Young Artists Programme Assistant and Technician
Department
Young Artists
Employment Type
Fixed Term
Young Artists Programme Assistant and Technician
Line Manager Young Artists Programme Senior Manager (dotted line to Technician Manager)
Contract 1 year Fixed Term
Hours: Saturdays during Term times 09.00am to 5.30pm (With 1 hour unpaid lunchbreak)
Location: RDS Campus at Charlotte Road, London EC2A 3SG as well as other designated offsite locations
Overview:
The Young Artists Programme Assistant and Technician role assists in the smooth running of the Young Artists Saturday courses, supporting the YA team in providing a key service to parents, students and tutors.
Role Purpose:
RDS runs Young Artists clubs and classes on Saturdays during term times. This role is the office's front-line point of contact for parents, students and tutors, and works alongside the Young Artists (YA) Programme team — on site or at other venues — to support high quality delivery. This role brings a blend of front-of-house administration and practical studio/technical support and helps ensure the School's Health and Safety and Child Protection policies are followed by everyone involved in delivering the programme.
Key Skills and Responsibilities:
Communication & Customer Service
Provides clear, friendly and accurate communication as the first point of contact for parents, students and tutors — in person, by phone and by email.
- Staff the YA office phone line and inbox, resolving queries or escalating to another YA staff member as needed.
- Provide up to date information and signposting the website - maintaining accurate information systems.
Planning & Organisation
Organises own workload against a fixed Saturday timetable, keeping accurate registers, records and stock information.
- Monitor student attendance and keep registers up to date.
- Check and maintain stock/materials cupboard, flagging new requirements.
- Undertake general administrative tasks and record/database updates as required.
Blended & Online Delivery
Provides basic technical support for online classes, ensuring sessions are ready to start and troubleshooting where needed.
- Start online sessions in good time and check everything is working before classes commence.
Studio & Technical Set-Up
Sets up, runs and closes down studio spaces safely and efficiently across courses, providing technical (including AV and online) support throughout.
- Ensure studios are equipped, clean and set up with sufficient materials for student use; move easels, boards and paper for daytime and evening classes and create tutor sets as required.
- Provide tutors with AV support throughout classes and events
- Support class changeovers between back-to-back sessions and provide short cover for colleagues' breaks to maintain continuous on-site technician support.
- At the end of each day, leave studios safe and tidy — materials and furniture stored away, windows closed, furniture neatly stacked, overhead/floor heaters switched off
- Bag up used studio linens for laundry collection at the end of the day, ready for collection.
Facilities, Repairs & Storage
Maintains studios and storage spaces in good working order, carrying out practical repairs and improvements and liaising with Facilities Management on the upkeep of venues.
- Complete on-site repairs and maintenance as required; replace and repair studio equipment through general carpentry and repairs work.
- Assist in building helpful new additions to the studio, such as storage racks and trolleys.
- Work with the Technician Manager to ensure the School maintains use of allocated storage; keep storage spaces tidy and accessible and help build new storage areas as needed.
- Liaise with the Technician Manager and Facilities Management on the proper upkeep of studios, reporting problems to senior management.
Event & Exhibition Delivery
Supports the planning and delivery of School exhibitions and events, from framing and hanging through to packaging, promotion and offsite support.
- Frame student work using the School's stock frames as needed for exhibitions and assist the Technician Manager in maintaining and storing the School's frames.
- Assist the Technician Manager in hanging exhibitions in collaboration with programme leaders, curators and onsite teams, and ensure walls are returned to their original clean state afterwards.
- Assist in organising appropriate art packaging and delivery of works.
- Assist School staff on an ad hoc basis with in-house events and parties; help promote the School and represent it when possible, including delivering promotional material.
- Provide technical assistance at offsite bespoke courses when needed.
Health, Safety & Compliance
Applies the School's Health & Safety policies and procedures consistently, keeping studios, equipment and records compliant and up to date.
- Ensure studios are set up and run in line with the School's H&S policies and guidelines; assist the Education teams in ensuring students and tutors are aware of studio risk assessments, and help enforce studio rules.
- Ensure wires are covered to avoid trip hazards, with no wire 'daisy chaining' or model heaters plugged into extension cables; ensure correct, up-to-date signage is in place.
- Have a moderate understanding of ladder training, COSHH and proper manual handling.
- Monitor First Aid boxes, informing the Facilities, Health and Safety Manager of required refills.
Safeguarding & Compliance
Applies the School's child protection and health & safety policies consistently to help maintain a safe environment for young people.
- Adhere to and promote the School's child protection and health and safety policies.
- Support out-of-house activity, ensuring meeting points are known and late/lost students are safely taken to class.
- Support the team in ensuring tutors comply with School policies.
Problem Solving & Flexibility
Resolves routine, familiar problems independently, adapts to a changing Saturday schedule, and escalates issues appropriately.
- Provide short cover for colleagues' breaks or occasional sickness absence.
- Respond flexibly to on-the-day changes and proactively supporting the team as required
Person Specification:
- Experience working with children (ideally in an education-related role)
- Clear, friendly verbal and written communication skills, with a helpful, 'can do' disposition
- Strong organisational skills and excellent time management; able to prioritise a varied workload against a fixed timetable
- Experience of, and confidence applying, safeguarding protocols when working with young people and children
- Confidence with video-conferencing platforms (e.g. Zoom)
- Good numeracy and literacy
- Practically able to set up and move studio equipment (e.g. easels, furniture)
- Reliable team player, comfortable working alongside colleagues on-site or at other venues
- Understanding of the needs of art schools/art students
Location
London
Department
Young Artists
Employment Type
Fixed Term