Breakthrough Traineeship – Junior Producer, Southampton
About Breakthrough
Breakthrough is a 6‑month employability programme designed as a stepping stone to get you workplace experience and all-important employment skills. This short placement gives you insight into a future career in the Creative Industry, supporting your confidence and professionalism in the workplace, and helping you to break through into a career that matters to you!
Read more about Breakthrough here:
The role
This is an exciting opportunity for a creative individual to join our small and friendly team as Junior Producer – learning on the job the key foundational skills for running an arts organisation and producing high quality touring theatre . You will work across the organisation, providing administrative and practical production support to deliver our core programme, which includes:
- Commissioning new work.
- High quality productions in theatres, community settings and schools nationwide.
Workshops with schools, writer collectives and experienced professionals.
Duties and responsibilities of the Junior Producer:- Assisting with the OperaUpClose team to plan productions, workshops, events and other project activity.
- Liaising with venues, partners, creatives, cast and production team, ensuring clear communication and that all company members feel well supported.
- Supporting tour and event logistics including travel and accommodation booking, researching and booking rehearsal spaces, printing and posting scores, and creating company schedules.
- Developing a good understanding of organisational and production marketing requirements and supporting campaigns taking an active role in creating social media posts and other digital content, updating OperaUpClose’s website, and collating weekly sales reports.
- Assisting administration including processing donations, collating and analysing evaluation data, and collating and reporting audience and participation data to Arts Council England and other funders.
- Attending workshops, events and other activities, welcoming and registering participants, supporting facilitators and other team members and contributing to post event evaluation.
This role will also allow you to shadow the OperaUpClose team, developing skills and confidence in other key aspects of producing including project budgeting; project scheduling; fundraising; deal negotiation; casting; marketing and brand awareness.
The role will be based at offices at Mayflower Studios in Southampton, with the potential for some hybrid working.
Who we are:
OperaUpClose is a chamber-scale opera company and arts charity with storytelling, innovation and partnership at its heart, rooted in the Solent region and touring across the UK.
From our home at Mayflower Studios, Southampton, we are creating a legacy of excellence at a chamber scale, commissioning and producing bold reinterpretations of known operas and stories that, alongside multidisciplinary, co-created companion pieces, distil the essence of classics into new, contemporary works with their own artistic integrity and identity.
Our work challenges perceptions of what opera is, who makes it, and who it’s for, diversifying the way audiences engage with the artform, broadening access across communities and generations, and making a vital contribution to the evolution and sustainability of the sector.
Deadline for applications
The deadline is 11:45pm, on 27 July 2026
You will need to download the job description below and read it carefully, and review the eligibility criteria below to ensure you are able to apply.
You then need to fill out the form below to submit your application.
All of the job descriptions include an “Employers advice” section and we strongly recommend that you tailor your answers to ensure they cover that advice given for the specific role you are applying for.
You can apply for more than one role if you wish to, but you will need to submit separate applications using the same process.
We strongly suggest that you research travel options for the role before applying to ensure travel is feasible.
To be eligible to apply for a Breakthrough traineeship, applicants must:
- Be aged 18-25 on the 28 September 2026
- Have the right to work in the UK
- Available to start work on the 28 September 2026 and available for the duration of the placement (until 28th March 2027)
- Have no or little (less than one month) previous experience of working in an arts, creative or voluntary sector organisation
In addition to the above, applicants should also meet one or more of the following criteria:
- Currently not in employment, education or training (NEET)
- Be disabled and/or Neurodivergent
- Have current or prior mental health issues
- Have experienced racism, homophobic or transgender discrimination
- Be a recent school or college leaver (A level or equivalent)
- Are struggling to find work due to lack of employment or training experience
Please note that this programme is not suitable for those on a degree placement year or an MA programme.
Download the full job description
This contains more information about the role, including advice from the employer.
Breakthrough 2026 Application Form
Contact us
If you are unsure if you are eligible, have any other questions, or need information in a different format, please email our Careers team:
FAQs
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If you have applied for a Breakthrough placement in a previous year and been unsuccessful, then yes you are very welcome to apply again if you meet this years eligibility criteria!
If you have already successfully undertaken a Breakthrough placement before, you won't be eligible to apply again.
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Please do. You will need to submit an application for each role you are interested in and should check that the travel to the workplace is realistic for you before applying.