Schools Engagement Manager

12-month Fixed-term contract (January 2026 – January 2027); Full time  
Salary: Up to £37,000 per annum
Based in: Purfleet, Essex/Covent Garden, London

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.

Learning and Participation (L&P) is central to RBO’s mission of making the extraordinary for everyone.  Our work in schools and communities up and down the country is driven by our free, curriculum-linked programmes, specially designed to inspire creativity, broaden participation and diversify the future of ballet and opera. These sit alongside industry-leading talent development projects, regional partnerships, and a raft of daytime events, family activities, exhibitions and concerts.

To cover a fixed term from January 2027 our L&P department are looking to hire a School Engagement Managerwho will work collaboratively with colleagues to ensure the reach of RBO Schools across the country.  This role will focus on the geographical region of South-East and East of England.

The key purpose of the role is to scale up school engagement with RBO Schools by building partnerships with schools, multi academy trusts and place-based partners to ensure we achieve ambitious growth targets in line with the L&P Strategy.

Ideal candidates will be able to demonstrate:

• A comprehensive understanding of the education sector, from experience in relevant roles in education/cultural sector.

• Outstanding people and relationship skills with proven ability to broker complex partnerships with multiple stakeholders across sectors.

• Comprehensive understanding of the education sector and teaching in schools.

• Excellent communication, presentation and negotiation skills.

• A passion for and some knowledge of opera and/or ballet and commitment to widening access to the work of RBO.

• Excellent strategic planning skills with the ability to prioritise, define goals and plan effectively to effect change

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.

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.