Welcome

The Philharmonia is a world-class symphony orchestra for the 21st century. Based in London at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, the Philharmonia creates thrilling performances for a global audience. Through its network of residencies, the Orchestra has a national footprint, serving communities across England both in performance and through its extensive outreach and engagement programme. The Orchestra also tours widely abroad, with recent visits to the USA, Japan, China, Korea and throughout Europe.

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Founded in 1945, in part as a recording orchestra for the nascent home audio market, today the Philharmonia uses the latest digital technology to reach new audiences for symphonic music. The Philharmonia is led by Finnish conductor and composer Esa-Pekka Salonen, its Principal Conductor & Artistic Advisor since 2008. Fellow Finn Santtu-Matias Rouvali takes over from Salonen as Principal Conductor in the 2021/22 season.

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The Philharmonia is a registered charity that relies on funding from a wide range of sources to deliver its programme and is proud to be generously supported by Arts Council England.

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The Orchestra has been going through an exciting period of transition and renewal, both artistically and in regard to governance and management. Incoming Chief Executive Alexander Van Ingen is due to start in September, and a new Chair of the Orchestra, Lord King of Lothbury will be taking his post later this summer. The Orchestra has recently completed a review and restructure of its governance, merging with the Philharmonia Trust to form a combined entity with one unified Board which holds responsibility for the operations of the Orchestra and its endowment. This merger was completed in March 2020 and puts the organisation on a stronger footing to face the challenges ahead, including Covid-19.We are confident we have the fundamentals in place to navigate these with dexterity.

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The new Finance Director will play a pivotal role in the future success of the Orchestra. It requires a highly-skilled individual who can balance the pragmatic, hands-on elements required to work in a charity of this size (average turnover, £11 million) and the strategic abilities to work closely with the Chief Executive and Senior Leadership Team to help plan for the future with intelligence and adaptability. Elements of this role will require both financial and operational skills and you will be ready to understand all aspects of the business and add value across the organization.

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We are looking for a highly-qualified individual who is insightful, diligent and collegial; we are looking for someone who is comfortable working in a mixed economy model but with keen commercial instincts. You don’t need to have a background in music, but we hope you have an affinity for what the Philharmonia does best, creating world-class musical experiences and finding new audiences. The new Finance Director of the Philharmonia will have a key part to play in making that happen.

 

Michael Fuller

Interim Managing Director

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