Job Introduction
Role Purpose
We are seeking to recruit a Visitor Services Assistant to join the busy Front of House Team at the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum in Bournemouth. We are looking for a practical, problem-solver with excellent customer care skills who wants to work in the historic environment.
The Russell-Cotes is a spectacular Victorian villa on Bournemouth's East Cliff, with a collection of extraordinary art and world collections. Your role will be to ensure the day-to-day secure and smooth running of the Museum and to ensure the best possible visitor experience.
This role is for 37 hours a week. The job involves working weekends, a share of Bank Holidays, evenings and late night call outs on a roster basis.
Main Responsibilities
A significant part of the role is look after the historic building, monitoring environmental conditions and undertaking conservation cleaning to ensure the conservation of the fabric, fittings and collections in our care.
Working at heights and in awkward locations is part of the role and the necessary training is given. The removal of insect frat is a must within the historic house environment as is monitoring pest traps. There are also cleaning duties to ensure excellent presentation for visitors.
Old buildings need a lot of care and you will be responsible for facilities management, including basic maintenance and escalating building issues and escorting engineers, all within the context of the historic resource. Engineers are not permitted on site unescorted and managing their requirements whilst protecting the historic building and its contents is part of the job.
You will be a part of the keyholder team, ensuring the safe and secure unlock and lockup of the building. You will have key holding responsibilities and ensure security protocols within the museum. You will also be part of a team responding to out of hours emergencies on a call out basis for which 20 minute response times are required.
You will supervise the Front of House Team on the day, working together to ensure an excellent visitor experience. You will ensure that standards are followed, the building and contents are secure and there is staff cover. You will report to the Visitor Services Team Leader and will provide support to other members of the museum team
In addition to the permanent collection there are bi-annual exhibitions and it is part of the role to assist the curatorial team in moving and hanging paintings and collections items, for which training will be given. You will also paint the exhibition walls and preserve the wooden floors with a conservation treatment. You will also set up and manage evening events, providing security patrol, porterage and assisting performers as needed
This is a practical role and the nature of the listed historic building contributes to this. There is no lift to the top floor of the 1901 villa and some access is narrow with steep stairs but cleaning materials and museum objects still need to be carried through these spaces. The post holder will be on their feet for their patrol shift. On tasking days the exterior and historic garden also need to be cared for.
The Ideal Candidate
We are looking for a candidate who is a problem-solver. You will be good at thinking on your feet, and relish working in the unique historic environment. You will be good at responding to emergencies and issues as they arise and able to protect the historic resource as part of your decision making.
You will be a people-person, who delights in engaging with our visitors and stakeholders. You will have the skills to supervise and motivate staff and volunteers. You will be able to work a pattern that includes weekends and pick up a share of evening hours for our late evening programme as well as the ability to respond to emergency call outs at night. The ideal candiadate will also be computer literate, confident using an electronic till system and willing to help problem-solve when technical issues arise .
If this sounds like an inspiring challenge, then we would love to hear from you.
Please contact Miranda Prescott on miranda.prescott@bcpcouncil.gov.uk for informal enquiries - if you want to apply for this position please apply via our website.
About BCP Council
BCP Council provides services to a diverse community of 400,000 residents and employs more than 5,000 people. Our area includes over 15 miles of beautiful world-renowned coastline. We can offer career defining roles to transform and improve services. By working with us, you can help deliver a vision of a thriving, word-class, prosperous and inclusive place for generations to come.
Our Benefits
We offer an excellent benefits package to colleagues. Find out more on our website
As a result of the creation of BCP Council in 2019, we are working on simplifying our terms and conditions of service and will be creating a single pay structure which is to be applicable for all employees. It is important to us that we offer benefits that our colleagues value as part of their total employment package and we are reviewing these to make sure we have it right. We are in the process of establishing a timescale for implementation and colleagues joining us will be included in these changes. This is expected to be in place in 2024 or early 2025.
