General Valuer for a London-based Auction House

We are on the hunt for a General Valuer to join a well-established auction house in London. The purpose of the role is to carry out valuations of property for Interiors, Homes, Antiques and Design sales in line with the business’s year-on-year growth objectives.

Context

Our Client is a privately owned, well-established London auction house which is fast becoming a major player in the international art market. With 20 specialist departments, around 60 staff, regular dedicated and themed sales are held across a breadth of specialisms. The Interiors, Homes and Antiques department holds monthly sales, with a separate Design sale held approximately 3 times a year. These contribute to a busy calendar of 100 auctions per year that cater for all levels of the market. The monthly Interiors, Homes & Antiques sale offers a range of modern, mid-century and antique furniture and furnishings for the home and garden. The sale features a wide range of lifestyle categories including jewellery and watches, ceramics, glass, British and European works of art, sculpture, rugs and other collectables. The Design sale offers furniture, lighting, studio ceramics and sculpture from the most influential design movements of the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.

Areas of Responsibility

Responsibilities include but are not limited to the following:

General valuations, cataloguing and condition reports

• Analyse and respond to incoming written, phone, photo and direct enquiries from regular clients and members of the public:
• Work alone and with colleagues to determine provenance, authenticity, value, condition, and marketability of property
• Write and respond to condition reports, along with other members of the team
• Write and prepare catalogue descriptions
• Work with the Head of Department to assign property to either the Interiors sale, the Design sale or a specialist sale hosted by another department
• Ensure that property is handed over to the photography team in a timely manner
• Ensure that all paperwork is completed in full and items receipted on the system for all department
  
  As appropriate, work with the Head of Department on the monthly sale, assisting with:
• Online catalogue production and layout
• Coordinating pre-sale exhibition set-up
• Assisting buyers during the viewing and sale period to market and sell the sale
• The full after-sales analysis, and implementing any agreed changes

Valuation days

• Participate in external valuation days and other relevant events, as required by the Head of Department

General

• Ensure compliance with all internal policies and procedures and any relevant external bodies or processes
• Participate in organization-wide meetings, activities and processes, and develop internal contacts, networks and interactions as appropriate
• Actively participate in events and other functions to represent the company at CSK
• Carry out other duties as required by the Executive Directors and Managing Director

Person Specification
Essential skills and experience

• Extensive experience in the field, either at auction, within the trade or at another relevant institution e.g. gallery or own business, in appraising and valuing the full range of property that the business deals in; a particular knowledge and interest in ceramics and glass is a distinct advantage
• Superior customer service skills, follow-up skills and attention to detail
• Ability to work by oneself and within a team
• Ability to learn in house systems, coupled with high IT literacy
• Ability to thrive within a fast-paced team environment, and to work to tight auction deadlines
• Proven ability to develop relationships with the major collectors, dealers and galleries
• Excellent writing skills in English, and ability to combine an understanding of the material with a commercial sense of marketing and promoting value
• Excellent verbal communication and interpersonal skills, including first class spoken English
• Experience working with on projects of all sizes, long- and short-term; demonstrated ability to prioritise a variety of concurrent projects
• Excellent knowledge of the Microsoft Office 365 Suite
• A full UK driving license

Desirable qualifications

• A qualification relevant to the field
• A second modern foreign language, e.g. French, Italian or Spanish

Salary: Up to around £45K DOE
Contract type: Permanent
Hours: Full-time

Reports to: Head of Interiors, Homes and Antiques
Internal: Head of Interiors, Homes and Antiques, Interiors team, Executive Directors and Managing Director, other specialist departments, client liaison and other business functions especially marketing and communications, photography and art handlers
External: customers, members of the public, collectors, dealers, galleries, other auction houses