Head of workshop to technical director
A head of workshop already meets 43% of what the technical director role asks for. The move turns on 5 required skills not yet in the profile.
48.7/ 100
1 How much of what a technical director is expected to do is already part of a head of workshop’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the technical director role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A technical director role treats 4 of its required skills as things a head of workshop already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- adapt to artists' creative demands
- negotiate health and safety issues with third parties
- promote health and safety
- write risk assessment on performing arts production
What stands in the way is 5 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 4 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A technical director role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a head of workshop background worth leading with.
- already held negotiate health and safety issues with third parties communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held write risk assessment on performing arts production information skills
- already held promote health and safety communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held adapt to artists' creative demands communication, collaboration and creativity
All 4 carried skills, including the 4 the technical director role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 6 missing skills fall into 3 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn adapt designers’ work to the performance venue required
- still to learn coordinate with creative departments required
- optional, not held write technical riders optional
- still to learn coordinate technical teams in artistic productions required
- still to learn organise rehearsals required
- still to learn theatre techniques required
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a technical director role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 adapt designers’ work to the performance venue practise this
- 02 coordinate technical teams in artistic productions practise this
- 03 coordinate with creative departments practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 4 skills that carry over
- already held adapt to artists' creative demands skill
- already held negotiate health and safety issues with third parties skill
- already held promote health and safety skill
- already held write risk assessment on performing arts production skill
1 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held write technical riders optional
35 held skills the technical director role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role analyse the need for technical resources skill
- not needed by the target role archive documentation related to work skill
- not needed by the target role calculate design costs skill
- not needed by the target role commission set construction skill
- not needed by the target role consult with design team skill
- not needed by the target role develop project schedule skill
- not needed by the target role document safety actions skill
- not needed by the target role ensure safety of mobile electrical systems skill
- not needed by the target role follow safety procedures when working at heights skill
- not needed by the target role lead a team skill
- not needed by the target role make set construction drawings skill
- not needed by the target role manage budgets skill
- not needed by the target role manage consumables stock skill
- not needed by the target role manage schedule of tasks skill
- not needed by the target role manage supplies skill
- not needed by the target role manage teamwork skill
- not needed by the target role oversee quality control skill
- not needed by the target role perform first fire intervention skill
- not needed by the target role perform quality control of design during a run skill
- not needed by the target role plan workshop activity skill
- not needed by the target role prevent fire in a performance environment skill
- not needed by the target role provide first aid skill
- not needed by the target role provide technical documentation skill
- not needed by the target role react to emergency situations in a live performance environment skill
- not needed by the target role support a designer in the developing process skill
- not needed by the target role translate artistic concepts to technical designs skill
- not needed by the target role update budget skill
- not needed by the target role use personal protection equipment skill
- not needed by the target role use specialised design software skill
- not needed by the target role use technical documentation skill
- not needed by the target role work ergonomically skill
- not needed by the target role work safely with chemicals skill
- not needed by the target role work safely with machines skill
- not needed by the target role work safely with mobile electrical systems under supervision skill
- not needed by the target role work with respect for own safety skill
1 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn theatre techniques required
Other moves recorded from head of workshop
Common questions about this move
Can a head of workshop become a technical director?
Yes, and it is a moderate move. A head of workshop already covers 43% of what a technical director is expected to do: 4 skills carry over, 4 of which the technical director role treats as required.
What skills does a head of workshop need to become a technical director?
5 required skills are missing, plus 1 optional ones. They fall into 3 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by communication, collaboration and creativity. The single most important is adapt designers’ work to the performance venue.
How hard is the move from head of workshop to technical director?
Its learning distance is 48.7 out of 100, which is the moderate band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.