Freelands Foundation
Visitor Assistant
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About the Role
Freelands Foundation is looking to expand its pool of Visitor Assistants to support the delivery of our exhibitions, events, and public programme.
As a Visitor Assistant, you will play a key role in creating a welcoming, engaging, and safe environment for all visitors and guests. The role includes supporting bar service during events, providing excellent visitor engagement and customer service, gallery invigilation, and assisting with the smooth running of exhibitions, private views, and public programmes. Working across events such as the Painting Prize, Fellowship Freelands Awards, forums, reading groups, and creative making sessions, you'll help ensure every visitor has a positive and memorable experience while contributing to Freelands Foundation's mission to champion art education.
Visitor Assistants are engaged on a zero-hours basis, with shifts offered according to the Foundation's exhibition and events programme. This opportunity is ideal for someone who enjoys flexible working and thrives in a fast-paced, public-facing environment. We're looking for people with experience in hospitality, visitor experience, or a similar customer-facing role. Experience working front of house within a gallery, museum, arts venue, or events environment is highly essential. You'll be confident engaging with members of the public, artists, partners, and invited guests, providing a warm, professional, and inclusive welcome to visitors of all ages and from a wide range of backgrounds and communities.
If you're someone who enjoys working as part of a team, takes pride in delivering exceptional customer service, and is passionate about creating memorable visitor experiences, we'd love to hear from you.
Job Description
Role Purpose
To support the successful delivery of Freelands Foundation's exhibitions and events by providing excellent visitor engagement, gallery invigilation, event support, and hospitality, creating a positive and inclusive experience for all visitors and guests.
Role Responsibilities
Event Support
Event support work will involve a range of physical duties, including moving up and down staircases, carrying items such as trays of drinks and crockery and event equipment, moving items such as light chairs and tables, standing for extended periods, and operating in environments that may, at times, be crowded and noisy.
Visitor Assistants should follow the event briefing provided by the Building and Operations Manager, or equivalent. Duties may include, but not be limited to:
- Provide a proactive and inclusive welcome to visitors and colleagues, ensuring event guests get the information, greeting, and service they need, to the agreed standards.
- Physically set up event settings, including moving and arranging seating, catering supplies, and information materials, and organising refreshment areas.
- Physically clear down events, including moving seating and catering supplies, and cleaning.
- Proactively maintain a safe, clean, and attractive environment throughout an event, alerting the Building and Operations Manager and colleagues to any health and safety or guest experience problems.
- Run a welcoming and secure cloakroom service as assigned.
- Provide drinks and refreshments to guests and colleagues.
- Distribute marketing leaflets and similar materials promoting the event.
- Other event support duties as reasonably required by the Building and Operations Manager or their proxy, during an event support assignment.
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Invigilation
Invigilation work will involve occupying the exhibition spaces for extended periods while maintaining a welcoming and attentive presence. Visitor Assistants are expected to engage positively with visitors, provide information about exhibitions and the venue, monitor gallery spaces, and remain alert and focused throughout their shift, including during quieter periods. Depending on the exhibition and visitor numbers, gallery spaces may be calm and quiet or busy and crowded. Duties may include, but not be limited to:
- Provide a proactive and inclusive welcome to visitors and colleagues, ensuring exhibition visitors get the information, greeting, and service they need, to the agreed standards.
- Proactively maintain a safe, clean, and secure environment throughout an invigilation shift, alerting the Building and Operations Manager and colleagues to any health and safety, visitor experience problems, or risk to exhibition pieces.
- Learn the key points about the exhibition content and background by the Programmes team and share this information proactively with exhibition visitors.
- Respond to visitor enquiries, noting and escalating any enquiries that cannot be answered immediately.
- Gather feedback and evaluation information from visitors.
- Provide brief exhibition tours to visitors.
- Provide drinks and refreshments to guests and colleagues.
- Other invigilation duties as reasonably required by the Building and Operations Manager or their proxy, during an invigilation assignment.
Overall
- Work in cooperation with colleagues across the organisation, providing support and cover as needed within available time and resource.
- Undertake organisational training as required.
- Work within the organisation’s agreed policies and processes, confirming such with a senior manager where clarity is needed.
- Uphold the organisation’s values and mission in all internal and external interactions undertaken on behalf of Freelands Foundation.
- Be willing and available to work shifts at off-site locations as required.
Please note: As duties and physical requirements may vary, some shifts will require manual handling, including carrying items up and down stairs.
The above job description is intended to be an outline of the duties and responsibilities of this role. This is not exhaustive, and it is likely to change over time.
Person Specification
Essential
Experience
- Demonstrable experience working in a busy, customer-facing environment, ideally within hospitality or a similar visitor-facing setting.
- Experience working in a front of house role within an art gallery, exhibition, events venue, or a similar cultural environment.
- Experienced in following safe working practices and applying a solid understanding of health and safety procedures within cultural or events settings.
Knowledge
- An understanding of, and interest in, contemporary art.
- A good understanding of safe working practices, including the safe handling of food and drink, and the movement of equipment and materials within a shared workspace.
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Skills
- The ability to safely carry and move items, including up and down stairs, whilst working within busy, crowded, and sometimes noisy environments.
- The ability to remain attentive, focused, and engaged throughout quieter periods while maintaining a welcoming visitor presence.
- Excellent customer service and communication skills, with the ability to create a positive, welcoming, and inclusive experience for all visitors.
- The ability to adapt to a variety of work types and operational requirements, maintaining professionalism in changing environments.
- Strong interpersonal and visitor engagement skills.
Attributes
- A genuine enjoyment of working with members of the public and invited visitors of all ages and from a diverse range of communities.
- A proactive, collaborative, and solutions-focused approach to problem-solving.
- A positive commitment to delivering an exceptional visitor-focused experience.
- A strong commitment to Freelands Foundation's mission to champion art education.
Desirable
Experience
- Experience using ticketing and booking systems.
- Experience using visitor data collection systems.
Knowledge
- Knowledge of accessibility and inclusive visitor engagement.
- Awareness of safeguarding responsibilities within public-facing venues.
Skills
- Relevant training and qualifications, such as Fire Marshal/Fire Warden, Health and Safety, Safeguarding, Emergency First Aid at Work, and Food Hygiene.
- Confidence handling visitor enquiries and resolving issues professionally.
Attributes
- Flexible and adaptable approach to changing priorities.
- Commitment to continuous learning and professional development.
Summary of Terms
- Salary: £15.20 per hour.
- Hours of work: As assigned – shifts lasting between 4 – 8 hours, in full hour increments.
- Working pattern: There is no set or predicted pattern; Freelands Foundation is under no obligation to offer work, and the Visitor Assistant is under no obligation to accept work. Once an assignment is accepted, however, we expect the Visitor Assistant to carry out the full assignment, or let the Building and Operations Manager know if they cannot attend or complete the shift for any reason by following the agreed process.
- Location: Freelands Foundation offices in Central London or other exhibition or event spaces as directed and mutually agreed.
- Contract: Zero hours contract.
- Holiday pay: Holiday pay is paid separately from your shift pay and is calculated in line with your accrued holiday entitlement based on the hours worked in the preceding months.
- Visa sponsorship likely status: Unfortunately, sponsorship is not available for this role.
- DBS check: The appointment is subject to a Basic DBS check.
Key Application Dates
- Application Deadline: 12pm (noon) 31 August 2026
- First Round Online Interviews: 4 to 8 September 2026
- Second Round In-Person Interviews: 11 September 2026
- Training Session for Successful Candidates: 28 September 2026
- Major Exhibition: 6 to 31 October 2026
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