Costume Revival Workroom Senior Technician - Part-Time

Royal Academy Of Dance; City of Westminster; On-site; GBP 10,000 - 40,000; Part time

Job summary

A leading arts organization in Covent Garden seeks a part-time Senior Technician to join their Costume Revival Workroom Team. This role involves providing costume fitting and alteration services for our productions. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in craft skills within a major producing theatre or film/TV venue and a collaborative spirit. Knowledge of costume fitting, traditional construction methods, and a relevant qualification is desirable. Come inspire creativity and diversity in a thriving cultural hub.

Qualifications

• Proven track record in craft skills with a major theatre or comparable film/TV experience.
• Proven practical making experience and knowledge of costume fitting.
• Ability to work unsupervised and show initiative.

Responsibilities

• Provide costume fitting and alteration services for the Royal Ballet and Opera.
• Repair and make items for productions to the highest standards.
• Collaborate with guest artists, dancers, and performers.

Skills

Strong communication skills

Collaboration

Craft skills in workrooms

Costume fitting and alteration techniques

Knowledge of traditional methods of construction

Education

Theatrical Costume and Design course qualification

Relevant apprenticeship qualification

Job description

Permanent Contract
Part time - Job-Share
21.25 hours per week
Salary: £22,357.44 per annum
Based in Covent Garden, London

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.

The role:

The Costume Revival Workroom team provides a costume fitting and alteration service to the Royal Ballet and the Royal Opera. The Costume Revival Workroom technicians carry out a range of activities required for the repair, alteration and making of items for revival, co-productions and hired productions to the highest standards. They work closely with guest artists, dancers, chorus, actors, and child performers.

We are seeking to recruit a Senior Technician to join our Costume Revival Workroom Team on a part-time basis as part of a job share, to work across both Opera and Ballet.

What you’ll bring:

This role will suit a candidate who has strong communication skills and a collaborative approach to working. You must be able to demonstrate:

• A proven track record in craft skills workrooms with a major producing theatre or venue, or comparable film/TV experience.
• Proven practical making experience and a good knowledge of costume fitting and alteration techniques.
• Good knowledge of traditional methods of construction, periods styles, and history of costumes an advantage.
• The ability to work unsupervised and show initiative in dealing with day‑day problems, as well as a willingness to learn new skills and help train others.
• A Theatrical Costume and Design course qualification or a relevant apprenticeship qualification in a relevant craft skills area is desirable.
• A knowledge of standard opera and ballet repertoire an advantage.

Closing date for applications: Midnight, Sunday 21st December 2025

Interviews will be held in-person on Friday 9th and Tuesday 13th January 2026.

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 arefrom a global majority background and/or those who aredisabled,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.

Click here for more information and to apply

Applicants must have work authorisation for the UK. No agencies.