Retail Assistant

Job reference: 000594

Salary: £26,750 per annum

Department: Retail

Location: South Kensington

Employment type: Permanent

Hours Per Week: 37

Closing date: 17/11/2025

About Us

We are a world-class visitor attraction and leading science research centre. We use the Museum's unique collections and our unrivalled expertise to tackle the biggest challenges facing the world today. We care for more than 80 million objects spanning billions of years and welcome more than five million visitors annually and 16 million visits to our website.

Today the Museum is more relevant and influential than ever. By attracting people from a range of backgrounds to work for us, we can continue to look at the world with fresh eyes and find new ways of doing things.

We employ 1100 staff in a variety of roles, all united by our vision of a future where people and planet thrive. We need everyone to have the passion and drive to help us with our mission to create advocates for our planet and inspire millions to care about the natural world.

Diversity and inclusion matter to us.

Our vision is of a future where both people and the planet thrive. Diversity is one of our core values and we strive to build a workplace where everyone feels a sense of belonging. All new staff who join us learn about the importance of diversity and inclusion to the Museum and how to contribute to creating an inclusive environment.

We know we have more to do, but we are committed to ensuring that everyone who works at the Museum feels they can thrive and feel valued and respected.

About the role

This is a fantastic time to join the Retail team at the Natural History Museum. With several new exhibitions and shops opening, along with lots of exciting new ranges and products, we are poised for a busy year with ambitious commercial targets. We are looking for Retail Assistants with a genuine passion for customer service to drive sales in a fast paced environment to help us achieve our goal. All profits you help generate from our stores support the work of the museum in creating advocates for the planet.

As a Retail Assistant, you will be working in a large team across our 3 permanent onsite stores as well temporary exhibition and pop-up shops. We are looking for dedicated, energetic, friendly people preferably with sales or high street/heritage retail experience to support the day-to-day operations of the stores, drive sales and most importantly deliver a world-class customer service experience for all our guests.

Multiple contracts are available as listed on the Job Description.

About you

Your primary focus will be on delivering exceptional customer service and ensure that every visitor enjoys a memorable and engaging shopping experience. With record visitor numbers, this fast-paced environment requires adaptability, teamwork, and a positive attitude.

Your strong communication skills and passion for service will be key in creating a welcoming atmosphere for our visitors. You'll thrive on multitasking and working at pace, supporting your colleagues while consistently providing outstanding service.

There's never been a better time to join us. With retail sales soaring and the Museum more popular than ever, this is a fantastic opportunity to be part of something truly special. If you're motivated by success and eager to make a difference for our customers, we'd love to hear from you.

Thriving at the Museum: the way we work

We are proud to work at the Museum and have identified the qualities we all need to embody to reach our shared ambition. This sits alongside the Museum's values and forms the framework for the way we work.

What we offer

• 27.5 days holiday plus 8 bank holidays (full time equivalent)
• Generous defined contribution Natural History Museum Pension Scheme (employer contribution 4 - 10%)
• Season ticket, bicycle and rental loan
• Life insurance
• Free admission to our exhibitions and many other paid exhibitions at museums, galleries and institutions across London and the UK.
• Staff discount at our Museum shops and cafes
• We offer a wide variety of training initiatives and opportunities to build skills. Investing in staff development is important to us, and we are ambitious about helping staff to grow and fulfil their potential.
• Affordable membership to the Civil Service Sports Council which offers a range of benefits including an extensive list of special offers and reduced entry fees at a selection of cinema chains, theme parks, theatres, retailers and supermarkets. It also provides entry to up to 300 English Heritage sites and other national treasures. For more details, visit
• Membership to our Sports and Social Association (for a small fee), which includes access to our in-house gym and clubs such as football, softball, table tennis and tennis and classes in Middle Eastern dance, yoga and Tai Chi

Hybrid working

Due to the nature of this role the work pattern will be 100% on site.

How to apply

Please apply by answering the mandatory questions to be considered for an invite to an assessment day on 24 November 2025 on-site at the Natural History Museum, South Kensington.

Closing date: 23:59 on 17 November 2025

Please note that if enough applications are received, this advert will close early.

Please note that this role does not qualify for Museum sponsorship so the successful postholder will need to have a valid right to work in the UK at the point of offer.

Please note that as part of our commitment to anonymised shortlisting, panels do not view CVs during the recruitment process. If you choose to upload your CV, our system will automatically pull information from your CV into our application form. We advise you to double-check your application form data before submitting as the tool may interpret CVs differently.