Specialist London, England
Job description
About Bonhams
Bonhams is a global auction house with an 18th century heritage poised for transformative change. Our global operations are based in London, Paris, New York, Los Angeles and Hong Kong where we sell in over 60 categories, including motor cars, paintings, jewellery, and entertainment memorabilia.
Our employees are passionate about their work and we pride ourselves on a bespoke approach that aims to make every client feel important. It is an exciting time for our business and our global leadership team of art world professionals are now ready to for a People focussed team to help them develop their talent strategy, strengthen our people brand globally, build organisational capability and drive process improvement.
About the Team
Bonhams’ Jewellery department is built upon exceptional expertise. Bonhams has been the UK auction market leader in jewellery for over 10 years and has broken several world records within the last eight years, creating new global price points.
Our busy and dynamic team of specialists is made up of qualified gemmologists, jewellery historians and connoisseurs, who are up to date on market trends and regularly collaborate with our global Jewellery teams in Europe, the USA, Asia, and Australia, as well as other Bonhams departments, from Designer Handbags and Watches to Contemporary Art - to cross-market items to established clients and well as new collectors.
About the Role
As a Specialist you will:
- Business getting for the department to fulfil the budgets set for the department sales
- Work with the senior specialists on strategies to encourage new business opportunities for the department
- Carry out research, cataloguing of jewellery, and preparation of sale catalogues
- Maintain and support the ongoing development of a database of customers – both buyers and sellers – for the department
- Maintain contact with established collectors to encourage further business with the company, either as buyers or sellers
- Maintain contact with established trade contacts to encourage further business with the company
- Assist the senior specialists on the production of an advertising and marketing campaign, within the budgets set, to promote the business getting and sales activities of the department
- Assist on the production of advertising and marketing campaigns, within the budgets set, to promote the business getting and sales activities of the department.
- Client valuations both in the office and off-site as necessary
- Prepare condition reports.
- Provide the relevant information to the department administrator to ensure Bonhams clients contractual obligations are met
- Prepare proposal documents and working with the senior specialist on pitches for business.
- Support the junior members of the team to encourage their development and knowledge of the market.
- Assist on exhibition events as and when required
- Maintain an awareness of our competitors’ strategies to maintain the competitive position of this department in the market
About you
We’re looking for someone with knowledge and a genuine interest for Jewellery. You will have a good market and trend awareness and will be able to prove business acumen and valuation skills. Ideally, you will have a network of contacts to work with or you will be pro-active and can work towards building up such a portfolio. A functional working knowledge of the whole auction process and related procedure is highly preferred.
Key Skills and Experience
- Flexible and receptive to change
- Excellent time management and organisation skills
- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills both written and oral
- Able to work as part of team, and independently
- Able to work to tight deadlines and under pressure
- Excellent attention to detail
What We Offer
* 28 days annual leave (including bank holidays) increasing to 33 with service.
* Private Health Care
* Life Assurance
* Health & Wellbeing Assistance Program
* Enhanced Family Friendly Policies
* Learning and Training Assistance Program
* Annual Travel Season Ticket Loan
* Cycle to Work Scheme
If you wish to apply, please send your CV and cover letter by the 14th April 2023 at midnight.
We thank you for your interest in this position but please note that we will only contact candidates chosen for further consideration.
Bonhams is an equal opportunity employer. As part of our commitment to fight for equality, we work to ensure a fair and consistent interview process. We celebrate diversity and we are committed to an inclusive work environment.
