Summary
More Details
Role Summary
The Old Vic, Backstage
The Old Vic, Backstage is a new build six-storey extension to the rear of The Old Vic. The new building is designed to be an open, welcoming, and inclusive destination for the local community as well as a much-needed expansion of the theatre’s working and engagement spaces.
The new building will enable us to truly embed our work in the local community, contributing to the public realm in two of London’s most thriving boroughs; to reach young people, early-career artists and those interested in the arts to support their employment prospects and life chances; to double the number of education, community and artist development participants we work with each year; to create space for emerging artists from all backgrounds to network, share stories and present work; and to provide a new neighbourhood hub with a Cafe-Workspace. This is a £19.25m capital campaign.
Construction work on the Backstage building began in November 2023. The project is due for completion in July 2025, with a public opening in October 2025*.
The Project Administration Assistant will be responsible for providing first-class administration and support to the Backstage Project Office, and specifically the Associate Director of Special Projects. Working with the Project Office, the successful candidate will play an integral role in underpinning operational and administrative needs.
*Timings subject to the construction programme.
Your Team
The Project Administration Assistant is a new role within the Business Team. The Business Team is responsible for delivering on the strategic aims, vision, mission and values of the organisation and its culture, ensuring the long-term sustainability of the charity.
This post will report to the Associate Director of Special Projects, but by the nature of the post, they will work with all departments of The Old Vic, in particular with the Theatre Operations team, specifically the Operations Director & Head of Building Operations, providing administrative support in relation to the Backstage Project.
Areas of responsibility
- To assist with the day-to-day administration of the Backstage Project.
- To provide general financial system support, including processing invoices and generating purchase orders via The Old Vic’s accounting system (Business Central) as requested by the Associate Director of Special Projects.
- To help support the Backstage Project Office’s ingoing and outgoing mail, including courier bookings as necessary.
- To establish a good working relationship with the Project Managers and Design Team to follow up where necessary for requests for information.
- To help maintain project task lists and timelines and following up as required.
- To diarise and minute meetings as required, including tracking and monitoring action points.
- Under the guidance of the Associate Director of Special Projects, to assist with the record keeping and document management for the Backstage Project.
- To help organise meeting arrangements, including confirming diaries, space bookings and make all arrangements for meetings required as part of the Backstage Project, including using Skedda (The Old Vic’s use-of-space calendar) and ensuring that it is up-to-date and accurate at all times.
- To help organise building site tours, donor/prospect access to site and any other requests that require liaising with the Contractor.
- To help maintain the Noisy Works Schedule to ensure that all information is up to date and shared with the right parties.
- To help update monthly stakeholder comms and to keep the comms tracker updated.
- To regularly liaise with The Old Vic’s photographer to organise site access and store any photographs in the Project Office files.
Licence Payments and Trackers
- To help process Council site licences (Gantry/Hoarding etc.) and to liaise with the Finance Team to make the required payments.
- To ensure efficient tracking of the licences for reporting purposes.
Furniture, Fixtures and Equipment (FF&E)
- To provide all administration for the FF&E provision for the project, including obtaining quotations, samples, supplier information and then coordinating orders and delivery.
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
Essential
- Excellent organisation skills as well as written and verbal communication skills.
- Ability to create and maintain good relationships with internal and external stakeholders at all levels.
- Acute attention to detail, excellent proof reader.
- Outstanding administration and organisation skills.
- Ability to prioritise a number of varied tasks and work to tight deadlines.
- Immaculately presented work.
- Robust IT skills, with good experience of the Microsoft Office suite and Excel in particular. (Training will be given on software programmes as required.)
- Resilient, flexible and discreet.
- Ability to work to independently, with initiative and take responsibility for own tasks.
