Executive Director

About this position

This is an exciting opportunity to take on a significant leadership role in one of Canada’s longest-running media arts organizations! The Executive Director will work with an energetic, passionate and dedicated team to plan and carry out an extensive festival of contemporary moving images each spring, alongside special projects and year-round initiatives. The Executive Director oversees human resources, development, financial management, organizational planning, community profile, and communications. This is a full-time position based in Toronto reporting to the Board of Directors and working in a co-leadership capacity with the Programming Director.

Images Festival is a platform for the exhibition and discourse of independent film and media art. Created in 1987 as an alternative to the only other Toronto film festival at the time, Images has spent the last 36 years presenting media works that are challenging in their form and content. Images showcases the intersection of emerging and established practices and invites open critical dialogue in the film and media arts community around the political herstories of moving image production, distribution, exhibition, and representation.

Required Qualifications and Experience:

We are open to a wide range of applicants for this position. We are seeking an individual who is willing to foster a care-based approach to their work, balancing well-being and employee satisfaction with the achievement of individual and collective goals. Individuals with training and expertise as a director within the cultural sector, specifically the media arts and or visual arts sectors, will be given preference. Experience working in artist-run centres will be considered an asset. People of various levels of experience—lived, educational, and professional—who feel they have the skills and competencies required to meaningfully contribute to this project are encouraged to apply. Given the hybrid nature of our current working conditions, applicants from across Canada will be considered, with priority given to regional candidates.

• Human Resources and Governance

  • Managing and coordinating staff and/or volunteers

  • Strategic planning and visioning

  • Working with a volunteer Board of Directors

• Finance and Development 

  • Sponsorship, foundations, consulates, and fundraising

  • Grant application writing and reporting for arts councils in Canada

  • Managing budgets and payroll, and administering organization’s finances;

• Internal and External Communications

  • Press and social media

  • Strategic communications

  • Representing Images Festival at public events

• Community building and collaborative partnerships;

  • Working with media arts organizations, film festivals, galleries, distributors, and other artists-run communities in Toronto, Canada, and Internationally

• Administration and operations

  • Managing timelines, critical paths, and long-term strategic goals. 

  • Organized, self motivated, detail oriented, and ability to multitask; 

  • Computer literacy in a Mac-based environment: competent with with Google Workspace, digital file management, database, and email correspondence;

  • Oral and written communication in English. Fluency in French is considered an asset

• Media arts presentation, film festivals, and/or community-based events planning and execution

  • Onsite events organizing and/or presentation logistics, and ability to provide hands-on support.

Compensation:

The salary for this position is $50,000 per year.

On top of base salary, total compensation also includes:

• Health benefits

• 2 weeks paid vacation

• Additional 2 weeks paid office closures in December and August (4 weeks total)

• Flexible working schedule

• Unlimited personal days

Working Conditions:

This position is a permanent position reporting to the Board of Directors and based in Toronto. Work consists of five days (35 hours) per week from January - June, and four days (28 hours) per week from July - December. We are currently working in a hybrid model, combining remote work and office hours at 401 Richmond St. West in downtown Toronto.

This position will require concentrated hours during festival and events times and requires flexibility and adaptability to changing working conditions, locations, and shifting working hour commitments. In-person work at our office and venues in downtown Toronto is required in the months leading up to and during the festival.

Equity and Access:

Images Festival is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to providing an accessible festival and workplace, and continue to work to reduce systemic barriers to participation in our events and employment. We welcome and encourage applications from people with disabilities, people who self-identify as Black, Indigenous, People of Colour, Racialized, and/or 2SLGBTQ+. Accommodations are available on request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the selection process. Please contact us at employment@imagesfestival.com if you have any questions.