Job Vacancy
Senior Costume Maker
Department:
Costume
Salary:
£19,820.64 per annum
Deadline for Applications: Monday 6 July 2015 (9.00am)
Interviews:
w/c 13 July 2015
Starting date:
a.s.a.p.
Permanent (full time)
All candidates must complete an application form. Forms can be downloaded at www.wno.org.uk and submitted electronically to
human.resources@wno.org.uk or in hard copy to the HR Department, WNO, Wales Millennium Centre, Bute Place Cardiff CF10
5AL.
Our purpose
Opera is our passion. At the heart of that passion is our belief that opera has the power to transform lives. We will reach out to
everyone – using our creativity, our daring, and our dynamism to ignite a new generation of opera lovers and to guide new
and existing audiences on a journey of discovery.
Values
Expert
in what we do at every level and we want to share this expertise with the largest possible audience
Collaborative
our work is made by a talented team working together with a can-do attitude
Smart
by being agile, open-minded and in touch we can identify new opportunities and use our resources wisely to take opera to
more audiences in more places
Provocative
as opera pioneers we are unafraid to challenge both ourselves and our audiences. We will create moving, provocative and
powerful experiences that are life-transforming. We are inquisitive and unafraid to take risks
Strategic principles
We’ll do great opera
We’ll be great value
We’ll reach more people
We’ll be an artistic leader
We’ll be financially responsible
Welsh National Opera transforms lives through the power of opera.
We are passionate about opera and want to share this passion with as many people as possible. We do this with awardwinning performances of fully-staged operas which combine a sense of adventure with the highest possible quality. We keep
our performances accessible through affordable ticket prices. Beyond the theatre we connect with people through our
community and education work and digital projects.
The energy which drives the Company today is rooted in its formation in the 1940s. In 1943, WNO was founded by a group
of people from across South Wales including miners, teachers and doctors. They wanted to forge an opera company befitting
Wales’s rich reputation as the ‘land of song’. The first rehearsals took place above a garage in Cardiff and our first
performance was given in April 1946 with the double bill of Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci.
From those early days onwards WNO has attracted some of the world’s best opera singers, and indeed gave many young
singers their first steps to international renown. Welsh National Opera has been led from the pit by a series of great Music
Directors and has worked with many of the art form’s most influential directors, traditions which continue to this day. Lothar
Koenigs is Music Director of Welsh National Opera. He joined the Company in September 2009.
Today the Company employs 230 people including artists, craftspeople, technicians and administrators based at its state of the
art home, Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff. At its heart sit the Company’s two full time ensembles, the 40 strong Chorus
and 55 strong Orchestra.
Every year the Company performs to over 120,000 people across 10 cities throughout Wales and England. David Pountney,
one of the world’s most influential opera directors, joined Welsh National Opera to lead the Company as Chief Executive and
Artistic Director in 2011. Starting with Free Spirits in spring 2013 David’s programming centres around themed seasons
which bring different but thematically linked works together. Through these themed seasons we hope to take audiences on a
journey of discovery and introduce a new generation of opera lovers to this great art form along the way.
Job Description
Job title:
Senior Costume Maker
Job holder:
Vacancy
Responsible to:
Head of Costume
Responsible for:
Overseeing the work of the Costume Makers in conjunction with the Cutter
Key accountabilities

Constructing complete costumes on own initiative, with advice from the Cutter

Alterations to costumes for revivals, etc.

Attending fittings to assist Cutter by taking notes on technical terms and helping with pins, scissors, etc.

Replacing Cutter during periods of absence and taking on the Cutter’s duties, which are:
Drafting patterns from designs supplied by the designer, either from explicit working drawings or using
drafting pattern costume books in discussion with the designer or Head of Costume.

Cutting costumes.

Attending stage rehearsals.

Occasionally attending fittings away from home base.

General tidiness of own sewing machine and work space.

Carrying costumes for loading and delivery.
Health & Safety
The post carries responsibility for Health & Safety issues at level 6 (see attached).
Senior Costume Maker
Person Specification
Essential attributes include:
 Highly experienced in working with both period and modern costumes.
 Experience of making costumes in a professional workroom.
 The ability to demonstrate Key Skills such as communication, application of numbers and IT skills.
 Ability to work to deadlines, to a high standard and ensuring attention to detail.
 Flexible, hardworking and organised.
 Positive and constructive attitude
 Knowledge of dressing performers
 Ability to work with due regard to Health & Safety
Desirable attributes include:
 Good knowledge of basic Health and Safety.
Main Terms and Conditions
Salary £19,820.64 per annum, payable monthly by credit transfer to bank.
The offer of an appointment is subject to receipt of two references and a health report that are satisfactory to the company.
The appointment is subject to a trial period of six months.
The Costume Department works under the WNO/BECTU House Agreement.
Termination of engagement during the trial period is by one week’s notice on either side. Termination thereafter is by one
month’s notice on either side.
Normal office hours are 9.00 to 5.30, Monday to Friday, with a 1-hour lunch break, but it should be understood that work will
sometimes need to be undertaken outside these hours and at weekends.
Holiday entitlement is 5 weeks per annum (pro rata during first year of employment).
Sickness benefit during the trial period is at the statutory minimum. Entitlement after completion of the trial period is a
maximum of 13 weeks at full salary and 13 weeks at half salary, inclusive of statutory sick pay in both cases.
The Company offers a contributory pension scheme.
Health and Safety
Individual Responsibilities
All Personnel
(Level 6)
Every employed person, including Managers.
Responsibilities
All personnel are responsible for:The observance and implementation of rules and systems which are derived from the Health and Safety Policy and the
arrangements for its implementation.
Taking reasonable care for their personal health and safety and that of fellow employees and others who may be affected
either directly or indirectly by their acts or omissions at work.
Reporting promptly to the appropriate Manager potential or actual hazards and defects.
Taking part in any health and safety training considered by the Company to be necessary in order to comply with the
Company Health and Safety Policy and current legislation.
Knowing the correct action to be taken in the event of an accident, fire or other emergency.
Co-operating with Management and other personnel in meeting statutory requirements.
Not interfering with or misusing anything provided to protect their health, safety or welfare which is required by legislation
and using any machinery, equipment, substance or safety device in accordance with any training and instruction.