Front of House Assistant

Job Description and Purpose

Department: Front of House

Job Title: Front of House Assistant

Responsible to: Theatre Manager

Exeter Northcott Theatre is proud to have been part of Exeter’s cultural life for more than 50 years. We draw audiences from across the city, the surrounding area, and the wider region to see the best local, national, and international performing arts in our mid-scale auditorium (460 seats) on the campus of the University of Exeter. We also have a long history of making amazing things happen in the city-centre and supporting creative activity in community spaces and settings, reflected in our recent acquisition of the city centre Barnfield Theatre with its two smaller auditoria (280 seats & 60 seats) and the resurgence of our community engagement programme.

We are now looking for enthusiastic, hard-working people to join our Front of House team and work across both venues over the coming season and beyond.

This is an exciting opportunity to work at our independent theatres in the beautiful city of Exeter, delivering excellent customer service to all who visit our bar and front-of-house areas.

 

Diversity & Inclusion

There continues to be a significant lack of diversity across the arts, with a pressing need to provide progression routes for talented people from under-represented backgrounds. Exeter Northcott Theatre is committed to playing its part in addressing this by putting inclusion at the heart of our recruitment processes, finding new ways to share the power and resources we have at our disposal, and fostering a working culture that is welcoming for all our team. We encourage people from all backgrounds to join us and positively impact our teams and working practices. We are particularly keen to receive applications from people of African and Caribbean heritage, people of South Asian, East Asian and Southeast Asian Heritage, D/deaf and disabled people, LGBTQ+ people, or those experiencing barriers due to their socioeconomic background.

 

About the Front of House Team

We are a small team that values the individuals who work with us. We seek to empower our staff members to achieve their best and flourish in the organisation. We encourage staff to share new ideas or thoughts and support their growth personally and professionally in a friendly and inclusive environment.

Our cafés at both venues, the Northcott and the Barnfield are open during the day for customers to enjoy drinks and light meals and cater to our audiences around performances.

Our focus is on delivering great customer service for all our customers by creating a happy, welcoming, and helpful front-of-house environment where we maintain high cleanliness standards and deliver quality products.

 

Key Responsibilities

Our Front of House Assistants are vital to the smooth running of the theatre.

Duties Include:

  • Working as part of a team to create a friendly atmosphere our customers will enjoy.
  • Ensuring the highest standards of customer service.
  • Maintaining an inclusive and access-friendly work environment and helping customers with additional needs.
  • Selling and making barista-standard hot drinks.
  • Selling soft and alcoholic drinks ensuring they are made to the highest quality.
  • Selling ice creams, sweets, programmes and merchandise.
  • Preparing, cooking and serving pizzas, paninis and other light snacks in our kitchen.
  • Ensuring a high level of hygiene and accepting responsibility for cleaning the kitchen and maintaining our Environmental Health Officer’s high standards.
  • Proactively suggesting and upselling food and beverage products and other secondary spend items.
  • Complying with licensing law and cash handling procedures
  • Ensuring the highest cleanliness and safety standards.
  • Working across multiple venues: the Northcott Theatre, the Barnfield Theatre, the Great Hall and other pop-up venues.
  • Flexibility in working across front-of-house areas, bar, kitchen and theatre auditorium.
  • Selling tickets and informing audience members about the venue and the performances.
  • Keeping up to date with the current brochure and upcoming events.
  • Being aware of the procedures for the safe evacuation of the audience and assisting the audience in any emergencies that may arise under the direction of the Duty Manager.
  • Ensuring the auditorium, toilets and front-of-house areas are clean and tidy after each performance.
  • Proactively identify tasks that need to be done and take responsibility for completing them.
  • Any other duties which may reasonably requested by the Theatre Management team.

Responsibilities of all staff members:

  • Taking an active role in identifying and removing access barriers for anyone with access needs.
  • Maintaining a working knowledge of the theatre’s programme.
  • Attending staff meetings and training as required.
  • Adhering to Exeter Northcott theatre policies & procedures.
  • Maintaining confidentiality at all times.
  • Taking an active part in co-operating with and supporting other staff and departments in achieving the company’s aims.
  • To be aware of and comply with rules and legislation about Health & Safety at Work.
  • To be an advocate of the company.
  • To contribute ideas and suggestions for the increased success and effectiveness of Exeter Northcott.

 

Person Specification

We encourage you to apply if you meet most of the essential criteria. We welcome transferable skills from other industries and can provide training where necessary.

Essential

  • Experience working in a busy restaurant/bar environment.
  • Barista/bar experience
  • Good articulacy, literacy and numeracy.
  • Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
  • Friendly and outgoing demeanour with excellent customer service skills.
  • Active listening skills and good attention to detail.
  • Ability to work effectively independently and as part of a team.
  • Ability to be adaptable and keep calm when working under pressure and within time constraints.
  • Experience working with food and beverages.
  • Reliable and punctual.
  • A willingness to think creatively to solve problems, be proactive, decisive and get things done.
  • Ability to work flexible hours during the day, evenings, weekends and bank holidays.

Desirable

  • An understanding of current health and hygiene legislation.
  • Interest in and enthusiasm for theatre and the performing arts.
  • Food hygiene Level 2 certificate.
  • Experience prepping and cooking food.
  • Knowledge of EROS till system.

 

Terms & Conditions

Salary: £11.44 per hour

Working Hours: Casual – Zero hours

Working Pattern: Flexible and will include evenings and weekends

Working Location: Northcott Theatre, Barnfield Theatre & other locations as required

Benefits:

  • Complimentary tickets to available shows, discounted/staff rate to various shows
  • Discounts on Food and Drinks
  • Access to Spectrum Life Wellbeing programme

Start Date: ASAP

This role includes bar work, so candidates must be 18 or older to apply.

 

How to apply

As part of our commitment to inclusion, we’re working to widen the pool of people who hear about theatre vacancies and make the job application process as straightforward as possible.

For this role, we’re asking all candidates to click on the Apply Now link for this vacancy on our website and submit written and/or video/audio responses to the same three questions so you can tell us about yourself and why you’re the right person for this role:

  • Tell us about yourself and why you want to work at the Northcott
  • Tell us how your professional experience meets the person’s specification
  • Tell us about what support you might need if we were to offer you this role

Then, upload a copy of your latest CV.

Contact us at [email protected] if you wish to submit in a different format.

For an informal chat, please get in touch with [email protected]

Closing Date: Thu 4 Apr, 12pm (noon)

Interviews will take place: w/c Mon 8 Apr (in person or over Zoom)

Apply Now

Adopt
a seat

Adopt your very own seat at the Exeter Northcott and help secure a bright future for the theatre.

Find out more