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
