Production Assistant

Department/Team: Production

Responsible to: Producer / General Manager

Contract: Permanent

Location: Mix of home working and from The Old Vic, 103 The Cut, London, SE1 8NB (min 3 office days)

Hours: Full-Time - 40 hours per week, Monday-Friday

The Old Vic offers the ability to work these flexibly under the guidelines in our Hybrid Working policy. Additional hours may be necessary in order to fulfil the requirements of the post

Salary: £29,240

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
• Enhanced employer pension contributions with The People’s Pension
• 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 purpose of this post is to provide exceptional administration support to the Production team, particularly supporting the Producer and General Manager, along with the Associate General Managers on the administration of productions.

The role

This role provides an excellent opportunity to be a part of a dedicated and hard-working team, delivering a range of productions in one of the world’s most vibrant and illustrious theatres. We are looking for someone who couples brilliant organisational skills with a love of theatre and will be an adaptable and personable team player.

The successful candidate may come from a similar role and have experience working in the theatre industry, and possess both an enthusiasm for theatre and good administration skills. They will be a adept communicator, flexible and adaptable and be comfortable working in a non-conventional yet exciting environment. They will also have excellent attention to detail and time management skills, be numerate and confident with all Microsoft packages (Word and Excel in particular, and preferably Outlook), be able to deal with confidential information and be comfortable adapting to changing priorities.

Areas of responsibility

Administration

• Arranging appointments, and meetings internally and externally for the team, including responding to invitations and booking meeting space as needed.
• Servicing meetings or make arrangements for meetings to be serviced as required, including taking & circulating notes where relevant.
• Ensure the Producer and General Manager are appropriately briefed for all meetings & events, including preparation of any relevant material in advance.
• Organising travel, produce itineraries, book tickets, and arrange accommodation and per diems for the Producer and General Manager as required.
• Maintaining and managing the team’s filing and archiving system.
• Liaising with The Old Vic’s Theatre Operations office on any IT and telephone requirements or issues.
• Ensuring all new starter paperwork for all Production staff is completed and returned to HR, including right to work checks.
• Being familiar with and keeping abreast of changes to relevant union agreements including, Equity, (British and American), Broadcasting, Entertainment, Communications & Theatre Union (BECTU) and Musicians Union (MU), the Society of London Theatres (SOLT) and UK Theatre (UKT), making sure that the Production team and the HR Director are kept up to date with all and any changes and new rates, policies and regulations.
• Being familiar with and keeping abreast of pensions policy and changes.

Finance and Payroll

• Supporting the Associate General Managers, General Manager, Production Manager, Company Stage Manager and HR team on the efficient and accurate administration of the payroll for technical staff, cast and stage management.
• Coding and match monthly credit card receipts and statements and submit them to Finance.
  

Budgets and Accounts

• Overseeing and maintaining the production running budget each week.
• Ensuring that freelance staff invoices are processed smoothly and efficiently, keeping the Associate General Managers, General Manager and agents regularly informed of any delays or issues.
• Monitoring and arranging sign off of weekly petty cash returns from the Company Stage Manager.

Contracts

• Preparing contracts and new joiner paperwork for all actors, stage management and production staff as required.
• Managing storage and filing of all written agreements in a secure, accurate and logical fashion and ensure only the relevant staff have access to such agreements as needed.

Press and Marketing

• Under the direction of the Associate General Managers manage the delivery of the press night process, on guests lists, invitations, seating plan and delivery of the evening – in conjunction with the box office, events, marketing and press team
• Provide all relevant show information, including managing cast and creatives biography sign off to the marketing and press teams as required
• Setting up and run the house seat book for all productions in consultation with the Box Office.
• Assist the Associate General Managers with press & marketing requests for content and access to the cast and creative team
• Attend weekly Marketing meetings

Production

• Keeping the cast and creative team contact list up to date.
• Preparing and distributing show contact sheets and photo sheets.
• Organising travel, produce itineraries, book tickets, and arrange accommodation and per diems for artists as required.
• Tidying the Stage Management office after each production ends and ensure it is welcoming and presentable for the following production.
• Archiving show bibles returned after each production ends.
• Assisting with the pastoral care of creatives, actors, production staff, freelancers and The Old Vic Theatre Company staff including managing the Green Room, ensuring that it is always stocked, safe, clean and presentable.
• Under the guidance of the Associate General Managers, booking audition and rehearsal spaces (internal or external) as needed.
• Attending rehearsals, production meetings, technical rehearsals, previews and performances as required.
• Sending welcome packs and scripts to cast and creative team members as required.
• Arranging Press Night gifts for company members
• In conjunction with Associate General Managers, coordinate the guest list, ticketing and smooth running of the Press Night for each production.
• Supporting the production and Stage Management team in any other way as may reasonably be required.
• Supporting the Associate Producer on supporting programme activity as needed.

General

• Contributing proactively to Production team activities.
• Deputising for the Associate General Managers as required.
• Carrying out any other duties as reasonably requested by the General Manager and Producer.
• Providing cover for the other Production Assistants in the team as needed.
• Complying with The Old Vic’s Equal Opportunities, Sustainability, Child Protection and Safeguarding, Health & Safety and all Staff Handbook policies at all times.

This is not an exhaustive list of duties and 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:

• At least one year of experience working in a similar role in a performing arts organisation

• A demonstrable interest and experience of working in theatre
• Takes a proactive, flexible approach to work
• Meticulous eye for detail; good proof-reader; immaculate presentation of work
• Confident, positive and approachable when dealing with a wide range of staff and artists at all levels
• A confident decision-maker
• A lateral thinking problem solver
• Able to focus, whilst working in a busy office, and handle multiple tasks
• Good prioritisation and organisational skills
• Strong team ethic along with the ability to work independently
• Experience editing contracts and other documents swiftly and accurately

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 (have a look at the person specification in the job description).
• 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.

As a Disability Confident employer, 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. H owever in the event that we have a high volume of applications all of whom meet the criteria and identify as disabled, meaning it is not practicable to interview everyone, we may apply a weighting to the shortlisting criteria, or add an additional shortlisting stage before any interviews take place. In all cases we will take care to ensure that any criteria or weightings do not disadvantage disabled applicants.

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 in person conversation
• 2nd stage in person conversation
• You may be asked to complete a work based skills assessment or challenge.

The closing date for this role is 4 August 2025 . First Conversations are likely to take place 15 August 2025.

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 .