Costume Performance Technician

Salary: £42,571.31 per annum for 42.5 hours per week

Permanent position

Based in: Covent Garden, London

Prior to commencing your application, please review our application guide here.

The Royal Ballet and Opera continues to lead the way in opera, ballet, music and dance both live on stage and through multiple digital platforms, from live streaming to worldwide cinema screenings. Our Covent Garden theatre has been at the heart of London and British cultural life for three centuries. We are home to two world-class Companies: The Royal Ballet and The Royal Opera.

The Royal Opera House describes the place we work, not who we are. The whole is always more than the sum of its parts – we may be a House, but three quarters of our audiences experience what we do outside this building. While our Covent Garden theatre is the nerve centre, the impact and influence of the organisation can be felt in every corner of the country, and around the world.

Our Costume Performance team provides costume support to the artists of The Royal Ballet, the Royal Opera and visiting companies. We are seeking to recruit a Senior Technician to join our Costume Performance Team to work across both Opera and Ballet.

Our team of Technicians make sure that costumes are maintained, pristine and set for all rehearsals and performances. As an individual, you will manage a small team of Dressers and work alongside Technicians to ensure that all dressing aspects are executed to the highest of standards and following the Designer’s vision. As we are a rep house, you will often be juggling two or more productions at a time.

What are we looking for?

• A varied background in costume and large-scale show running
• Good sewing techniques, particularly repairs
• An exceptional knowledge of backstage costume work and dressing techniques
• An understanding of fabrics, fibres and the various laundering methods associated with them
• Strong communication skills
• A desire to learn or build on knowledge of the nuances surrounding costumes for opera and ballet

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 [email protected]

If you are applying as an internal candidate, you might find this guidance document helpful.

Closing date for applications: 11:59pm, 8th November 2026

To ensure a fair process, late applications will not be considered under any circumstances.

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