined and conventional job roles and responsibilities, but the company is owned and democratically controlled by the people who work in it, with no outside shareholders.

The founders have worked freelance in the creative industries in the past, and deliberately created a company structure that avoided the unhappy working environments they’d experienced in indie production companies.

We’re a friendly and mutually supportive team, who treat each other with respect and value each others’ skills. Our current team includes a wide age-range and colleagues who are LGBTQ+, migrant, and neurodiverse.

We have a relatively flat management structure, with each team member taking responsibility for their own workflow.

After six months working at media co-op, you’d have the opportunity to become a full member and co-owner of the co-operative; and as a member you’d have the opportunity to join the Board of Directors.

We have progressive policies on flexible working and working from home. We believe in family-friendly working hours which may suit if you’re looking after children or caring for relatives.

And one more plus-point: media co-op has a fabulous big light-filled office in a fully accessible, landmark building in the east end of Glasgow.
Find out more about our team, projects, and track record on media co-op’s website.

Induction and training
media co-op will provide a full induction to the successful candidate. We will provide training in the areas where the successful candidate has less experience if necessary.

So please apply if you have all the essential skills and you are interested in acquiring the desirable skills and experience.

More detail about what you would be doing as our Production Manager:

1. Production & Project Management
Your role will entail running an efficient production office and providing proactive production management throughout the life of all productions and projects.

– Scheduling multiple, overlapping projects
– Creating budgets and cost reports for projects
– Managing budgets and ensuring projects come in on budget
– Front-facing client liaison throughout projects
– Client contracts
– Handling new enquiries
– Shoot organisation including freelance crew, equipment and locations bookings, completing Risk Assessments, insurance declarations etc
– Liaising with freelance designers, animators, directors etc
– Managing invoicing and project admin on our internal systems
– Liaising with other media co-op staff to improve our internal systems
– Casting – including casting voiceover artists for animations
– Managing project schedules throughout each project ensuring key sign off points are achieved
– Supporting the in-house team throughout projects – troubleshooting, managing clients, identifying when freelance support is needed etc
– Assisting with broadcast pitches and proposals
– Liaising closely with the Producers and Finance Manager to ensure that there is clear and transparent accounting for projects and that all freelance and staff contracts and payments are in order and legal and fiscal obligations met.
– Supporting the Finance Manager to generate accurate company cash flow and Management Accounts through the provision of accurate cost reporting.

And crucially: trouble-shooting and sorting out any issues or conflicts that arise in relation to any of the above

2. Other Duties
– Contributing to the continuous improvement in media co-op’s budgeting, project management and administrative systems
– Contributing to the continuous improvement of media co-op’s policies
– Contributing to business development including networking, event planning and reaching out to potential clients
– General Office Management and admin tasks

How to apply
Please send your CV to hello@mediaco-op.net with a covering e-mail telling us where you saw the ad and

1. Why you would like to join our co-op
2. Highlighting your relevant skills and experience, particularly the things you’re proudest of in your career so far.
3. Two referees, with email and phone contact details

Deadline: Midnight on Sunday December 12th – we will aim to hold interviews on the 16th and 17th of December.
If you think you’re the right person for the job, don’t wait for the deadline – get in touch now!