Iain Munro departs chief exec role of agency’s parent organisation Creative Scotland

Iain Munro, chief executive of Creative Scotland and Screen Scotland, will depart his role later this year following three decades working in the nation’s arts and culture sector.  

He will remain in post for the remainder of this year and details of the recruitment process to find his successor will be published soon.  

Creative Scotland is the public body that supports the arts, screen and creative industries across the nation, and Screen Scotland sits under its umbrella.  

Munro started his service in public sector arts and culture when he joined the Scottish Arts Council in 1996, becoming key to the launch of National Lottery funding for culture in Scotland and to the delivery of capital funding for countless projects across the country. He later led the teams which delivered the Scotland-wide Cultural Programmes for the London 2012 Olympics and Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. 

He served as deputy chief exec of Creative Scotland when it was established in 2010, then served as interim chief exec, before taking on the role on a permanent basis in 2018. As head of the organisation, Munro played a central role in establishing and nurturing Screen Scotland, as well as the introduction of multi-year funding for cultural organisations, which has helped transform the landscape of support across the country. He has also played a key role in securing the biggest culture budgets from the Scottish government in Creative Scotland’s history.  

Munro was integral in delivering vital emergency funding and support for people and organisations in Scotland’s culture and creative sector during the Covid-19 pandemic.  

Robert Wilson, chair of Creative Scotland, said: “Iain has been a tireless champion of Scotland’s culture and creativity for thirty years and his positive contribution to the sector, and to public life more broadly, has been immeasurable. We are all thankful to him for everything that he has achieved.  

Looking forward, the Creative Scotland board has now instigated a recruitment process for Iain’s replacement, and we look forward to a high level of interest in an opportunity of such significance.”