Work with us:
We collaborate with the world’s foremost artists working for or with disability. See below for current opportunities to work with us.
AFFILIATE POOL
The information for this opportunity is available in the following alternative formats:
If you require this information in a different format, access support to apply, or have any other questions, please email us at recruitment@formidability.org.
About formidAbility
formidAbility is a disability-led, female-led and artist-led professional opera company based in Birmingham. We are breaking new ground in accessibility and inclusion in opera for those with disabilities, both onstage and off. We produce and support opera that places accessibility at the heart of the creative process, rather than adding it as an afterthought.
We are proud to have been nominated for the 2025 National Diversity Awards.
Please explore our website to find out more about our work and the people and organisations that support us.
Creation of formidAbility’s Affiliate Pool and professional development pilot with creative research & development
This project is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England. We are running an open recruitment process to create formidAbility’s new Affiliate Pool of opera singers, BSL-fluent actors, producers, access coordinators and stage managers. We want to get to know more of the outstanding professionals in the fields of opera, theatre and disability-led arts, and bring together a group of disabled and nondisabled affiliates who will be our first port of call when we recruit and cast for future productions, outreach and advocacy work. We will invite some of our new affiliates to pilot a 4-day workshop combining professional development with creative research & development.
Being an organisation reliant on project funding presents challenges with casting openly for roles. The creation of our new Affiliate Pool is our way of addressing this. We want to ensure that we are recruiting openly and fairly as part of our key aim to improve equality to the opera industry.
Affiliate Pool roles are engaged on a freelance basis. We budget to pay fees at least in line with ITC / Equity / MU rates.
Equal Opportunities
formidAbility is committed to equal opportunities in employment and aims to create an environment that is free from all forms of discrimination and that values diversity. No person seeking work with formidAbility will receive less favourable treatment or be disadvantaged on the grounds of their age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation. formidAbility is committed to having a workforce that is representative of the communities we operate in and all applicants are treated equally and fairly throughout the recruitment and selection process.
The Roles and how to apply
Please click the following links for job descriptions and to complete our application form:
Deadline to apply for all roles:
10am, Friday 30 May 2025
Please see individual job descriptions for key dates for each role.
Access
If you require any access support to apply, please email our recruitment coordinator at recruitment@formidability.org.
formidAbility is committed to removing workplace barriers wherever possible. We will discuss any interview, audition and work-related access requirements with applicants and agree how we can best support them.
formidAbility is a Disability Confident Committed (Level 1) Employer
Subject to capacity, we will offer an interview/audition to anyone applying under the Disability Confident scheme who meets our minimum requirements. We will reserve 50% of interview / audition slots for Disability Confident applicants. If we receive more Disability Confident applicants than we have capacity to interview / audition, we will offer interviews / auditions to those whose experience and skills would be the best fit for our current and / or future planned work.
Safeguarding
FormidAbility acknowledges its responsibility to prevent all forms of abuse and to have clear and robust measures in place to minimise the risk and deal with any incidents.
Safeguarding is the responsibility of everyone. We will work together to prevent and minimise abuse.
We see safeguarding as a broad duty of care to each other, and will ensure that all safeguarding matters and processes are informed by care, respect, and kindness.
Read formidAbility’s Safeguarding Policy here.
We are proud to support the ISM-MU Code of Practice.
DBS checks at an appropriate level will be undertaken for all roles that involve working with children or vulnerable adults.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Help shape formidAbility's future
We are looking for up to three individuals with a passion for inclusion and a desire to contribute to arts-based social change. We want to build a team of people with the passion and experience to help an arts organisation in its formative years embed in the UK arts ecosystem and scale-up in a prudent and lasting way
In line with our primary artistic mission, we want our board to reflect the diversity and inclusion we work so hard to present onstage. We would be excited to receive applications from people from communities currently underrepresented in the opera industry, especially those identifying as D/deaf or disabled, LGBTQI+ and people from the Global Majority.
Our application pack is available to download in large print as standard or as an audio file.