Job Title: Project Coordinator – HMP & YOI Polmont
Line Manager: Festival Director
Working period: 26 January to 27 March 2026
Salary: £27,000 pro rata (0.8)
Location: GSFF office, Tradeston / WFH / HMP & YOI Polmont
To apply: CV and cover letter to vacancies@glasgowshort.org
Deadline: Wednesday 7 January at 5pm
Since 2024, with the support of The National Lottery Community Fund, Glasgow Short Film Festival has taken screenings, workshops and filmmakers into HMP & YOI Polmont, working with the various prison populations.
Feedback from participants has been incredibly enthusiastic. The prison community felt
included and valued, and themes brought up in the films — such as race, addiction, poverty, grief and loss, sexuality, care, and difference — sparked intense discussion among attendees, helping to build understanding and connection within the community as well as feeding new creative projects and developing new skills. The results of our animation workshops have won prestigious Koestler Awards for Arts in Criminal Justice.
Working with the Festival Director and Programme Manager, the Project Coordinator will
coordinate and facilitate the various GSFF activities taking place at HMP & YOI Polmont leading up to and during Glasgow Short Film Festival 2026. These activities include:
- Screening the entire Scottish competition, with discussions, filmmaker visits, and audience voting
- Running an animation workshop led by an experienced animator over three days
- Running a curation workshop over five sessions led by members of the programming team, culminating in a screening curated by participants during festival week
- Screening six programmes during festival week, including the results of the curation
workshop, and bringing international filmmaker guests to screenings - Broadcasting films on the closed circuit TV network within cells, including video
introductions
The main responsibilities of the post are to coordinate film delivery and promotional materials with prison staff, complete any paperwork required by the prison, book workshop facilitators and filmmaker guests, and host screenings and discussions within the prison. Other team members will attend some of the screenings or workshops, but the Project Coordinator will be the consistent presence and key festival representative at Polmont throughout the project.
The Project Coordinator will be entitled to 4 days holiday, to include public holidays. The salary is based on a 7.5 hour day, and as the role demands some early morning starts and long days, the Project Coordinator will be entitled to take Time Off In Lieu. Any necessary training (e.g Personal Protection Training) will be provided. Travel costs to and from Polmont will be reimbursed.
Job Duties:
- Coordinating film programmes with Programme Manager and Festival Director
- Viewing films and preparing discussion points
- Ensuring prison staff receive screenable film files in good time
- Preparing materials for promoting screenings and workshops within the prison
- Coordinating filmmaker attendance at screenings in the prison
- Coordinating workshop facilitator attendance
- Preparing pro formas for any special equipment to be brought into the prison, plus any other paperwork as required by prison staff
- Coordinating brief video introductions by programming team
- Attending screenings and facilitating/leading discussions and Q&As, providing refreshments, collecting voting slips etc.
- Transporting filmmakers to Polmont (particularly during festival week)
- Collecting feedback and reporting on the various activities
Person Specification (Essential/Desirable):
- Experience of working in a coordinator role in a festival environment or similar (E)
- Experience of working in a prison environment (E)
- The ability to multi-task and meet multiple deadlines (E)
- Computer literate, ideally on both Mac and PC, and Microsoft Office (E)
- Positive, outgoing and resourceful attitude, a good communicator (E)
- A passion for film (D)
- Driving licence and own transport (D)
If you have any questions about the role, contact matt.lloyd@glasgowshort.org. To apply, send CV and cover letter to vacancies@glasgowshort.org. Applications close at 5pm on Wednesday 7 January.