Wigs and Make Up Senior Manager – WC2E 9DD

The role: 
This is an incredibly exciting opportunity to join our costume department in a key leadership role as the Wigs and Make-Up Senior Manager. In this role you will be responsible for all the work of the Wigs and Make-up department, ensuring that all activities are carried out to the highest possible standard, and providing effective leadership and management of staff. The Wigs and Make-Up department is made up of 27 permanent members of staff, alongside an excellent pool of casual and freelance staff. 

What you’ll bring: 
We are looking for a dynamic and experienced candidate who can bring a strong team leadership ethic to the role. You will be confident leading by example and promoting a positive, collaborative team environment, with a passion for building a diverse and inclusive workplace. 

You will also be able to demonstrate:

• Excellent professional experience in hair and make-up techniques for the theatre. 
• Extensive knowledge of the latest techniques, materials and products used for wig making, make-up looks, and prosthetics, as well as historical period wig making and setting, hair qualities and suppliers
• Strong experience of budget and resource management.
• Strong relationship management skills, and the ability to manage conflict and seek resolution with a professional and positive approach. 

We value the diversity new hires can bring to our workforce. A working knowledge of our repertoire is not essential, but the ability to learn quickly is. 

To submit your application, please provide a supporting statement that outlines how your skills and experience match the essential criteria listed above. We recommend drafting your response in a separate document and then copying the final version into the application form.

The Royal Ballet and Opera is one of the UK’s leading arts organisations and our aim is to inspire imagination, ignite emotion and make the extraordinary for everyone. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion underpin all that we do. We want our people to be representative of the diversity in the UK. We understand the creativity and innovation that diversity can bring and strive to create an inclusive environment in which everyone can thrive.

We encourage applications from people with a wide range of backgrounds, experiences and skills to join our teams. We particularly welcome applications from those who are from a global majority background and/or those who are disabled, as they are under-represented within our organisation.

We are a Disability Confident Employer, which means that we are actively working to ensure that candidates with disabilities and long-term health conditions feel supported, engaged and able to fulfil their potential in the workplace. We will endeavour to offer an interview to candidates who tell us they wish to participate in the scheme and who demonstrate in their application that they meet the essential criteria for the role, though sometimes due to the volume of qualified candidates with declarations this is not possible.

The RBO is also committed to safeguarding and protecting all children, young people, and adults and we implement robust safer recruitment practices. Due to our safeguarding promise, certain roles will be subject to a DBS check before commencing employment with us, which will be indicated in the advertising.

A full job description can be found here

For more information about working with the Royal Ballet and Opera, please review the info pack here.

For a list of potential reasonable adjustments, please review this guidance document. If you have any access requirements for your application, please contact the RBO Recruitment Team on hr.recruitment@roh.org.uk

Closing date for applications: Midnight, Monday 1st December 2025. 

First round interviews will be held the week of 8th December.

Second round interviews will be held the week of 15th December.

Applicants must have work authorisation for the UK.  No agencies.