Permanent position
42.5 hours per week
£51,683.51 per annum
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.
We are seeking to recruit a Deputy Stage Manager to work with the Senior Stage Manager, Stage Manager, and two Assistant Stage Managers to ensure the smooth running of ballet rehearsals and performances in conjunction with all relevant departments. They will ensure that all activities are carried out to the highest possible standard of safety, efficiency, and quality.
Our ideal candidate will be a dynamic and highly organised individual with significant stage management and theatre experience who can evidence the following:
- Substantial ballet stage management experience, including as a DSM, in a major producing theatre, preferably with experience in a repertory house.
- Excellent orchestral score reading ability and good prompt book preparation skills.
- Ability to read and accurately interpret technical drawings. Excellent knowledge of mark out procedures.
- Demonstrable understanding of Health and Safety legislation relevant to theatre and able to undertake accurate and suitable risk assessments.
- A positive leadership style and the ability to project confidence and exercise tact in relationships with creative teams and artists.
- Good understanding of ballet repertoire.
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, Sunday 2nd August 2026
Interviews will be held w/c 17th August 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.
