Develop: Teen Tours Programme Co-ordinator & Mentor
| Role: | Develop: Teen Tours Programme Co-ordinator & Mentor |
| Team: | Programming (Education) |
| Line manager: | Curator, Youth Programmes |
| Contract: | Temporary, freelance |
| Dates: Location: | September 2026 to October 2027 Predominantly gallery-based, with visits to schools/centres and |
| remote research hours | |
| Salary: | £4,100 flat fee for mentoring (rough £50 per hour) Additional £55 per hour for Saturday tours (2 hours) |
The Photographers’ Gallery
The Photographers’ Gallery (TPG) explores how photography is connecting, captivating and radically changing our world today. The Gallery’s programme and spaces – from exhibitions, talks, workshops and digital platforms, to the galleries, shop and cafe – all explore the beauty, complexity and future of photography. Right outside the Gallery, the very best of contemporary photography is shown for free, day and night, in Soho Photography Quarter. On the borders of busy Oxford Street and vibrant Soho, the Gallery is home to photography experts, novices and the photo-curious; artists and students; tourists, locals and passers-by; and an enthusiastic and committed staff team.
Our values
Expose a fuller picture – by revealing narratives that go beyond the frame.
Develop future creators – by nurturing artists and new audiences and actively seeking under-represented voices in who we work with and welcome in our spaces.
Be one social space – a place for sharing and collaboration, joining up everything we do both virtually and in Soho.
For further details about the Gallery and our activities visit: https://thephotographersgallery.org.uk/
About Develop: Teen Tours programme:
The Develop: Teen Tours programme falls under our wider Develop programme that seeks to involve 14-24-year-olds in engaging with and through photography. This programme supports 14-19-yearolds from schools/centres in London to develop their confidence in public speaking, engage with photography and present a unique perspective on our exhibitions through short, public tours of our exhibitions. Participants are drawn from schools/youth organisations in different London boroughs.
The principle aims of the Develop: Teen Tours programme are to:
enable young people to have a deep and meaningful engagement with The Photographers’ Gallery
support young people's confidence in public speaking create opportunities for young people’s ideas and voices to be platformed in a public context
The objectives to meet these aims are to:
invite young participants from mainstream and non-mainstream schools or centres to enhance their public speaking, critical thinking, and presentation skills within a public arts venue;
support participants involvement in the programme to ensure a sensitive, enjoyable and safe experience
ensure participants’ insight and personal reflections on our exhibitions are foregrounded, shaped by their experiences and ideas;
Involve and welcome participants’ wider group or class cohort in a visit to the gallery, where appropriate;
Evaluate the programme, to ensure its meeting its aims and objectives, enabling us to build upon feedback and ideas of participants and audiences.
About the role of the Develop: Teen Tours Programme Co-ordinator & Mentor:
The Develop: Teen Tours Programme Co-ordinator & Mentor plays an integral role in the programme and its success, enabling it to meet its aims, objectives, outputs and outcomes. They will be the key conduit through which programme participants develop a relationship with gallery staff, exhibitions and audiences.
The principal objective of the Develop: Teen Tours Programme Co-ordinator & Mentor is to lead on the programme by recruiting, supporting and evaluating tours by 14-19-year-olds at The Photographers' Gallery.
The main responsibilities of the role are to:
recruit 14-19-year-olds from schools/youth centres to lead public tours* at The Photographers’ Gallery
research about the exhibition in detail; being able to support the young person and answer questions
support five individual or pairs of 14–19-year-olds to deliver their 20-minute tour, through six weekly sessions and a Saturday afternoon tour or tours
introduce each public tour, representing TPG to the public
evaluate each tour with both tour leaders and audiences
collate evaluations and write a short summary of each tour
* Where inviting the public to join a tour is not appropriate to the confidence or learning needs of a participant, this event can be lower-profile and instead happen with a class or group cohort instead
Details of key tasks:
Recruitment, Preparation & Research:
• identify and recruit young people from different schools or youth centres to take part
light-touch research into participating young people and their school/youth centre setting prior to meetings to gain insight into their backgrounds and learning needs;
research exhibitions, including attending the Private View/staff tour where possible;
initial meeting at school/youth centre with staff and cohort.
Mentoring & Delivery:
scheduling and leading on up to six mentoring sessions with each young person (or pair) and their Teaching Assistant if non-mainstream, helping them develop and practice their tour by asking questions, giving guidance, constructive feedback and suggestions;
meeting participants on the day of their tour – helping them prepare, introducing them and supporting them throughout their talk;
involving programme supporters and staff, where appropriate.
Administration, Evaluation & Reporting:
monitoring the Teen tours email, ensuring enquiries are answered within a timely manner;
photographing each tour and archiving images after the event;
handing out, scanning, summarising and archiving participant and audience feedback forms after each tour;
recording and archiving attendance figures for each tour;
writing and archiving a 200-word report on the journey each participant has taken in the delivery of their tour.
Support from TPG:
Gallery staff, particularly the Curator, Youth Programmes will provide support by:
providing information on the exhibitions and artists
attending some school/youth centre sessions, where appropriate
offering a set of guidelines for how to structure meetings
providing introductions to exhibition curators and exhibiting artists, where appropriate
answering requests/questions in a timely fashion
attending a Develop: Teen Tour dry-run to offer feedback and advice, and attending the tour on the day
writing and submitting a final report to the programme supporter.
Ideal experience/skills:
demonstrated passion and experience in supporting young people within the arts,
particularly in an educational context;
excellent organisational skills
• strong communication skills, especially the ability to listen and provide thoughtful feedback;
experience of working with young people with additional needs;
• familiarity with mainstream and non-mainstream school and youth settings;
some relationships with secondary schools/youth centres in London;
interest in, and knowledge of, photography and related media;
past or current involvement in mentoring young people;
an understanding of the key aspects of public speaking or performance;
commitment to the concept of young people taking centre stage in public venues.
Whilst the above person specifications offers a useful guide to the experience level expected, we encourage applications from anyone who feels they could bring alternative, equally beneficial skills, experience and perspectives to the role.
The Photographers’ Gallery is committed to equal opportunities and encourage applications from all persons without discrimination. We particularly welcome applications from people currently underrepresented in the arts sector, particularly disabled people and those from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds. Any materials provided by you as an applicant will be treated as your Intellectual Property. The Photographers’ Gallery will only save such materials as part of recruitment and selection process.
To apply please download an application pack from our vacancies page and an Equal Opportunities form. Please note we cannot accept CV-only applications – you must complete the application pack to apply for this role.
Please email completed applications to vacancies@tpg.org.uk with subject header: Develop: Teen Tours Programme Coordinator and Mentor
Deadline for applications: Monday 17 August 2026, 12pm (noon) Interviews: w/c 7 September 2026 Programme start date: Monday 21 September 2026