PROPEL is our 40-day paid work placement programme for early-career creatives working in producing, production and programming
PROPEL has connected emerging talent with top festivals, theatres, and performance companies across the North for over two years. For 2025, we’ve partnered with some exciting new hosts in Bradford and West Yorkshire, offering five hands-on paid placements in production, producing, and programming.
Launch the next steps of your career in the live events industry with PROPEL!
PROPEL is generously supported by Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture to provide professional development opportunities to Bradford creatives.
Overview
PROPEL is a skills development programme for early-career producing, production and programming professionals connected to Bradford. Not just your usual training programme; PROPEL is designed to equip participants with on-the-job experience to develop a career in live events and performance.
For PROPEL Bradford, we’ve partnered with five exciting host organisations including Bradford 2025 and Common Wealth Theatre, with more placements to be announced.
What’s in it for you? Well, you’ll
- Be paid £150 per day for around 40 days of work – that’s £6,000 in total
- Gain hands-on experience working with professional producers, production managers and programmers to deliver high-quality events
- Have access to additional support and mentoring through Bradford Producing Hub
The Placements
Producer placements
Coming soon
TBC
TBC
Coming soon
TBC
TBC
Production placements
Common Wealth Theatre
Production Design Assistant
Coming Soon
Programming placements
Please read the following information before applying:
You are eligible for the PROPEL work placement programme if:
- You have a clear and demonstrable connection to the Bradford district
- You will be 18 years old or over when the programme starts
- You are committed to pursuing a career in producing, production or programming
- You are proactive and eager to learn and make the most of this opportunity
- You are ready to get involved and get hands-on as part of the host organisation’s team
- You are organised with your time and able to follow instructions
- You have good admin skills and can use email, Microsoft Word and Excel
- You can fully commit to this opportunity and are available for the key dates listed on the host page (if you can do the majority but there are a couple of dates that you can’t do, please speak to us as there may be some flexibility in these cases)
If you wish you can apply for a placement with multiple organisations, however, each opportunity will be listed at different times and you will only be selected for and offered a place with one.
- Head to the placement page linked above
- Complete the online application form which requires you to upload a copy of your CV
- If your application is shortlisted, you will be interviewed by the host organisation and BPH together – the interview will last no more than 60 minutes and we will keep this as relaxed as possible
- If you are offered a placement, you’ll have a kick-off meeting with BPH and the host organisation to confirm dates and the placement details
- BPH will issue you with a freelance contract and confirm how and when your fee will be paid
- The host organisation will contact you to arrange the welcome and induction process
If you require any access support with the application process, email us at hello@bdproducinghub.co.uk
Each of the advertised placements will follow a different working pattern. The days you can expect to work are detailed on the individual placement pages linked above.
It may be possible to adjust some of the days to fit in with your schedule but it would be expected that you’d be available for most of the advertised dates. Some placements have core delivery dates for specific events which you’d be expected to commit to when accepting the role.
We recommend a working pattern of at least 2 days per week throughout your placement.
You will have a senior contact at your host organisation who will be your main contact and supervise your day-to-day. You will also attend check-ins with BPH to provide support, and guidance and to ensure things are going smoothly and you’re enjoying your placement.
FAQs
You will be paid a freelance fee of £150 per day for 40 days work. That’s around £6,000 in total.
You will have a freelance contract with BPH and we will arrange to pay you the fee. You will be responsible for paying any tax or National Insurance due as part of it. (If you are new to freelancing we can help you understand this).
Yes, we can provide support to meet your access needs and there is a budget available towards travel, as well as for accommodation if occasional overnights are required.
There will be online information sessions where we’ll talk more about the placements and answer any questions you might have. These can be booked on the individual placement pages linked above. You should also do your own research about each host looking at their websites and social media feeds to familiarise yourself.
Yes, but you will only be offered one place. If you apply for multiple, we will make a decision based on what we think would be the best fit. Please be aware that there are staggered application dates for most placements and once you have been offered a place with one host, you won’t be able to switch to another placement.
If you have any other questions, or there’s other information you need, drop us an email to hello@bdproducinghub.co.uk
