Operations & Technical Assistant

Job Description

Operations & Technical Administration Assistant

Department/Team : Theatre Operations & Technical

Responsible to: Operations Administration Manager & Technical Services Director

Contract : Permanent - Full Time

Location : Mix of home working and from The Old Vic, 103 The Cut, London, SE1 8NB

Hours : 40 hours per week

Usual working hours are Monday–Friday, 10am–6pm with some occasional out of hours work (e.g. evenings and weekends)

Salary : £30,784.23        

Benefits

• Hybrid working for eligible teams and a company culture that promotes good work/life balance

• Enhanced annual leave, starting at 25 days per year, increasing by one day per year up to 30 days (plus bank holidays). Opportunity to switch statutory bank holidays to mark a religious event or festival

• Complimentary tickets for you and a guest to Old Vic preview productions

• Discretionary invite to Press Night performances and parties

• Free therapy from our therapy partner SelfSpace

• Mental health support via our in-house Mental Health Champions

• Salary sacrifice scheme with The People’s Pension and enhanced employer pension contributions

• Festive day – one discretionary additional paid day off around the festive period for a collective pause

• Time to volunteer – one day per year to support a charity or project of your choosing

• Commitment to learning, education and development

• Enhanced sick pay

• Access to interest free travel schemes including Cycle 2 work and Season Ticket loans after your probation period

• Family friendly policies and enhanced maternity/paternity/adoption/shared parental pay

• All staff social events

• Staff discount in Penny and The Old Vic bars as well as discounts in local bars and restaurants

• Opportunities to get involved with staff clubs and working groups such as the Inclusion Working Group

• Buddy schemes including New Starter and Parental buddies to support your induction and return to work after parental leave

• Death in Service Benefit

Role Summary

The Operations & Technical Administration Assistant is responsible for providing first class administrative support to the Theatre Operations & Technical teams; in the areas of Health & Safety, Building & Space Management, and Systems Administration in particular.

The Team

The Operations & Technical Administration Assistant sits within both the Theatre Operations & Technical teams.

The Theatre Operations team are responsible for all non-production related aspects of the Theatre - including front of house, bars (and catering) operations, facilities, health and safety, IT and sustainability. The Technical department are responsible for delivering all productions, and for the upkeep and maintenance of the stage house and its associated equipment including our offsite storage unit.

The post holder reports to both the Operations Administration Manager & Technical Services Director. By the nature of the post, they will work with all departments of The Old Vic Group.

Areas of responsibility

Finance

• Providing support to with end to end payment process, to include onboarding new suppliers; raising purchase orders; processing invoices into Business Central (The Old Vic’s accounting and financial reconciliation system) for authorisation and payment; following up with suppliers as necessary.

• Administrating credit card purchases, including processing payments and monthly reconciliation as required.

• Keep track of all departmental expenses through running budgets

Health, Safety & Security

• Supporting the Head of Estates & Services with the day-to-day management of health, safety and compliance across The Old Vic.

• Supporting the Operations Administration Manager with organising H&S training across the organisation - either directly or via those department heads responsible for key areas.

• Disseminating H&S information, including policies and procedures, to the employees of The Old Vic.

• Carrying out regular audits of specialist emergency equipment [first aid kits, burn kits, defib etc.] across the building, topping up supplies as required. Ensuring that accurate records of these checks are kept and maintained via Blue Lemon.

• Printing Staff Access Passes as necessary

• Supporting on administrating all keys to the theatre, and updating the Key Safe Log.

• Supporting with the management of the Fire Evacuation sign-in system at Stage Door (InVentry) as required.

IT

• Supporting the Operations Administration Manager in the management of IT and telecoms support contracts, including but not limited to:

  • Ramsac (IT)

  • Panatec/Blizzard (landlines/Horizon cloud phone system)

  • Communications Plus (mobile phones)

  • Managed Technology (printers and photocopiers)

• Assisting the Operations Administration Manager with managing support providers' onsite engineers on a day-to-day basis, including reviewing their tasks list and helping to prioritise as necessary.

• Assisting the Operations Administration Manager with overseeing the maintenance and upkeep The Old Vic’s suite of printers.

• Helping to troubleshoot IT issues across the organisation and supporting the Operations Administration Manager on providing guidance on internal day-to-day IT systems.

• Supporting the Operations Administration Manager with equipment needs of new starters and processing equipment returns from leavers.

Building Space Management

• Acting as the main point of contact for the building diary within Outlook, and ensuring that it is up-to-date and accurate at all times.

• Attending and minuting as required the monthly Scheduling Meetings to ensure all teams are aware of the use of space across the Building.

• Sending a Weekly Operational Update email to the SMG team; outlining any key space bookings across the building for the coming week.

• Preparing spaces for meetings and/or training sessions as required with the support of the Building Facilities team.

• Support and discuss any requests for stage and auditorium bookings with Technical Services Director

Office Support & Administration

• Responsible for organising and minute taking of departmental meetings as required

• Assist in coordination and booking of departmental training as required

• Support Technical Heads of Department with rotas and timesheets for their teams as required

• Ensure that the Technical Departments database of casual staff is kept up to date

• Arranging couriers for deliveries/collections as necessary across the Theatre and then coding the monthly invoices when they come through, updating budget trackers as above 

• Managing the department’s ingoing and outgoing mail, including assisting other departments with postage as necessary.

• Ordering stationery, office furniture and equipment as required.

• Managing The Old Vic’s Uber account and the Addison Lee account (adding and removing staff members, processing invoices, etc).

• Any other administration support as required by the Theatre Operations & Technical teams.

Customer Service

• Managing the enquiries@ inbox and referring to various teams as needed.

Stage Door

• Providing emergency cover on Stage Door as required.

General

• Promoting and complying with current legislation and The Old Vic policies on Diversity, Sustainability, and Health & Safety both in the delivery of services and the treatment of others.

• Undertaking any other reasonable duties, commensurate with the level of the post so as to ensure the smooth running of The Old Vic.

This is not an exhaustive list of duties and the Theatre's management may, at any time, allocate other tasks which are of a similar nature or level.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

The post holder must be able to demonstrate the following:

Essential

• An active interest in progressing a career in Arts Management or Technical Administration

• Excellent organisation skills as well as written and verbal communication skills.

• Acute attention to detail.

• A proven ability to prioritise tasks in an environment with competing demands.

• A strong team player and relationship builder, with ability to influence at different levels.

• Able to manage expectations and work to tight timelines.

• A problem-solver with a can-do, people-centric approach.

• IT literacy, with good experience of the Microsoft Office suite and Excel in particular. (Training will be given on software programmes as required.)

The Old Vic is an equal opportunities employer. We welcome and encourage applicants from all backgrounds to apply.

How to Apply

We understand that everyone is different and we want you to apply in whichever way you feel best shows your skills and experience. There are a range of ways that you can apply with us:

• 1. Sending a short video file of yourself (no longer than two minutes in length), detailing your experience, why you are applying for the role and what about working at The Old Vic interests you.

• 2. Sending a short audio file of yourself (no longer than two minutes in length), detailing your experience, why you are applying for the role and what about working at The Old Vic interests you.

• 3. Completing our application form.

• 4. Uploading your CV and covering letter, explaining why you are interested in the role and working at the Old Vic.

The Old Vic has made a commitment that all applicants with disabilities who meet the essential criteria for this job will be invited to interview.

All appointments are made subject to satisfactory references and proof of eligibility to work in the UK.

The Process

The recruitment process for this role will be two stages:

• 1st stage virtual conversation

• 2nd stage in person conversation

The closing date for this role is Monday 13 July 2026. First stage Conversations are likely to take place on Thursday 16 and Friday 17 July 2026.

Equal Opportunities

We actively support and encourage people from a variety of backgrounds, experiences and skill sets to join us and help shape what we do. We are particularly keen to receive applications from people of the global majority, LGBTQ+, neurodiverse and disabled candidates.

We may take positive action, in cases where candidates are equally qualified, to increase the employment of under-represented groups at The Old Vic.

In the event that we ask you to attend the theatre for a conversation and you are struggling financially, we may be able to reimburse you for any reasonable travel costs.

We partner with a range of inclusive organisations, to find out more please read our FAQs.

FAQs

Read our recruitment and selection and equal opportunities FAQs here .