Career opportunities at Catalyst
Catalyst is an international creative production and performance learning community based at the extraordinary Funkhaus. Our courses span electronic music production and performance, music production and sound engineering, film production, tech arts & visual effects, and acting and follow a progressive educational approach. We provide students with a safe space to dream big, grow their own greatness and build a life they love.
Our international team of professionals work under a progressive work model called Holacracy - a decentralised management system where decision-making is distributed throughout different circles that hold clear and driven purposes and all feed back to our core values. Working with purpose means that our roles and accountabilities adapt to always align with our purposes and this provides for a flexible and dynamic work and collaboration amongst our team members.
What can you expect from us:
- Opportunity to learn and exchange experiences with a vibrant creative community
- Dynamic and fast changing work environment
- Encouragement to express yourself and take initiative in shaping your role
- Freedom to express yourself within your specific academic focus
- Possibilities to develop yourself as teacher as well as a music professional
Current open positions at Catalyst
See the open positions and consider joining the Catalyst community.
Course Leader - Music for Visual Media B.A (Hons)
We’re looking for an enthusiastic and experienced academic to run our brand new Music and Sound Design for Visual Media B.A programme. As the course/programme lead you will be tasked with designing, developing and running a cutting edge B.A (Hons) programme according to your own practical experience in the industry, whilst aligning with our teaching and learning philosophy. You will have the support of multiple roles within the organisation, both to ensure cohesion between all of our courses and to get inspiration from what we’ve done before - but your hands will be free to develop the course that you feel will excite, motivate, and create the best possible space to learn in.
Below you’ll find a list of responsibilities that the programme lead role carries, along with more details. This position is part-time and can be structured around other professional work. The actual hours offered will depend on the subject areas that you can teach and the amount of teaching that is available. We encourage applications from adaptable and flexible individuals who are looking for new opportunities to grow!
Purpose
Designing and upholding the vision and direction of the programme through thorough planning, development and refinement processes.
Key Accountabilities
A - Management / Development
- Setting out objectives, vision and strategy.
- Designing programme content, course structure, schedules, outlines, and delivery methods.
- Managing, and providing educational support and planning for tutors.
- Helping to design appropriate spaces and equipment.
- Supporting the marketing team with your subject specialism.
- Communicating with potential students about the course.
- Advertising for, interviewing, hiring and onboarding new tutors.
- Developing projects and module handbooks with tutors in line with module descriptors.
- Running weekly team meetings.
B - Teaching
- Creating and sustaining a positive and challenging learning environment.
- Preparing and delivering workshops, including, but not limited to -
- >> developing scheme of work and workshop overviews.
- >> developing workshop content.
- >> weekly delivery of workshop sessions.
- >> managing and publishing workshop resources.
- Providing and encouraging formative and summative feedback in a healthy environment.
- Assessing/grading student submissions and resits in line with education policy.
About You
You may have many or all of these qualities/experiences:-
- Strong pedagogical background, with a relevant B.A/M.A.
- Relevant industry experience with a strong creative portfolio.
- Strong communicator, with high level of written and spoken English.
- An interest in progressive education methodologies (PBL a bonus).
- Efficiency in designing and carrying out administration processes.
- Ability to critique and guide the teaching and assessment of others.
- Experience in conceiving, developing and enacting planning strategies.
- Achieving great results with ideas rather than large budgets.
- Happy to get your hands dirty and be a team player
You should be able to demonstrate that you are exceptionally capable with evidence of earlier real-world roles/ projects to prove your abilities.
We will be testing your capabilities and role fit as part of our interview process.
Next Steps
Please send us your most recent CV and cover letter, and email both to [email protected] with the subject “Music and Sound - PL”. Additionally, please describe to us in 500 words your perspective on education and how you feel it could develop in the future.
We look forward to reading your application and getting to know you!
Programme Lead - Visual Effects, Digital Arts and Animation B.A. (Hons)
We’re looking for an enthusiastic and experienced professional to refine and run our Visual Effects, Digital Arts and Animation B.A programme. As the programme lead you will be tasked with refining, developing and running a cutting edge B.A (Hons) programme according to your own practical experience in the industry, whilst aligning with our teaching and learning philosophy. You will have the support of multiple roles within the organisation, both to ensure cohesion between all of our courses and to get inspiration from what we’ve done before - but your hands will be free to develop the course that you feel will excite, motivate, and create the best possible space to learn in.
Below you’ll find a list of responsibilities that the programme lead role carries, along with more details. This position is part-time and can be structured around other professional work. The actual hours offered will depend on the subject areas that you can teach and the amount of teaching that is available. We encourage applications from adaptable and flexible individuals who are looking for new opportunities to grow!
Purpose
Upholding the vision and direction of the programme through thorough planning, development and refinement processes.
Key Accountabilities
A - Management
- Setting out objectives, vision and strategy.
- Designing programme content, course structure, schedules, outlines, and delivery methods.
- Managing, and providing educational support and planning for tutors.
- Helping to design appropriate spaces and equipment.
- Supporting the marketing team with your subject specialism.
- Communicating with potential students about the course.
- Advertising for, interviewing, hiring and onboarding new tutors.
- Developing projects and module handbooks with tutors in line with module descriptors.
- Running weekly team meetings.
B - Teaching
- Creating and sustaining a positive and challenging learning environment.
- Preparing and delivering workshops, including, but not limited to -
- >> developing scheme of work and workshop overviews.
- >> developing workshop content.
- >> weekly delivery of workshop sessions.
- >> managing and publishing workshop resources.
- Providing and encouraging formative and summative feedback in a healthy environment.
- Assessing/grading student submissions and resits in line with education policy.
About You
You may have many or all of these qualities/experiences:-
- Strong pedagogical background, with a relevant B.A/M.A.
- Relevant industry experience with a strong creative portfolio.
- Strong communicator, with high level of written and spoken English.
- An interest in progressive education methodologies (PBL a bonus).
- Efficiency in designing and carrying out administration processes.
- Ability to critique and guide the teaching and assessment of others.
- Experience in conceiving, developing and enacting planning strategies.
- Achieving great results with ideas rather than large budgets.
- Happy to get your hands dirty and be a team player
You should be able to demonstrate that you are exceptionally capable with evidence of earlier real-world roles/ projects to prove your abilities.
We will be testing your capabilities and role fit as part of our interview process.
Next Steps
Instead of sending a traditional cover letter, please describe to us in 500 words your perspective on education and how you feel it could develop in the future. Please send that text in the body of your email with your most recent CV attached as a PDF. Email this to your_m[email protected] with the subject “Visual Effects PL”.
We look forward to reading your application and getting to know you!
Screen Acting - Movement Tutor B.A(Hons)
Role: This position is part-time freelance
We’re looking for an enthusiastic and experienced professional, freelance artist, specialising in movement for our teaching team in the Screen Acting programme. We are primarily interested in applicants with artistic or industry expertise and academic experience in the following areas, but open to receiving applications with other expertise:
Movement for Actors
Screen Choreography
Dance
Fight Choreography
Intimacy Coordination
Physical Theatre
Acting Technique
Below you’ll find a list of responsibilities that a teaching position carries, along with more details. This position could be anything from a few hours to a few days a week, depending on the skills you have to offer and the amount of teaching that is available. We encourage applications from adaptable and flexible individuals who are looking for new opportunities to grow!
Key accountabilities
- Writing and developing module handbooks and schemes of work.
- Attending weekly team meetings.
- Setting assessments in line with learning outcomes.
- Writing and developing module content.
- Preparing exciting content for lessons (Including lesson handouts).
- Delivering classes, workshops, lectures, seminars and tutorials.
- Monitoring student progress.
- Assessing and grading student submissions.
- Providing feedback to programme lead.
- Carrying out second marking.
- Completing module reports.
- Attending programme meetings.
- Providing academic support for students.
About you
You may have many, or all of these qualities/experiences:-
- Fluent in English, both spoken and written (other languages are a bonus).
- An open mind and supportive approach to teaching.
- Strong motivational skills to draw students into study.
- Bachelor's degree or equivalent industry and teaching experience.
- Interested in helping to build a growing creative community.
- Artistic or industry experience.
- An interest in progressive film/acting education methodologies (PBL a bonus).
- Highly developed real-world teaching practice at Higher Education level.
- Ability to critique and guide the teaching and assessment of others.
- Achieving great results with ideas rather than large budgets.
- A team player.
- Ability to work onsite from Funkhaus.
- Permission to work in Germany.
You should be able to demonstrate that you are exceptionally capable with evidence of previous real-world roles/ projects to prove your abilities with a deep knowledge and practical understanding of working in a higher education environment.
We will be testing your capabilities and role fit as part of our interview process.
Next steps
Please send us your most recent CV and cover letter, and email both to [email protected] with the subject “Screen Acting Tutor”. Include in your letter a short paragraph about your perspective on education and how you feel it could develop in the future.
Closing date: Dec 5th, 2022
Interviews starting: Dec 7th, 2022
Music tutor
What are we looking for?
We’re currently looking for experienced freelance tutors to join our team here at Catalyst Berlin. We are interested in applicants with industry and academic experience in one or more of the following areas:
Electronic music production.
Electronic sound design / synthesis.
Critical theory relating to sound and audio culture.
Music industry and freelance practice.
Composition and arrangement.
Musical theory’s application on music technology.
Performance of electronic music.
Mixing & mastering.
Music project supervision and mentorship.
Electronic instrument and interface design.
Composition for media (e.g film, tv, games, installation).
Key accountabilities
Writing and developing schemes of work and content for workshops.
Delivering classes, workshops, lectures, seminars and tutorials.
Monitoring student progress and providing academic support.
Assessing and grading student submissions.
Providing feedback to programme lead and attending programme meetings.
Experience with online teaching would be beneficial.
About you
Prior experience in teaching preferable.
A bachelor's degree or higher, or equivalent industry experience.
Fluent in English, both spoken and written (other languages are a bonus).
Ability to deliver different narratives with a inspiring personal perspective.
An open mind and supportive approach to teaching.
Strong motivational skills to draw students into study.
Interested in helping to build a growing creative community.
Willingness to develop your teaching capabilities .
Available to teach weekly between mid-September 2023 and mid-May / end-July 2024 (depending on different semesters and not including semester breaks and holidays).
Ability to adapt and improvise when necessary.
What can you expect from us
Opportunity to learn and exchange experiences with a vibrant creative community.
Dynamic and fast changing work environment.
Encouragement to express yourself and take initiative in shaping your role.
Freedom to express yourself within your specific academic focus.
Possibilities to develop yourself as teacher as well as a music professional.
Next steps
Instead of sending a traditional cover letter, describe to us in 500 words your perspective on music education and how you feel it could develop (in PDF format). Please also include your most recent CV (in PDF format). Link to some examples of your work or portfolio (if available) - this can be included in your CV document.
Please email us your application documents to your_mis[email protected], include ‘Music Tutor’ in your subject.
We will be accepting applications until 28.05.2023. Relevant candidates will most likely be invited for initial online interviews between 19.06. - 30.06.2023.
We look forward to hearing from you!
Student Wellbeing Champion
/// What are we looking for?
—A team member
Moving beyond outmoded ways of working together, striving toward a conscious people-centred culture, we operate in a distributed leadership model, which we can describe in more detail in-person. We are excited to invite team members who have the courage to bring more of their own interests, insights, and backgrounds to the mix.
Whilst the aims of the school are what bring us together, what keeps us together in our dynamic community is the idea that people can bring more of their authentic selves and not just their “professional” selves to the workplace.
—A Student Wellbeing Champion
The Student Wellbeing role provides a conduit between the faculty and students, helping students settle in and feel welcome and supported throughout the year. It’s a busy, multi-skilled role that requires a lot of enthusiasm and attention to detail, but mostly a passion for helping our students get the most out of their time with us.
Student Wellbeing seeks to support students with non-academic issues, disseminate information about support structures and facilitate communication in the event of issues between individuals, with a view to solving through mediation.
This role is part-time, however we encourage applications from adaptable and flexible individuals who are looking for new opportunities to grow with our growing school.
/// Key accountabilities
● Providing student-centric social and welfare support (this might include workshops, for example).
● Providing a supportive counselling service.
● Mediating the discussion of conflicts arising between students and/or teams.
● Reaching out to at-risk students.
● Collecting detailed student feedback through formal and informal systems.
/// About you
● Student Wellbeing Champions with the following qualities resonate most with our students:
● Friendly, warm & welcoming!
● Experience in a student welfare or a people support role.
● Practical and organised with strong communication skills.
● Bachelor's degree or equivalent (ideally in social work, social welfare, counselling, therapy or similar).
● Fluent in German and English, both spoken & written.
/// What you can expect from us.
We offer a working environment where learning and exchange are invited and encouraged. Within our vibrant creative community, we share a dynamic and flexible work environment. By design, the working environment invites fuller expression of yourself, taking initiative in shaping your own role(s), and opening up possibilities to develop yourself as a counsellor, as well as a creative professional (if applicable).
Part of what animates our work together is trying to find ways of delivering a progressive and rigorous education to our students, whilst centering community and belonging. We therefore strongly encourage applications from those who would traditionally be excluded from an educational institution. For Catalyst that means we envision a constellation of team members that is diverse in its gender, race, class, ability, age and sexual orientation backgrounds.
/// Next steps
Instead of sending a traditional cover letter, describe to us in 500 words your perspective on a progressive creative education and how you feel you would contribute to this endeavour (in PDF format). Please also include your most recent CV (in PDF format) with links to some examples of your work/portfolio (if available).
Send your documents attached in an email to [email protected] by the 16. June 2023. Put 'Student Wellbeing' in the subject. We look forward to reading your application and getting to know you!
We look forward to reading your application and getting to know you!
Visual Effects (VFX) Tutor
/// What are we looking for?
—A Team Member
Whilst the aims of the school is what brings us together, what keeps us together in our dynamic teams is the idea that people can bring more of their authentic selves to the workplace. We are looking for team members who have the sense they can bring more of themselves to work than the limited/limiting superficial shell of what is often expected by managers of workers as “professional.”
Moving beyond this outmoded way of working together, striving toward a conscious people-centred culture, we operate in a self-managed model, which we can describe in more detail in-person. We acknowledge that working environments require appropriate boundaries and expectations, but we are excited to invite folks who have the courage to bring more of their own interests, insights, and backgrounds to the mix.
—A VFX Tutor
We’re currently looking for freelance teachers to join our growing VFX team. We’re specifically interested in applicants with both industry and academic expertise in one or more of the following areas:
• VFX Production Management
• VFX Supervision
• VFX History and Analysis
• VFX Storytelling and Narrative
• Creative Coding / Programming
• Visual Installation
• Games / Realtime Engines
• Virtual Reality
• Augmented Reality
• Practical Effects
• Post-Production
• Motion Graphics
• 2D / 3D Assets
Below you’ll find a list of responsibilities that our teaching positions carry. This position could be anything from a few hours to a few days a week, depending on the skills you have to offer and the amount of teaching that is available. We encourage applications from adaptable and flexible individuals who are looking for new opportunities to grow!
—Key accountabilities
• Motivating and driving students
• Creating and sustaining a positive and challenging learning environment
• Preparing workshops
• Workshop delivery
• Monitoring the attendance and engagement of all students in the class
• Providing and encouraging formative and summative feedback in a healthy environment
• Assessing/grading student submissions and resits in line with education policy
—About you
• Fluent in English, both spoken and written (other languages are a bonus)
• An open mind and supportive approach to teaching
• Strong motivational skills to draw students into study
• Bachelor's degree or higher, or equivalent industry and teaching experience
• Interested in helping to build a growing creative community
• Strong artistic or industry background
• An interest in progressive education methodologies (PBL a bonus)
• Highly developed real-world teaching practice at Higher Education level
• A good team player
• Available to teach weekly from September 2023
You should be able to demonstrate that you are exceptionally capable with evidence of previous real-world roles/ projects to prove your abilities with a deep knowledge and practical understanding of working in a higher education environment.
We will be reviewing your capabilities and role fit as part of our interview process.
/// What you can expect from us.
We offer a working environment where learning and exchange are invited and encouraged. Within our vibrant creative community, we share a dynamic and flexible work environment. By design, the working environment invites fuller expression of yourself, taking initiative in shaping your own role(s), and opening up possibilities to develop yourself as an educator as well as a creative professional (if applicable).
Part of what animates our work together is trying to find ways of delivering a progressive and rigorous education to our students, whilst centering community and belonging. We therefore strongly encourage applications from those who would traditionally be excluded from an educational institution. For Catalyst that means we envision a constellation of team members that is diverse in its gender, race, class, ability, age and sexual orientation backgrounds.
/// Next steps
Instead of sending a traditional cover letter, describe to us in 500 words your perspective on a progressive creative education and how you feel you would contribute to this endeavour (in PDF format). Please also include your most recent CV (in PDF format) with links to some examples of your work/portfolio (if available).
Email us your application documents to [email protected], include VFX Tutor in your subject. We will be accepting applications until 19 June 2023. Relevant candidates will most likely be invited for initial online interviews from 26 June 2023.
We look forward to reading your application and getting to know you!
Film Technician
/// What are we looking for?
—A freelance team member
Moving beyond outmoded ways of working together we are striving toward a conscious people-centred culture which we can describe in more detail in-person. Whilst the aims of the school are what bring us together, what keeps us together in our dynamic community is the idea that people can bring more of their authentic selves to the workplace.
—A Film Technician
Supporting students and team members with bookings and technical needs.
/// Key accountabilities
• Providing shift cover for contracted Film Technicians
• Responding to Student needs in person and via email.
• Ensuring the safety of School Equipment and Facilities
• Operating the booking system
/// About you
You need to be outgoing and comfortable working with people. This is a student facing role, which requires patience and understanding to help our students come to solutions to their technical issues. It also requires technical knowledge of camera, sound, and lighting equipment, as well as a fairly practical mindset to keep our booking system running smoothly and up to date.
/// What you can expect from us.
We offer a working environment where learning and exchange are invited and encouraged. Within our vibrant creative community, we share a lively and flexible work environment. By design, that environment invites fuller expression of yourself, taking initiative in shaping your own role(s), and opening up possibilities to develop yourself as a technician as well as a creative professional (if applicable).
Part of what animates our work together is trying to find ways of delivering a progressive and rigorous education to our students, whilst centering community and belonging. We therefore strongly encourage applications from those who would traditionally be excluded from an educational institution. For Catalyst that means we envision a constellation of team members that is diverse in its gender, race, class, ability, age and sexual orientation backgrounds.
/// Next steps
Instead of sending a traditional cover letter, describe to us in 500 words your perspective on a progressive creative education and how you feel you would contribute to this endeavour (in PDF format). Please also include your most recent CV (in PDF format) with links to some examples of your work/portfolio (if available).
Email us your application documents to [email protected], include “Freelance Film Technician” in your subject. We will be accepting applications until July 1st 2023. Relevant candidates will most likely be invited for initial online interviews between June 7th-July 20th.
We look forward to reading your application and getting to know you!