Knowledge and Research Assistant (£22,641 pro rata)

Contact details

Closing date for application

2 June 2026

Location: Craven Street with occasional hybrid working (see job profile for details)Job level: Level I - AdministratorSalary: Starting salary of £22,641 pro rata (FTE £29,349) plus competitive benefits Working hours: 27 hours per week option to work over four or five days

The College of Optometrists is the professional body for optometry in the UK. It qualifies the profession and delivers the guidance and development to ensure optometrists provide the best possible care. We promote excellence through the College’s affixes, by building the evidence base for optometry, and raising awareness of the profession with the public, commissioners, and healthcare professionals. The College also curates and develops the evidence base that informs clinical practice and ensures that optometry keeps pace with the developments in eye health and vision science.

We are recruiting a Knowledge and Research Assistant to provide cross-team administrative support across the Knowledge and Research Department (K&R), which consists of three teams: the Museum, the Library and Information Services, and our Research Team.

This position is ideal for an individual who is organised, detail-orientated, can multi-task and enjoys the flexibility of learning, performing and managing different tasks. You need to also have strong interpersonal skills and some experience with website maintenance and software packages relevant to museum and library cataloguing.  

Reporting to the College’s Museum Curator, the role holder will be responsible for: 

• supporting the K&R Team with internal and external events, such as Open House and special Museum and Library events. Where feasible, support the College Events Team with events such as the College’s conference and Diploma Ceremony
• supporting the Museum Curator to welcome visitors to the Museum and assisting with the delivery of guided tours and / or the supervision of researchers, artists and writers while they use the museum
• assisting with Museum and heritage projects such as the Eye Health Voices oral history project, for example by making and editing recordings and providing project administration
• assisting with the maintenance and set-up of the museum areas of the building, including light cleaning inside display cases, re-positioning of items that have moved, insect and pest monitoring etc
• performing general circulation tasks, including the issue, renewal and return of books and other resources using the Library Management System; sending books out by post, and shelving returned items
• keeping the library collections in order; shelving library resources after use, performing regular shelf-checking, and keeping the library area tidy
• providing administrative support to the Research team to provide cover for the Knowledge & Research Coordinator’s non-working days (currently Thursdays and Fridays)
• supporting the Director of Knowledge & Research and the Knowledge & Research Manager in monitoring team budgets, including logging expenses and invoices, completing credit card logs, and collating receipts

Successful candidates would need to demonstrate the following skills, experience and knowledge: 

• attention to detail
• excellent communication skills
• good customer service experience
• careful planning and organising
• flexibility/adaptability
• a proactive and responsive approach
• experience of working in a busy, customer-facing administrative role
• excellent IT skills and experience in MS Office
• experience of using a range of administrative systems and procedures
• good general level of education

In return, we offer a variety of benefits including a generous pension plan (10% employer contribution), life assurance and a health care cash plan. The College has a TOIL policy and provides time off for events taking place during the evening and weekends. There is also potential to progress to a range maximum of £27,407 under our performance based/market driven incremental scheme.

• Interviews will take place on 9 June 2026

To apply for the position, please send your CV and a cover letter, no later than 2 June 2026, clearly demonstrating how you meet the requirements of the role to: jobs@college-optometrists.org

Closing date for application

2 June 2026

The College is committed to providing equal opportunities in employment and to avoiding discrimination, unlawful or otherwise. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, valuing the differences that a diverse workforce brings to the organisation. In support of this we follow a fair recruitment process in which shortlisting and other recruitment decisions are made on the basis of skills, competencies and experience demonstrated in the application and interview process.

If you require a reasonable adjustment to be made to support your application due to a disability or other condition, please let us know.

• We operate a flexible working window from 8 am to 6 pm where you can vary your start and end time. This role is flexible and can be worked over a variety of working patterns across a 4 or 5 days a week.
• Due to the nature of this post the successful candidate will be expected, mostly, to work onsite at the Craven Street premises, however there are opportunities for occasional working from home.

• We act with integrity and transparency
• We listen and we learn
• We demonstrate respect and professionalism
• We achieve high quality
• We champion diversity and inclusion