Scenic Carpenter - RM191RJ in Ashtead

Prior to commencing your application, please review our application guide here.

Fixed-Term Contract; 2 Years Full time (42.5 hours per week)

Salary: £42,571.31 per annum

Based in: Purfleet, Essex

The Royal Ballet and Opera continues to lead the way in opera, ballet, music and dance both live on stage and through multiple digital platforms, from live streaming to worldwide cinema screenings. Our Covent Garden theatre has been at the heart of London and British cultural life for three centuries. We are home to two world-class Companies: The Royal Ballet and The Royal Opera.

The Royal Opera House describes the place we work, not who we are. The whole is always more than the sum of its parts – we may be a House, but three quarters of our audiences experience what we do outside this building. While our Covent Garden theatre is the nerve centre, the impact and influence of the organisation can be felt in every corner of the country, and around the world.

Royal Ballet and Opera is home to some of the world’s most ambitious and imaginative stage productions. Our Bob and Tamar Manoukian Production Workshop in Purfleet is where many of these creations begin — a state-of-the-art facility where technical excellence meets outstanding craftsmanship.

We are now seeking a skilled Scenic Carpenter to join our Scenic Construction team on a fixed-term contract. This is a hands‑on role working within a collaborative workshop environment, producing high‑quality metalwork for sets and stage elements for productions across The Royal Ballet and The Royal Opera. This role will suit a candidate who can demonstrate strong creative crafting skills within a fast-paced environment.

The ideal candidate will have:

• City and Guilds in Carpentry and Joinery or equivalent qualifications and/or relevant experience.
• Significant experience of scenic carpentry using modern and traditional techniques.
• Experience of constructing large scale sets for theatre venues or companies advantageous.
• Experience of working with relevant machinery and tools in a workshop setting.
• An ability to work from scale drawings, models, plans, sketches, and verbal references.
• Strong awareness of and adherence to Health and Safety policy and best practice.

The Royal Ballet and Opera is one of the UK’s leading arts organisations and our aim is to inspire imagination, ignite emotion and make the extraordinary for everyone. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion underpin all that we do. We want our people to be representative of the diversity in the UK. We understand the creativity and innovation that diversity can bring and strive to create an inclusive environment in which everyone can thrive. We encourage applications from people with a wide range of backgrounds, experiences and skills to join our teams. We particularly welcome applications from those who are from a global majority background and/or those who are disabled, as they are under-represented within our organisation.

We are a Disability Confident Employer, which means that we are actively working to ensure that candidates with disabilities and long-term health conditions feel supported, engaged and able to fulfil their potential in the workplace. We will endeavour to offer an interview to candidates who tell us they wish to participate in the scheme and who demonstrate in their application that they meet the essential criteria for the role, though sometimes due to the volume of qualified candidates with declarations this is not possible.

The RBO is also committed to safeguarding and protecting all children, young people, and adults and we implement robust safer recruitment practices. Due to our safeguarding promise, certain roles will be subject to a DBS check before commencing employment with us, which will be indicated in the advertising.

Closing date for applications: 11:59pm, 26th March 2026. To ensure a fair process, late applications will not be considered under any circumstances. Applicants must have work authorisation for the UK. No agencies.