Board Recruitment Infomation
Information for Non-Executive Director/Trustee Recruitment
Join us at the Citizens Theatre and bring our newly transformed, historic venue to life.
Thank you for your interest in joining the Board of the Citizens Theatre – affectionately known as the Citz.
The Citizens Theatre is the largest producing theatre in Scotland and one of our country’s flagship performance venues. We make bold productions of new plays, reinvent classics that speak to contemporary Scotland, and support the next generation of talent through programming and participation. We are rooted our local Gorbals community, with an international outlook.
One year on from our reopening following a transformational £40m redevelopment, we are seeking to recruit up to four new Non-Executive Directors to strengthen our governance and support the development of our future strategy and business model.
Our vision for the Citz is bold: we have ambitions to grow our audiences, expand the scale and reach of our work, and welcome more people from our community to participate in creative opportunities. To achieve this, we need to utilise our most valuable assets: our skilled and committed staff and volunteers, and our fantastic new building.
Our Board of Non-Executive Directors are vital to helping us unlock the potential of the Citizens Theatre, and we are particularly looking to expand our skills and experience across four key areas:
- Ethical fundraising and philanthropy to strengthen fundraising leadership and networks
- Hospitality, events and sustainable business development to challenge assumptions about earned income and drive profitable growth across trading
- Marketing, audience and data to support audience growth and data-driven decision making
- Financial management to provide depth of experience to our Finance Sub Committee and support robust financial oversight of the company
We also value lived experience alongside professional expertise, and know that having a Board that reflects the audiences and communities we serve is key to our future success. We particularly encourage applications from Global Majority and D/deaf and disabled people, and younger or emerging leaders. This information pack contains further details about the role and how to apply; we are also available for an informal conversation about the role.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Alison Newton Chair, Kate Denby Executive Director / Joint CEO Joint CEO and Dominic Hill Artistic Director / Joint CEO
About us
The Citizens Theatre is the largest producing theatre in Scotland, and one of the country’s flagship performance venues, rooted in our local Gorbals community with an international outlook.
Since reopening our transformed and renewed building in August 2025, the Citizens Theatre has reasserted its place as one of the most vital cultural institutions in Glasgow and a leading force within the theatre ecology of Scotland and the wider United Kingdom. The reopening marks not only the return of a historic producing theatre to its home, but the beginning of a new chapter defined by artistic excellence, community impact, and national leadership.
Our programming ensures Scotland’s cultural narrative is ambitious, contemporary and internationally relevant. We make bold productions of new plays, reinvent classics that speak to contemporary Scotland, and support the next generation of talent through programming and participation. Sets, costumes and props are all created in-house, and bring together a community of artists and freelancers who, along with our staff team, deliver inspiring experiences in Glasgow and beyond.
Our participation and community engagement programme is at the heart of the company’s work. For over two decades, a pioneering range of projects has connected people with the theatre and each other. It provides the opportunity to develop life skills, increase wellbeing and make positive change. Reflecting our roots, the programme connects with groups and individuals within the Gorbals and wider Glasgow Southside community.
With a £6m turnover, the Citizens Theatre provides economic as well as social value. We are a major employer within the cultural sector in Glasgow and Scotland, providing regular employment to around 200 staff and freelancers each year across specialised creative, technical, administrative and front-of-house roles. Our activities drive audience spend in hospitality and retail within the Gorbals, contribute to supply chains across Scotland, and we are proactive in recruiting staff from our local area.
Culture is central to placemaking and civic pride. The Citizens Theatre is a visible demonstration of public investment in culture, delivering tangible returns.
Our Story
The Citz has a rich history. Our building first opened as a theatre in 1878. The Citizens Theatre company, founded in 1943 by James Bridie, found its permanent home at the venue in 1945.
In its early years the company promoted Scottish plays, many by Bridie himself. By the 1960s the Citizens Theatre was one of Britain’s leading repertory theatres. From 1969 to 2004 under the trio of artistic directors Giles Havergal, Robert David MacDonald and Philip Prowse, the company presented an international repertoire, winning worldwide acclaim.
Current Artistic Director Dominic Hill was appointed in 2011. During his tenure, the Citizens Theatre has secured an unrivalled reputation for presenting bold new interpretations of classic texts that are relevant to contemporary audiences. Award-winning productions include Chris Hannan’s adaptation of Crime and Punishment, Harold Pinter’s Betrayal and Zinnie Harris’ reimagining of the Oresteia which also played at the Edinburgh International Festival.
Across the last 50 years, leading actors from Scotland and the UK have credited the Citz with playing a pivotal role in their careers, including David Hayman, Rupert Everett, Pierce Brosnan, Roberta Taylor, Helen Baxendale, Ann Mitchell, Mark Rylance and Gary Oldman. From Glenda Jackson to Miriam Margolyes and Blythe Duff, we’ve had some stellar casts appear on our stage. The Citz continues to nurture new talent, with its Graduate Actor Scheme launching the careers of many of Scotland’s emerging talent.
Participation and creative learning has been an integral part of the Citz offer throughout our history. TAG Theatre, operating from the Citizens Theatre for 30 years, toured entertaining and diverse work across communities and schools, shaping a culture and legacy for Scottish theatre that has lived on for many years. We have continued to build a reputation for making large-scale and in-depth work with communities, from outdoor performances on the streets surrounding the theatre, to new works on our Main Stage. Catrin Evans joined the Citz in 2021 to lead our participation programme as we reimagine the company into the new building.
Redevelopment
The redevelopment of the Citizens Theatre has been the biggest capital investment in producing theatre in Scotland in a generation. The £40m capital project resulted in the restoration and expansion of one of Scotland’s oldest and most iconic working theatres – the first integrated redevelopment of the building since it opened in 1878.
In August 2025, our unique theatre came alive once again, equipped to support greater artistic ambition and deliver a richer experience for larger and more diverse audiences.
The transformation included:
- New facilities for rehearsal and production form a creative engine room for the Citizens Theatre and our many collaborators
- A new studio that expands our role as a national crucible for diverse emerging artists, companies and forms
- Purpose-built community and participation spaces that empower participants from marginalised communities, enabling us to create safe spaces for the young, as well as those most keenly impacted by structural inequality
- Greatly improved physical access, and visible connection with our heritage and the processes of theatre, to inspire the audience and theatre makers of the future
- Environmental sustainability measures that ensure the building has been designed with the climate emergency in mind
- Increased capacity and improved facilities allow us to welcome larger and more diverse audiences
- Opportunity for income generation through expanded hospitality spaces, new rehearsal rooms and studios, and vastly improved customer experience
Our vision and values
Our vision is to open up creativity and theatre for all.
The Citizens Theatre is renowned for its theatrical skill, flair and artistic licence that is grounded in humility, honesty and Glaswegian realism.
Our character is defined by our values:
Heart
We believe in theatre with a passion; we treat people fairly; we invite and we involve; we work as a team.
Roots
We’re proud of Glasgow; we keep our feet on the ground and dream big; we care for the world around us.
Grit
We’re inventive and progressive; we insist on equality; we make things happen.
We focus on four key pillars:
Creativity
Our creative mindset drives everything that we do and opens new possibilities for our staff and our community. This is where the magic happens.
Community
We will always hold space for our communities and welcome an evolving conversation with them. We will adapt our approach to meet people where they are.
Learning
Craft, open-minded thinking, attention to detail and quality are cornerstones of our work. We always look to open up access to learning while being mindful that learning is reciprocal.
Sustainability
We recognise that financial and ecological sustainability will help us bring creativity and performance for many years to come.
Our work
The work on stage at the Citz is bold, imaginative and for all. It is inspired by the unique characteristics of our beautiful Victorian theatre which can hold both epic and intimate plays. Alongside new versions of classic plays, we are also a leading commissioner of new writing. Our new Studio Theatre is a game-changing venue in Scotland, offering opportunities to emerging artists and companies and nurturing the theatre-makers of the future. It also presents touring and children’s shows from across the UK.
In an average year, the Citizens Theatre welcomes 100,000 audience members and around 2,000 participants. Annual footfall in the new building is expected to exceed 130,000 people annually when we reopen.
Artistic programme
Since reopening, our work has been received very enthusiastically by audiences and critics alike. The opening production Small Acts of Love by Frances Poet and Ricky Ross, set the bar for our inaugural season.
★★★★
“What a joy to hear applause again in the Citz”
The Guardian
★★★★
“A production as ambitious as the building it now inhabits”
Corr Blimey
This was followed by further success, including the Christmas show Beauty and the Beast by Lewis Heatherington, a new production of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, and the Scottish premiere of Lynn Nottage’s contemporary masterpiece, Sweat.
★★★★★
“As funny and fast-moving as it is spectacular”
The Scotsman on Beauty and the Beast
★★★★
“Matthew Kelly and George Costigan are a bleakly funny double act”
The Guardian on
Waiting for Godot
★★★★★
“A stunning revival of one of the most important works in the history of theatre”
The Reviews Hub on Waiting for Godot
★★★★★
“A mighty rendering of an epic tragedy…Perfect”
The Herald on Sweat
★★★★★
“Superb”
The Scotsman on Sweat
The acclaim highlights not only the quality of the productions themselves but also the connection they foster with audiences, cementing our reputation for creating high-quality, impactful theatre.
Participate programme
Participate, our creative engagement programme, is integral to our role as a civic and cultural hub. Our five strands of work – Youth, Education, Adults, Families and Community Residences – are centred around (re)igniting and deepening relationships with our local neighbours, nurturing new relationships with theatre-loving folks, and welcoming individuals and communities to discover the joy and benefits of arts engagement.
Matching compassion and inclusion with high quality engagement, and placing a renewed emphasis on making work with, by and for communities we are engaged with, Participate sets out to harness everyone’s right to take part in cultural activity. With two new fully accessible Participation Studios, as well as programmes of work that span out across the city, we are a place of possibility, a space for creative bravery, and a home for inspiring artistic exploration and building community.
We are committed to making theatre accessible to all, and our range of theatre passes play a key role in removing financial barriers to access, ensuring that everyone can experience high quality theatre, regardless of circumstances. Over 1200 residents of the Gorbals have signed up for a G5 Pass, offering £5 tickets for every Citz production, while our Access Pass and Under 30s Pass give heavily discounted tickets for disabled and young audiences respectively. By prioritising accessibility, we aim to foster a more inclusive cultural space, inviting a wider more diverse community to engage with the arts and feel that theatre is truly for everyone.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI)
As one of the most significant cultural institutions in the most diverse and rapidly changing cities in Scotland, we see it as imperative that our organisation is enriched by and representative of the many communities we are part of. This includes the work that we put on our stages, the audiences we attract, the artists and participants we engage with, and the workforce we employ.
In 2024, we reimagined our DEI Strategy to ensure we focused on building our collective understanding of the complex nature of how intersecting inequalities can play out in people’s lives. In turn, we have developed a multi-layered approach to the work, which integrates Our Building, Our People, Our Programme and Our Audiences.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion mission
For the Citizens Theatre to thrive we need to live a culture of equity, diversity, access and inclusion.
We will strive to achieve this mission through four intersecting priorities:
- Hold a truly welcoming cultural and civic space in the city of Glasgow.
- Cultivate a workforce and board that are truly representative of contemporary Scotland.
- Produce and host a creative programme (Productions, Participate and Professional Development) that centres the widest possible range of lived experience, through the stories we nurture and present.
- Lay the groundwork for reaching and engaging a cross-section of audiences and participants that are representative of the diverse range of communities in Glasgow.
Over the forthcoming years, we see ourselves as creating the foundations for a Theatre for the Future. While Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion have always been central to the work we do, we view this new strategy as horizon building. It will enable the Citizens Theatre to thrive because we have focused on creating the conditions for living a culture of DEI. We seek to be changed by this work, and we look forward to discovering how that change will emerge and grow.
Sustainability
Finance
The redeveloped Citizens Theatre has created opportunities for us to build a diverse income model to ensure long-term financial sustainability. All staff are expected to support our income generation activities.
Our annual turnover in 26/27 is budgeted at £6m, of which 58% is earned through ticket sales, coproductions, hospitality and space hire. With the building back in full operation, we expect to welcome over 100,000 audiences a year, generating an annual income from ticket sales of c£1.5m. Our new café bar and range of spaces front of house are allowing us to expand our events and hospitality activity, welcoming new people and businesses into our building.
Public funding contributes 31% of our income: we receive £1.6m annually as a Creative Scotland Multi-Year Funded Organisation, and a further £200,000 annually from Glasgow City Council’s Communities Fund.
Fundraising is an important part of our funding mix; we have attracted support from a range of leading funders, including Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, National Lottery Communities Fund and William Syson Foundation, and have a growing community of individual supporters. Income from philanthropic sources contributes £585k per year, around 11% of our annual turnover.
Environment
As an organisation with a strong sense of civic responsibility rooted within its community, sustainability and the climate crisis have become embedded within the Citizens Theatre’s identity and values.
Environmental sustainability has been a paramount consideration in the planning and delivery of the redevelopment of the theatre building. Our creative programmes feature environmental issues as a thematic seam, placing the discourse centre-stage. For many years, we have been progressively implementing the recommendations from the Theatre Green Book in our productions, and have supported their development in an advisory role, piloting new, sustainable practices.
We take seriously our role as a leader in our sector, and will continue to share examples of best practice and influence the behaviours of our audiences, staff, peers, the wider sector and our supply chain.
Governance structure
The Citizens Theatre is a registered charity and a company limited by guarantee. We are governed by our Board, who serve as Directors of the Company and Trustees of the Charity.
The Board delegates management of the of the company to its joint CEOs, Artistic Director Dominic Hill and Executive Director Kate Denby. They are supported by the Senior Management Team, who are responsible for operational decision making across different areas of the organisation.
The Board have overall responsibility for the governance of the company. They oversee the strategic direction of the company, ratify all major policy decisions, approve allocation of resource, monitor the financial management, and safeguard its reputation and values.
Board members are appointed for a period of four years, which can be renewed for a second term of four years. Appointments are ratified by Members of the Citizens Theatre Company at the Annual General Meeting. The Board elects the Chair and Vice Chair.
Board meeting structure
The Citizens Theatre Board meet four times a year in March, June, September and December. We also typically host an away day once or twice a year to look at areas of the business in depth.
Two sub-committees currently support the Board:
- The Finance Committee meets four times per year to review the ongoing financial performance of the organisation, through consideration of all budgets, forecasts, management accounts and the annual financial statements.
- The People & Culture Committee meets four times a year to oversee the company’s HR, staff development and diversity, equity and inclusion policies and procedures.
Terms of reference for these committees are reviewed and approved by the Board periodically, and new committees can be formed to support strategic priorities at the discretion of the Board.
Board Members are expected to read papers in advance and contribute to the discussion and decision making at each meeting. You may be asked to commit additional time to support sub-committees, where your expertise could add value. Board members are also expected to see as much of the company’s work as possible including performances – which tickets will be provided – and events as a representative of the company.
Being a Director and Trustee carries certain statutory responsibilities. New Board members will be provided with a thorough induction to ensure familiarity with these, as well as offering insights into board processes and the overall operations of the organisation. There are some legal limitations on who can serve on Boards, which can be found on the Scottish Charity Regulator website.