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Please note, this role is being offered on a Fixed Term Contract as it is Maternity Cover.

About the Secretary and Chief Executive of the Royal Academy of Arts

In 2019, Axel Rüger became the Secretary and Chief Executive of the Royal Academy of Arts, London. Mr Rüger studied Art History at the Freie Universität in Berlin, the University of Cambridge and Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario and worked at several museums in the USA before he was appointed Curator of Dutch Paintings, 1600-1800, at the National Gallery in London in 1999. Whilst at the National Gallery, Mr Rüger was selected to take part in the first year of the Clore Leadership Programme, including a secondment to the Royal Court Theatre in London. From 2006 – 2019, Mr Rüger was the Director of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam and The Mesdag Collection in The Hague, where he was primarily responsible for artistic direction and public affairs. During his tenure, visitor numbers grew from 1.4 million to around 2.2 million a year.

About the Role

The opportunity for a highly organised, experienced, and friendly professional has arisen to act as a trusted aide to the Secretary and Chief Executive of the Royal Academy of Arts, on a fixed term contract basis. Understandably an extremely varied and busy role, the successful individual will be responsible for many duties including managing the office of the Secretary & Chief Executive by providing discreet and high-level support, acting as a representative for the Secretary & Chief Executive across the Academy, maintaining relationships and proactively responding to issues as they arise. Furthermore, working collaboratively with the EA to the President, the General Counsel and the Head of Membership Affairs to streamline duties and build efficiencies in work processes, will be paramount to success in this position.

For this role you’ll need to have had experience as an Executive/Personal Assistant, ideally within a complex organisation. It is also beneficial for you to have a keen interest in the arts and culture.

The RA dates way back to 1768 when a group of artists and architects persuaded King George lll to help them to ‘establish a society for promoting the Art of Design'. The original academy, in Pall Mall, was less than 10 meters long. Since then, there have been many changes, though the RA’s core purpose of bringing art and design to a broad audience and championing art and artists still holds true.

Today we are a contemporary art organisation hosting internationally acclaimed exhibitions and through investment in employee training and development, with courses such as Unconscious Bias, LGBTQ+ Awareness, Bystander, and Mental Health First Aid training, we are striving to foster a safe space for everyone through positive action. We also have Employee Network Groups, Ways In Groups, and an Employee Council so every employee has a voice and a way to feel heard by colleagues through the CEO.

The RA is truly a unique place, both as an attraction to our visitors, but also as a workplace. Our people are at the heart of all we do, and we support a broad and inspiring mix of departments; from exhibitions, curators, art handlers, researchers, publishers, and digital to schools and education, visitor welcome, fundraisers, and corporate support.