Staffordshire County Council

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 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 KPIs 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 Responsibilities

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.