Job Roles
We currently looking to fill one role at Long Division, funded through Youth Music’s Incubator Fund and open to anyone aged 18-25.
Background
Long Division is a not-for-profit music and cultural organisation based in the city of Wakefield. It is best known for its annual city centre music festival but is increasingly running education and mentor programmes and focussing its work on developing the grassroots infrastructure of music creation in its home city.
After a successful Youth Music Incubator Project in 2021/22 we are now in a position to employ three more people. Two have already been advertised (Live Events Assistant, Creative Community Assistant) and the third (Music Education Assistant) is now open
These roles will make Long Division a predominantly Youth Led organisation in the delivery of its work – this is very much seen as the ‘next chapter’ of the organisation. We are not looking for applicants who are the ‘finished article’ – we are looking for passion and a willingness to commit to Long Division’s vision. The roles are intended to give the successful candidates a large amount of autonomy and responsibility – but also permission to try new things and fail – then try again.
Roles:
Music Education Assistant (deadline to apply – Midnight, December 4th)
Quotes from the Live Events Assistant, Creative Community Assistant and Technical Assistant from the first Incubator Programme:
Since joining LD I’ve had the opportunity to explore parts of the industry that I never had before – like learning the logistics involved in planning a multi-venue festival. My confidence has also grown due to these new skills and it’s led me to doing things I never thought I’d have been able to do when I started. Since working with LD I’ve managed to get a full-time job, which I don’t feel would have been possible without the experiences I had with LD.
Within my time at Long Division, I have been able to massively develop my skills and knowledge of working within music and community-focused work. This role has enabled me to learn all the nitty-gritty ‘behind the scenes’ aspects to what I previously had surface level knowledge of. It has been particularly helpful having Amy Lilley, Paul Bateson and Dean Freeman as experienced colleagues and mentors. It has been great within this role to have been able to be given the responsibility to lead on a project but have the support of someone saying ‘good but – have you considered this? What about if that happens?’. I have enjoyed making new connections with other creative groups and individuals in Wakefield, feeling like I will be able to go forward with other future collaborations. Where I have worked as a support or assistant in the last nine months, I now feel I have gained the skills and experience to be able to now lead on similar projects.
During my time at Long Division, alongside learning about the logistical efforts of putting on a festival, I’ve also learnt about the difficulties of working in a city like Wakefield. With a city that has a disconnected music scene to residents, you have to be resilient, open minded and be able to offer new solutions to situations that aren’t necessarily improving, e.g. getting people to buy tickets and come to shows!