Sound and Events Technician

Package Description

Required for: September 2024

Location: Dean's Yard, Westminster School

Contract: full-time (term-time only), permanent

Salary: competitive

Additional benefits:

• Pension – Contributory Defined Contribution Scheme
• Private medical health scheme
• Free school lunch is provided
• Use of School gym (restricted hours)

The deadline for applications is midday, Wednesday 26th June. Interviews will take place w/c Monday 1st July 2024.

Job Introduction

The post of Sound and Events Technician at Westminster School offers a unique opportunity to play both a whole-school role, and a central role to the life of a vibrant music department. The Technician will be involved in a wide range of events both within the School and at venues such as the Barbican, St John’s Smith Square and Westminster Abbey. The successful candidate will possess excellent organisational and communication skills and confidence in the technical aspects of the post.

Music at Westminster

Music plays an integral part in life at Westminster, where pupils are encouraged to learn and participate as fully as possible in a weekly routine of rehearsals, recitals and concerts. Many internationally renowned musicians have been educated at the school including Henry Purcell, Sir Adrian Boult, Sir Roger Norrington, Ian Bostridge, Sir George Benjamin, Julian Anderson, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, Gavin Rossdale, Mika, Dido and members of the band Clean Bandit. Westminster musicians regularly attend the junior departments at the Royal Academy, Royal College and Guildhall, and a good number are members of the National Youth Orchestra, National Children’s Orchestra, National Youth Jazz Orchestra and National Youth Choirs of Great Britain.

Up to 12 Music Scholarships are awarded each year. Academic music standards are very high and the teaching of Composition is outstanding. A good proportion of music students go on to read music at University or Music College.

Facilities

The Manoukian Music Centre is fully equipped with Rehearsal/Performing Hall, Recording Studio, classrooms, practice rooms, rehearsal rooms and instrument storage to the highest standards. The Manoukian Centre and the School Hall both house Steinway concert grand pianos and, in addition, there is a Goble harpsichord. Concerts take place annually in St John’s Smith Square, Westminster Abbey and the Barbican.

The location of the School allows unrivalled opportunities to attend musical performances on the South Bank & West End.

Instrumental Music

There has been a long tradition of excellence in instrumental music at Westminster. Around 30 instrumental ensembles rehearse each week, including a Symphony Orchestra, Concert Band, two string orchestras, and numerous brass, jazz, percussion, and wind ensembles. There is an extensive chamber music programme with regular success in national competitions.

Main Responsibilities

The Post

The Sound and Events Technician is employed to assist with the smooth running of the Music Department in and around the Manoukian Music Centre (MMC). This includes ensuring that all of the Music Department’s equipment within the School is properly maintained and stored, providing technical assistance to pupils and staff, ensuring that rooms and in-house venues are properly set up for classes, workshops and performances, monitoring and helping to order consumables, software and hardware as required, setting up P.A. equipment, engineering live sound, recording live events and studio workshops, and assisting pupils with specific tasks.

Additionally, the Technician will be responsible for the sound system at whole-school functions in the School Hall, and for various whole-school functions in other school locations and venues.

Accountability

The Technician reports to the Director of Music.

On a day-to-day basis, however, the Technician will also work with the following people:

• Academic Music teaching staff
• Music Department Manager, Music Secretary, Music Coordinator and Music Partnerships Coordinator
• Accompanist-in-Residence, part-time heads of instrumental sections, and visiting music staff (VMTs)
• School IT Department
• School Works Department
• Drama Department
• Deputy Head (Co-Curricular) and other members of the Senior Management Committee
• School Porters
• Event Planning Teams

Duties

• To ensure that all equipment is stored in the correct place and that the general tidiness of the MMC is extremely well maintained.
• To ensure that any problems or faults with equipment or furniture are reported and repaired in a timely manner, submitting dockets as required.
• To ensure that classrooms in the Music Department are set up appropriately for academic lessons; especially ensuring that the workstations are fully ready for use.
• To provide technical assistance to staff and pupils particularly in Fifth Form (Year 9) and Lower Shell (Year 10) academic lessons.
• To ensure that software is tracked and kept up to date in consultation with the IT Department.
• To troubleshoot in academic lessons when issues with software and technical equipment arise.
• To ensure that rehearsal rooms and performance spaces, including those outside the MMC (e.g. in the School’s main hall) are set up appropriately for music rehearsals and music performances; especially ensuring that all equipment is available and ready for use (including drum kits, amps etc)
• To maintain the Dampp Chaser system for the Steinway Grand Piano in the School Hall.
• To ensure that all equipment is properly cleared away and returned to the correct location at the end of rehearsals and performances.
• To ensure that all PA/AV and Studio equipment is properly maintained.
• The departmental facilities include AV equipment in the classrooms and the Recital Hall, portable PA systems, and digital and analogue recording equipment (including a 5.1 studio based around MAC / Logic Pro X. Other software includes Sibelius and Ableton Live.
• To be responsible for the recording of concerts/recitals.
• To assist with the production and engineering of audio recordings made by the Department, including GCSE/A-Level coursework, ABRSM Performance Exams, Concerts (as required), University/Scholarship applications, Partnerships etc.
• To oversee the setup where necessary of P.A. equipment and the engineering and mixing of live sound, including Music Tech Club, House Concerts and other internal concerts/recitals/events, School Musical, External Venue Concerts (eg. Barbican and SJSS), Jazz Evening, Pop Concert, September Saturday, Fifth Form Parents Welcome Event
• To oversee the delivery of the sound system in the school hall for functions and events, including weekly Latin Prayers services.
• To oversee the setup of sound systems at whole-school functions, as required
• To update the Music Tech Inventory on a termly basis
• To submit a Music Tech budget request on an annual basis

This Job Description is not exhaustive and the Technician may, from time to time, be asked to take on additional tasks that are suitable to the role.

It will be possible and, in some cases, desirable to attend training courses in agreement with the Director of Music.

Key skills

Candidates should be experienced in the operation and maintenance of Music Technology and audio-visual equipment and software. 

The post requires someone who is adaptable, and enthusiastic, who can work unsupervised and on their own initiative. The candidate should be able quickly to assimilate documentation. Good interpersonal skills are important, as the post holder will need to deal directly with pupils and staff at all levels. You will also need to be a team player.

General

All members of staff working within the School are expected to behave with a high degree of professionalism and, as this is a role that requires close interaction with pupils, it is especially important that the Technician act as a good role model.

The nature of the position requires that some tasks will occasionally need to be carried out at weekends and outside term-time (TOIL will be given).

Hours of work

The Technician is required to work 40 hours per week Monday to Friday (term-time only). The post holder will need to have significant flexibility, as the job will require the Technician to work a good number of these hours during weekday (often Friday) evenings and, very occasionally, at weekends to support performances. Evening and weekend hours will normally be agreed with the Director of Music in advance, during the previous half term.

In addition to the 40 hours per week, the job will require the Technician additionally to work six specific events during the academic year to support large-scale performances. This additional requirement will form a normal part of the Technician’s duties and will be reflected in the salary.

For addition concerts and events which fall outside of this remit, TOIL will be granted at the discretion of the Director of Music.

Holidays

This post is for term time only, with the exception that the Technician will be required to work on up to 10 days* during the school holidays, agreed in advance with the Line Manager. This additional requirement will form a normal part of the Technician’s duties and will be reflected in the salary. As this is a term-time only role, holidays should be taken during the school holidays.

* It is likely that the majority of these days will be allocated within those weeks immediately preceding and following each of the School’s three terms.

The Ideal Candidate

Please refer to the below (attached) person specification.

Equal Opportunities

We are an equal opportunities employer. We therefore encourage candidates to apply irrespective of age, disability, marriage or civil partnership status, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion and belief, gender identity, sex or sexual orientation.

Safeguarding and Child Protection

Westminster School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. Applicants must be willing to undergo child protection screening appropriate to the post, including checks with past employers and the Disclosure and Barring Service.

About The School

Working at Westminster

Westminster School is a busy, purposeful and vibrant place to be and an excellent workplace. The community is made up of 750 pupils, 120 teaching staff and 108 support staff.

Westminster School is friendly and welcoming, and all newcomers quickly become part of the rhythm of life here.

There is a real sense of community here as, being a boarding school many members of staff and pupils live on site and the School’s premises are very much treated as a home away from home. School life starts before breakfast and continues way beyond the working day; as a result, there is always a lively atmosphere in and around School and always someone to share a tea and biscuit with in the Common Room. Support staff as much as teaching staff are encouraged to embrace the School’s day-to-day activities, whether that be attending an evening concert or a morning service in the Abbey.

At Westminster we will always select the best candidate for every position. We do know, however, that we can only truly choose the best person on every occasion if a broad and diverse pool of candidates see the job advertised and are encouraged to apply.

As such, we continue to work on how our job roles are encountered, and particularly welcome applications from groups who have traditionally been underrepresented here.

Westminster School is for everyone, regardless of gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation or any other protected characteristic. We hope you are encouraged to apply.

The School

Westminster School is a selective day and boarding school for boys aged 13 to 18 and girls aged 16 to 18. There are approximately 360 boys in the Lower School (Years 9 to 11) and 400 boys and girls in the Upper School (Years 12 and 13). One quarter of the pupils board, and the School is structured and run as a boarding school, with an extended day and week and a strong House-based system of pastoral welfare, for boarding and day pupils alike.

Westminster is an ancient school, whose origins can be traced to a charity school established by the Benedictine monks of Westminster Abbey. Its continuous existence is certain from the early 14th century. Henry VIII personally ensured the School’s survival by statute and Elizabeth I, who confirmed royal patronage in 1560, is celebrated as the School’s foundress. Westminster is rare amongst long-established schools in remaining on its original site in the centre of London. Its proximity to Parliament and Westminster Abbey, and the use of the Abbey for its chapel, together with the stimulating diversity of the South Bank and West End, account in part for its special atmosphere and outlook.

The School is one of the foremost centres of academic excellence both in this country and internationally. Central to its academic ethos is the dialogue between teachers and their pupils, whether in the classroom or in tutorials, inspiring enjoyment of intellectual enquiry, debate and search for explanation and the development of skills of rational, independent thought well beyond any standard examination syllabus. The desired environment is happy, busy and purposeful; the pupils are intellectually, socially, ethically and politically engaged, with plenty of opportunities to develop initiatives and to articulate and defend their views, in line with the enduring values of the liberal tradition reflected in the School’s Charter. That tradition is fully committed also to the nurture of each pupil’s spiritual, moral, emotional and physical development and wellbeing – with a particular emphasis on drawing out individual talent wherever it lies - and to the preparation of young people for fulfilled private and public lives beyond School.