Tate seeking new 'head of coffee' with £40,000 salary

Job advert: The Tate is looking for a new head of coffee for £40k. Artist Grayson Perry, pictured, tweeted his dismay
Rebecca Speare-Cole3 February 2020

The Tate is seeking a new "head of coffee" with a salary of nearly £40,000.

The vacancy, listed on its website, offers a £39,500 wage - reportedly £5,000 higher than what it pays exhibition curators - plus sales related bonuses and "great benefits".

The hospitality role encompasses "all aspects of coffee within the four Tate Galleries including sourcing, blending and roasting coffee."

It requires the candidate to have "extensive experience of cupping", as well as experience in "espresso quality assessment".

The role, part of Tate Eats, pays £5,000 more than the salaries of Tate exhibition curators, according to the Times.

The publication said: "The daily grind is better rewarded at Tate galleries if you're in hospitality rather than something as trivial as art.

"The Tate is seeking a head of coffee for which it is offering a salary of £39,500. That is £5,000 more than it pays its exhibition curators."

'I give up': Artist Grayson Perry
Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty Images

Artist Grayson Perry tweeted the Times segment, saying: "I give up, they've won."

The post was flooded with comments expressing outrage.

One commenter labelled it "madness", "depressing" and "disgusting".

Another wrote: "Are they sure they meant barista not a barrister?"

While another sad: "This explains the thimble sized latte that cost a small fortune when I went to the Blake exhibition."

However, one commenter defended the offered salary saying: "This is a senior role with relevant responsibilities and should be paid accordingly.

"Senior roles across the Tate should all be paid appropriately, no matter what the department."

The Tate said in a statement: “It’s unfair to compare a head of department with a curatorial role of a different level. All Tate’s departments have a variety of roles with different responsibilities and salaries, including curatorial, and a more accurate comparison would be a curatorial team leader. We value all our staff and strive to pay them appropriately for their work at Tate.”

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