AddressPlease note, this role is offered on a Casual contract with flexible, ad-hoc work on weekdays, weekends, bank holidays, and public holidays. The Royal Academy of Arts is under no obligation to offer you hours.
About the role
The Events Team manages numerous events across the Royal Academy including Opening Receptions, Private Views, Lectures and Corporate or Private events. It also serves the wider organisation, assisting with the smooth running of the RA’s public and Members’ events.
As an Events Welcome Host, you will perform a variety of different tasks to support this work, always remaining personable and presentable. You will be on hand to provide information, assistance and reassurance at each step of our guests’ journey. Tasks may include welcoming visitors to the RA, providing wayfinding guidance, in-gallery support, cloakroom assistance, scanning tickets, checking in guests, and supporting queue management. The role is fast-paced and involves communicating extensively with our audience, including many high-profile guests and supporters of the RA.
About You
You will be a dynamic, customer service focussed individual who believes in putting the needs of a varied audience at the heart of what you do. An art or curatorial background is not essential to this role.
You will have first-class customer-facing skills, and the ability to deal with a wide range of people. You will be adaptable, friendly, helpful and provide a warm welcome, proactive assistance and clear information to all those visiting or working at the Academy.
You should be able to demonstrate a genuine interest in people and be able to engage with a high volume of visitors. You may have an appreciation for the arts but more importantly you will be passionate about contributing to the RA`s story.
Events are mostly weekdays 8am - 10am or 6pm - 9pm with time either side for briefing, set-up, de-rig, etc. The minimum shift length for this role is 4 hours.
The RA dates way back to 1768 when a group of artists and architects persuaded King George lll to help them to ‘establish a society for promoting the Art of Design'. The original academy, in Pall Mall, was less than 10 meters long. Since then, there have been many changes, though the RA’s core purpose of bringing art and design to a broad audience and championing art and artists still holds true.
Today we are a contemporary art organisation hosting internationally acclaimed exhibitions and through investment in employee training and development, with courses such as Unconscious Bias, LGBTQ+ Awareness, Bystander, and Mental Health First Aid training, we are striving to foster a safe space for everyone through positive action. We also have Employee Network Groups, Ways In Groups, and an Employee Council so every employee has a voice and a way to feel heard by colleagues through the CEO.
The RA is truly a unique place, both as an attraction to our visitors, but also as a workplace. Our people are at the heart of all we do, and we support a broad and inspiring mix of departments; from exhibitions, curators, art handlers, researchers, publishers, and digital to schools and education, visitor welcome, fundraisers, and corporate support.
