Responsibilities include

Strategic and business development:

  • Develop business contacts and strategic opportunities, including developing auction and private sales strategies
  • Identify and maintain relationships with all client categories
  • Liaise on material in the field with other internal departments: pre-press, marketing, public relations etc.
  • Proactively research and gather information into the marketplace/trends/buying & selling patterns identify and grow the client base for sourcing and selling contemporary art

Valuations, cataloguing, pre and post-sale responsibilities:

  • Respond to incoming walk-ins, written, phone and photo enquiries to determine sale potential
  • Arrange shipping for pre-sale consignments
  • Work alone and with colleagues to research works to determine provenance, authenticity, value, condition, and marketability
  • Work with the photography team to coordinate photography
  • Catalogue consignments and work on the production and layout of the catalogue
  • Coordinate and drive pre-sale exhibition set-up
  • Work with buyers during sale week, to provide condition reports, and attend weekend exhibitions, to market and sell the sale
  • Work with the marketing and communications team, to help develop a coordinated marketing plan to achieve budgeted sale totals
  • Participate in telephone bidding with clients during the auction
  • Participate in the full after-sales analysis, and implement any agreed changes

General:

  • Ensure compliance with all internal policies and procedures and any relevant external bodies or processes
  • Participate in organisation-wide meetings, activities and processes, and develop internal contacts, networks and interactions as appropriate
  • Actively participate in events, valuation days, and other functions

Person Specification – Essential qualifications skills and experience:

  • Proven knowledge in the field of  Contemporary Art , gained both through study and work experience
  • Experience in the field, preferably at auction, but also within the trade or at another relevant institution e.g. gallery or own business
  • Proven ability to develop relationships with the major collectors, dealers and galleries
  • Excellent writing skills in English, and ability to combine an understanding of the material with a commercial sense of marketing and promoting value
  • Excellent verbal communication and interpersonal skills, including first class spoken English
  • Ability to work to tight auction deadlines, balancing photography, cataloguing, sale organisation, marketing and promotional details
  • Experience working on projects of all sizes, long- and short-term; demonstrated ability to prioritise a variety of concurrent projects
  • Excellent knowledge of the Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint, Outlook etc)
  • Superior customer service skills
  • Strong follow-up skills with attention to detail
  • Ability to thrive within a fast-paced team environmen