The art of the perfect fit

Watch Specialist / Head of Department, Auction House

Posted: 02.11.2023
Contract Type: Full-time
Job Type: Permanent
Pay: Competitive Market Salary - Negotiable
Location: London, UK
Tenure: Permanent
Job description:

Seeking a Head of Sale/Watch Specialist for a London based Auction House. This role has responsibility for all aspects of sourcing, promoting, selling and developing watch auctions, with a brief to meet budgeted contributions and to increase targets over time, moving towards high quality stand alone watch sales which aim to be among the best in the market.

Head of Sale Job Functions:

  • Responsible for the development and growth of sales in terms of both quantity and quality of items sold.
  • Responsible for achieving contribution targets for your sales and actively trying to increase contributions, through a combination of market share expansion, minimum lot value thresholds and controlling sale related costs.
  • Responsible for managing all aspects of the catalogue production process, including cataloguing, photography, essays/footnotes, lotting, layout and editing to proofed to company standards, ensuring everything is carried out and catalogues are produced and online to established company deadlines.
  • Responsible for ensuring sale previews are laid out on time to company standards and that views are staffed for client engagement.
  • Coordinating with the Marketing Department to promote sales and goods
  • Responsible for managing the selling of the sale, including proactively identifying and contacting potential buyers for top lots.
  • Carrying out post-sale analysis and making decisions about the market, client contact etc. post sale and ensuring actions taken accordingly.
  • Analysing vendor and buyer activities and developing sales.
  • Establish new client contacts whilst maintaining long-term relationships with existing clients, both trade and private.
  • Maintaining up to date knowledge of top vendors and buyers, having a monitored list of top clients and engaging with them regularly.
  • Proactively thinking of ways to expand your sale.
  • Having a degree of delegation and management within the sales process.
  • Creation of specialist editorial content for both in-house and third party.
  • Thinking of appropriate places to promote our watch sales, with both editorial and advertising content.
  • Explore partnership opportunities.
  • Actively organising and also attending business development activities including events, talks, valuation days, private views, dinners, both internal and external.

Specialist Job Functions:

  • Actively source goods for sale and when talking to/visiting clients be aware of opportunities for other departments also.
  • Go on goods getting.
  • Provide sale valuations for clients.
  • Look over the ‘info box’ and other email and written enquiries and respond.
  • Regularly spend time in the premises to both carry out valuations and to catalogue goods consigned.
  • Carry out specialist cataloguing, including removing backs of watches, condition reports and condition report photography, seeking advice where necessary.
  • Give presentations/talks/lectures to interest groups/clients.
  • Provide watch valuation assistance for the Valuations Department as required, both in-house and on valuation visits, for sale, probate and insurance purposes etc.

Other Job Functions:

  •  Assist and advise on business getting proposals, taking part in client discussions and presentations to win business.
  • Be available for sale related tasks across all company sales, including phone bidding, clerking, auctioneering, etc.
  • Provide additional support where required across the company.