House Assistant Assistant

**Status: Part time, permanent contract**

**Working Hours: 14 hours per week, Thursdays and Friday**

**Salary: Grade 1, £22,932 FTE (pro rata)**

Employee Benefits
- Pension contributions matched up to 4% of salary.
- Dog friendly - bring your dog to work.
- Free parking - enjoy free family walks any time at Abbotsford.
- Staff discounts in our shop and café, for public events and self-catering bookings

**Context**

Abbotsford was designed and built by Sir Walter Scott as both his home and the location for his extensive collection of books and historical memorabilia, and was first opened to the public in 1833, five months after his death. After the death of his last direct descendent in residence, Dame Jean Maxwell-Scott, in 2004, The Abbotsford Trust was created to preserve, protect and promote not only the house, but also the life and works of Sir Walter Scott. Abbotsford is considered to be one of the most important heritage sites in Scotland.

**Key Responsibilities**

**Historic House**
- Opening and closing up the historic apartments and Boardroom suite
- Vacuuming carpeted areas in the historic house when on shift
- Following Housekeeping Plan in carrying out daily/weekly and monthly tasks (such as cleaning display cases and dry dusting surfaces of antique furniture pieces; mopping Abbotsford’s stone floors with appropriate conservation cleaning agents, etc.)
- Assisting with conservation cleaning plan over the two-month closure of the house, including book cleaning, using scaffolding and ladders.
- With appropriate training, assist the collections staff with Abbotsford’s Integrated Pest Management plan, including the siting and inspection of insect blunder traps.
- Volunteer supervision and support during public opening hours as required, including monitoring break cover and where additional staff presence is needed (using CCTV)
- Ad hoc infill to cover volunteer illness/absence/rota shortages in the historic interiors as and when they occur
- Replenishing consumables such as lightbulb stocks and transcript

**Genera**l
- Ensure that all cleaning is done to the highest standard, in line with hygiene and COSHH requirements
- Ensure that cleaning methods and materials used are appropriate to the historic environment
- Follow stock management procedures and notify the House and Collections Manager of stock requirements in advance. Ensure no cross-contamination of harmful chemicals or residues between the historic housekeeping kit and cleaning equipment used in other areas of the building
- Undertake training to deliver occasional guided tours of the historic house.
- Ensure attention to health and safety requirements at all times, paying particular attention to the The Abbotsford Trust Job Description Heritage Assistant 2 of 6 April 2025 health and safety of the general public
- Report any maintenance or conservation issues found
- Provide support with daily operations, collections administration and tasks and projects as delegated by the House and Collections Manager and the Heritage and Community Manager and with the support/advice of the House and Collections Manager where needed.
- Support the heritage and Community team with administrative tasks such as rotas and minute taking.

**Communications and Working Relationships**
- Provide a high quality, friendly, and professional service to visitors
- Monitoring radio communications and relaying messages from Visitor Centre and other areas of site as required, including briefings for any special events or activity happening on that day
- Develop and maintain good team working relationships with Abbotsford staff, volunteers and Trustees
- Act as an ambassador for the Abbotsford Trust at all time

**Person Specification Knowledge**

**Essential**
- Respect and sensitivity for the challenges of housekeeping in an historic environment operating as a museum
- Awareness of the importance of health and safety practices
- Numeracy to level required for fulfilling duties (measuring out fluids, monitoring stock levels)
- Good IT skills using Microsoft 365 office suite

**Desirable**
- Knowledge of effective cleaning methods and materials in an historic environment
- Understanding of COSHH requirements for cleaning within public spaces

**Experience**

**Essential**
- Experience of working with and interacting with the public Desirable

**Desirable**
- Previous experience of cleaning, ideally within a historic environment
- Previous experience of stock audit and ordering
- Previous experience in customer facing role at a visitor attraction

**Skills and Abilities**

**Essential**
- Good time management skills and ability to prioritise and deliver tasks to agreed schedules and deadlines
- Attention to detail and ability to ensure all areas are maintained to the highest standards and potential health and safety risks are reported
- Practical approach to problem solving
- Good interpersonal and customer service skills
- Good team working approach and ability to w