Job Specification: Studio Assistant (Zero-Hour Contract)
Location: Inspired Pots, Hexham
Contract: Zero-Hour Contract (Flexible Hours)
Pay Rate: National Minimum Wage (appropriate for age group)
About Us & The Role:
Inspired Pots is Hexham's vibrant pottery painting studio! We're a small, busy, creative business run by Megan, looking for 1-2 practical, hands-on individuals to join our small team and help support the day-to-day running of the studio. This is an essential support role focused on ensuring our customers have a great experience and the studio operates smoothly. We value reliability and want to build a dependable team to help us, especially during busy periods.
We offer the National Minimum Wage for this role. We believe it's a great opportunity for someone passionate about creativity – perhaps a student, someone exploring design, or anyone keen to gain experience in a creative business where the value comes from the environment and learning opportunities alongside the wage.
Hours & Working Pattern:
This position is offered on a Zero-Hour Contract, providing flexibility. Our standard operating hours are 10 am - 5 pm, Thursday to Saturday.
- During school holidays (key busy times), our hours expand to 10 am - 5 pm, Tuesday to Saturday, meaning more shifts will likely be available then.
- Initially, this role probably isn't suited for someone seeking very regular weekly hours. We anticipate needing support primarily on Saturdays, with additional weekday shifts becoming available mainly during those busier school holiday periods. Reliability for shifts you accept is key.
What You'll Be Doing (Key Responsibilities):
This role balances essential operational tasks with ensuring our customers are well looked after (roughly a 50/50 split between cleaning/operational duties and customer interaction/other tasks).
- Welcoming Customers: Being the first friendly face guests see.
- Studio Guidance: Showing customers to tables, clearly explaining the pottery painting process and what we offer.
- Customer Support: Actively helping customers with questions about paints, techniques, and their pottery pieces.
-
Studio Operations & Customer Flow: This is a significant part of the role. It includes:
- Serving simple drinks (hot/cold) to customers.
- Keeping paint bottles refilled and accessible.
- Essential Cleaning: Efficiently clearing tables between sessions, wiping down surfaces, washing palettes/water pots, and maintaining general studio tidiness throughout the day is a key focus.
- End-of-Day Tasks: Thorough cleaning is vital here too - washing all used brushes, palettes, and equipment properly; assisting with tidying the main studio space.
- Order Fulfilment: Carefully packaging finished customer orders ready for collection.
- Assisting with Payments (Secondary Task): Helping process customer payments using our Shopify POS system when required (training provided).
Opportunities for Creative Growth (Based on Your Interest & Studio Needs):
While the core focus is operational support, we love creativity! For assistants who show interest and aptitude, there may be opportunities to:
- Help create content for our social media.
- Paint display items and samples for the studio.
- Contribute ideas to local marketing efforts.
- Assist with digital marketing, such as making simple updates to our website (training provided).
- Develop your own painting skills through general technique refinement and practice.
Who We're Looking For:
- No Experience Necessary! We're happy to provide full training on the job for all aspects of the role.
- A Positive Attitude is Key: We're looking for someone enthusiastic, reliable, practical, and happy to get involved with all tasks – big or small.
- Willingness to Clean: Understands that regular cleaning is a key part of keeping the studio welcoming and running smoothly.
- Excellent Communicator: Friendly, clear, and confident interacting with customers.
- Proactive & Efficient: Able to manage tasks effectively in a sometimes busy environment.
- Trustworthy: Especially when occasionally handling payments.
- A Genuine Interest in Creativity: While artistic skill isn't essential, an appreciation for crafts, design, or pottery will make the role more enjoyable and open up growth opportunities.
What We Offer (Beyond the Wage):
- Full Training Provided.
- Direct Experience: Learn the operational side of running a small creative business.
- Skill Development: Gain practical experience in customer service, operational support, and potentially creative/digital marketing.
- Mentorship Potential: Megan has a background as a professional designer (working with studios selling into John Lewis, Tesco etc.) and is happy to share insights and potentially offer guidance for those serious about a creative career path.
- Fun & Creative Workplace: Be part of a positive and inspiring studio environment.
- Free Refreshments: Enjoy complimentary tea, coffee, hot chocolate, water, and fizzy drinks while you're working.
- Staff Discount: Enjoy a free studio fee for yourself, plus family and friends when they visit with you.
- A Welcoming 'Third Space': We want our team to feel comfortable. Outside of your scheduled shifts, during our opening hours, you're welcome to use our 'behind the scenes' area (where we have a table/chairs) as a quiet space to relax, read, or study – just being mindful of studio operations!
- Pay: National Minimum Wage (appropriate for age).
Sound Like a Good Fit?
If you're practical, reliable, positive, understand the importance of the hands-on operational tasks (including cleaning!), value being part of a small team, and are excited by the chance to work in a creative space with growth potential – even if you haven't done this before – we'd love to hear from you!
How to Apply:
Please send your CV and/or a cover letter telling us a bit about yourself and why you're interested in this role at Inspired Pots to: enquiries@inspiredpots.co.uk
Application Deadline: 18th May 2025.
We encourage early applications as we will be holding interviews on a rolling basis throughout the application period.
