Opportunities

Vacancies

Security Assistant – Ref: EE10926

The New Art Gallery Walsall

(Permanent / Part-time / 30.25 hours per week)

Grade: G4

Salary: £27,274 – £29,071 per annum (full-time equivalent)

Contracted salary (30.25 hours): £22,298 – £23,767 per annum

Additional overtime for extra hours worked £14.14 – £15.07 per hour. 

Additional payments are made for participation in the out-of-hours standby rota, with a minimum payment of £20 per standby session or two hours paid overtime when attending site.

The venue:

The New Art Gallery Walsall is one of the leading visual arts venues in the West Midlands. Situated in the heart of Walsall town centre, the Gallery is a busy and vibrant building with an exciting programme of contemporary art exhibitions and collections displays, lively education events, an artist studio, library, café, and shop.

Few security roles offer the opportunity to work alongside contemporary exhibitions, nationally important collections, creative events and community programmes. This is a chance to contribute to a thriving cultural venue that welcomes thousands of visitors every year.

The role:

Help create a safe, welcoming and inspiring environment for all our visitors. As a Security Assistant, you will play a vital role in protecting visitors, colleagues, and contractors, the building, and exhibits, while helping to create a positive experience for everyone who walks through our doors. You’ll work across the Gallery, helping and supporting people, responding to incidents, monitoring building security and contributing to the smooth operation of a major cultural venue. Combining security awareness with excellent customer service, you will be a visible and valued member of our team.

Experience of securely opening, closing or keyholding a public, commercial or operational building would be advantageous, although full training will be provided. Due to the nature of the role, flexibility and reliability are essential.

Please note This post is based at The New Art Gallery Walsall and requires routine weekend working as standard and occasional evening work to support events. The role also includes participation in an out-of-hours emergency call-out rota. Applicants should be able to travel to the Gallery within an agreed timeframe, when required.

Standard working hours are between 8am-5:30pm. 

Your duties will include:

  • promoting the safe and secure running of the venue during opening hours by monitoring CCTV, patrolling the building, screening contractors, and supporting health and safety.
  • acting as a key holder, opening and locking down the site, operating alarm systems, and being on-call to attend site out-of-hours when required.
  • supporting visitor needs, protecting collections and exhibitions, and helping deliver a welcoming and positive visitor experience.
  • appropriately dealing with any security incidents and emergency situations as they arise.
  • assisting with practical aspects of a busy venue, including monitoring deliveries, supporting set-ups for events and hires, and light housekeeping duties.

You:

We welcome applications from people with experience in security, customer service, visitor attractions, hospitality, emergency response or other public-facing roles. If you have strong communication skills, a calm and professional approach, and a commitment to keeping people safe, we’d like to hear from you.

We’re particularly interested in candidates who:

  • Have experience in security, facilities, customer-facing or operational roles. 
  • Take pride in following procedures and maintaining high standards. 
  • Respond calmly and professionally when dealing with incidents or emergencies.
  • Communicate confidently with visitors, colleagues and contractors.
  • Carry out building security, and keyholder duties with a high level of attention to detail.
  • Understand the importance of safeguarding people, property and valuable collections.

Closing Date: Sunday 25th October

Interviews:

Interviews will be held week commencing 30th November, at The New Art Gallery Walsall, with the aim of any successful candidate starting work in the New Year. 

For an informal discussion or for more information on the role, please contact Kevin Storrar Head of Technical Services (kevin.storrar@walsall.gov.uk)

View Job Description and Employee Specification

Important note: When completing your online application form, you will be asked to enter supporting information. You must enter a detailed supporting information statement describing how your skills, abilities and experience meet the specific criteria included in the employee specification. If you do not include a supporting information statement, you will not be shortlisted. Please also ensure that you complete the work history and qualifications sections of your application form. Please do not add a CV as we do not accept them.  Please see our Information for Applicants leaflet for further information.

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Exhibitions & Studio Programme artist proposals

We pride ourselves in supporting artists at all stages of their career through a diverse Exhibitions and Studio programme that seeks to serve local regional, national and international audiences and improve inclusivity in the arts. Most exhibitions are proposed and curated by the Gallery’s programming team up to three years in advance. Artist residencies are normally arranged by invitation or through open calls. We welcome proposals from artists for an exhibition or residency, and we will consider these at quarterly meetings involving a wide cross section of staff. Proposals can be submitted at any time.

Please bear in mind when writing a proposal our purpose for each part of our programme. We strongly advise that you visit The New Art Gallery Walsall before making a proposal.

Exhibitions: Floor 3  

The Floor 3 programme presents work by established living artists through a diverse programme of solo and group exhibitions that engage audiences with the very best in international contemporary art and compelling topics of the day.  The programme involves a diverse mix of solo and group exhibitions in a range of media, often involving newly commissioned work. Connections are often made with the Gallery’s Collections and artists from diverse geographies, communities and generations are regularly brought together. Composed of four spacious galleries, this floor is particularly suited to the presentation of large two dimensional work, sculpture and installation.

Exhibitions: Floor 4  

The Floor 4 programme prioritises working with West Midlands artists to support them with the development of new work, often leading to the production of their first institutional solo exhibition. We regularly develop group exhibitions in partnership with other West Midlands arts organisations to nurture emerging regional talent and networks.

Exhibitions: Community Gallery 

The Community Gallery is our Ground Floor Gallery, and its aim is to connect art and artists with the wider West Midlands community.  It is used as a space to try to capture new audiences, an access point and ‘way in’ to our programme, and to encourage visitors to explore further and get involved in what the Gallery has to offer. It provides a focus for works created with or by local communities, often addressing topical subjects or socially urgent themes.

Collections: Floor 2 temporary exhibition space  

As a fully Accredited Museum, we are committed to providing access to our Collections for all, and using them for civic engagement, enjoyment and enlightenment. To compliment the permanent presentation of The Garman Ryan Collection across Floors 1 & 2 we produce both solo and  thematic group exhibitions in the dedicated temporary exhibition space that make links to artists in the Garman Ryan collection, their life and times or wider themes within our Collections. We also commission new projects with living artists who want to engage with aspects of The Garman Ryan Collection in various ways. We often involve diverse communities with the presentation of our Collections,  supporting alternative readings of artworks and challenging prevailing narratives.

Studio Programme & Artist Development 

The Artists’ Studio programme occupies a dedicated studio space on Floor 1. The curated programme hosts both individual and group residencies of varying lengths, which are tailored to artist’s needs. The programme focuses on support for emerging to mid-career West Midlands artists at a critical point in  their career. The focus is on nurturing talent, artist development and studio practice rather than the production of exhibition-ready work. Resident artists are encouraged to pursue new work, test ideas and engage with the unique context of our building and locality. Resident artists benefit from time and space to explore their practice and professional aspirations through dialogue, mentoring and guidance, tailored external studio visits, public events, technical support and access to collections, exhibitions and resources, including a well-stocked Art Library. This programme has the flexibility to engage with a broad range of contemporary art, including participatory, research-led and online practices. 

Work experience and volunteering

We regularly offer opportunities for work experience and volunteering for people over the age of 18. Find out more.