Costume Hire Assistant - Fixed Term Contract

Royal Shakespeare Company; Warwick; On-site; GBP 20,000 - 24,000; Full time

Job summary

The Royal Shakespeare Company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, invites applications for a Costume Hire Assistant on a fixed-term contract. The role supports the Costume Hire Department at The Other Place theatre and works with designers, supervisors and clients to meet costume needs.

The 35-hour work week runs Monday to Friday with potential evenings and weekends. The short-term contract is expected to run from October to February 2027, with online interviews the week of 7 September.

Qualifications

• Comprehensive knowledge of Costume & Period.
• Experience with associated costume skills and equipment.
• Knowledge and experience of fabrics and their use and handling.
• Confident, helpful manner and high level customer care.
• Excellent organisation, time management and administration skills.

Responsibilities

• Assisting clients, designers and Costume Supervisors with costume requirements.
• Selecting and interpreting clients' costume requirements and communicating choices for approval.
• Be a reference point for designers and Costume Supervisors on costume hire and storage matters.
• Be a reference point for public and external organisations on costume hire matters.

Skills

Costume knowledge

Costume skills & equipment

Fabrics handling

Customer care

Organization & admin

Job description

Costume Hire Assistant - Fixed Term Contract Royal Shakespeare Company Warwick, Warwickshire, United Kingdom

Do you have a passion for costume in a performance environment? Can you work effectively and collaboratively as part of a team? Do you have knowledge of Costume & Period?

We are looking for a Costume Hire Assistant to join our Costume Hire Department based at The Other Place theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon. Our extensive collection boasts over 60,000 amazing costumes, which are available to anyone who wants to hire them, from amateurs to professional theatre, from schools to fancy dress right through to TV, events and films.

This position is offered as a short term fixed-term contract, ideally starting in early October until the end of February 2027.

Reporting to Head of Costume Hire, key areas of responsibility include (please see the Role Profile for the comprehensive list):

• Assisting clients, RSC Designers and Costume Supervisors with their costume requirements.
• Selecting and interpreting clients costume requirements and communicating such choices for approval
• To be a reference point for designers and Costume Supervisors on all matters relating to costume hire and storage.
• To be a reference point for any public and external organisations on all matters relative to costume hire.

To be suitable for this role, it is essential that you have:

• A comprehensive knowledge of Costume & Period.
• Experience of associated costume skills and equipment.
• Knowledge and experience of fabrics and their use and handling.
• Confident, helpful manner and consistent high level customer care.
• Excellent organisation, time management and administration skills.

You will be working 35 hours per week, Monday to Friday, based in Stratford-upon-Avon. Some flexibility will be required from time to time regarding working additional hours outside of these times which may include evenings and weekends.

The role will close at midnight on 6 September and the interviews will be online in the week commencing 7 September.

About the RSC

The RSC strives for excellence, and values creativity, inclusivity, sustainability, collaboration, and accountability.

We can offer great benefits and aim to create a welcoming, supportive environment which is happy, healthy and safe. We place great importance upon developing a diverse, highly motivated and energised workforce to help achieve our priorities. We put our values at the heart of everything we do.

We are committed to building a diverse workforce and welcome applications from all individuals.

We believe that safeguarding children and adults is everyone's responsibility, and everybody working at the RSC has a duty to place safeguarding at the heart of their work. We welcome candidates who will support and advocate the RSC's environmental objectives continuing to improve our sustainability work and actions both on and off stage.

The Royal Shakespeare Company (no. 212481) is a registered charity.