Join us

Headline

Open Out is recruiting up to 2 hair stylists to work in our very well established hairdressing salon with queer communities. In line with our ethos below, we actively welcome and encourage applicants from a range of backgrounds including LGBTIQ identified people, people with access needs and people of the global majority. 

Online application form.
Application Deadline: 6pm, Friday 1st May 2026

Ethos

Open Out, founded in 2011, is a hairdressing service for people of all genders and sexualities. At the heart of our work is a commitment to listening to clients, creating space for self-identification, and ensuring our services remain affordable. We particularly focus on welcoming people who feel underserved in hair industries on account of their gender and sexual orientation, and who are seeking a place to get a haircut that is supportive, positive and congruent with how they identify.  We value gentleness and supportiveness, and we don’t subscribe to traditional concepts of gendered or standardised beauty industry haircuts.  All employees, including Directors, receive the same hourly wage, and the same paid holiday and sick leave entitlements, pro rata.  Clients pay what they can afford, with guidelines for pricing being clearly communicated to support their decision. Watch our short video featuring a few of our clients to find out more.

Social Enterprise

Open Out operates as a Social Enterprise, legally registered as Open Barbers, Community Interest Company (number 9335422). This means that our business is driven by people, not profit. The decisions we make are centred on meeting the needs of various LGBTIQ+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, Queer/Questioning) communities and we are primarily concerned with the social benefits our business provides. We are able to pay our team a salary, and make a financial surplus, but this surplus must be reinvested back into the communities we have declared we are here to support. We are legally restricted from dividing the surplus out as bonuses or profit. 

Conditions of work

  • Up to full time employee contract, with initial probation of 6 months, reviewed after this time.
  • Up to 40 hours a week, between Monday – Saturday times to be agreed. 
  • £14.80 per hour (annual salary £30,866.88 FTE)
  • 28 days paid holiday pro rata (which will include the 5 days and Bank Holidays at Christmas/New Year when the salon is closed.) Holidays can be taken in hours, rather than days. 
  • Paid 30 minute rest break on shifts exceeding 5 hours, with additional unpaid breaks as required.
  • Employer pension contributions into our pension provider NEST
  • Minimum 1 month’s notice period in writing on either side following successful completion of the probation period. 

Job Description

Hair Stylist

Employer:                     Open Out
Place of work:              Open Out, 4 Clunbury Street, London, N1 6TT
Reports to:                    Directors

General Information

Open Out hair stylists work together as a team to provide high quality hairdressing and barbering services in a safe and comfortable environment. Our target client base is LGBTIQ+ people and we aim to be inclusive of others in marginalised communities, as well as the general public. We aim to create a community among our team and with our clients. Services cater to all hair types and ages of client. This work requires sensitivity, compassion and attention to detail, so client care and mutual team support are essential qualities of this role. For Open Out to function effectively, we require everyone to contribute fairly to salon upkeep and to undertake special projects as outlined below. Attending training and key holding may constitute part of the role as and when required.

Purpose of Job

The primary function of this post is to provide hairdressing services, as well as to contribute to the smooth running of the salon. The post-holder will demonstrate a welcoming and considerate attitude and sensitivity when working with clients, which constitutes the primary workload of the post. The post-holder will provide friendly assistance to visitors and potential clients on the phone, online and in person.

Key Tasks and Responsibilities

Hairdressing and client support

  • Ensure all arriving clients are warmly welcomed.
  • Offer hairdressing and barbering services in line with clients’ wishes or gently manage expectations according to their hair and your skills. This includes thorough consultations using accessible language, hair washing, haircuts and styling, product knowledge and responding to requests for hair advice. 
  • Deliver services in an inclusive manner with people of all genders, sexualities, abilities and disabilities, ethnic and racial backgrounds.
  • Use inclusive language around gender presentation, recognising that clients use a variety of pronouns and to be confident in checking and using appropriate pronouns. 
  • Be sensitive to the range of anxieties people may feel when entering a hairdressing space.
  • Incorporate a consent based approach towards the outcomes of the hair service as well as towards each client’s general needs and wishes during the service. 
  • Instruct clients on how to use the till to make payments, providing guidance where needed.
  • Answer phone calls and texts and deal with in person queries in a friendly way.
  • Use social media to help fill last minute cancellations and complete daily log book of details of the day that require attention or follow up.

Workstation housekeeping

  • Keep a high standard of hygiene, tidiness and safety at your workstation and surrounding area between clients and throughout your shift.
  • At the end of your shift, thoroughly clean and reset your workstation for the next stylist. Examples include cleaning tools and accessories, sweeping hair clippings, putting products and tools away – a more extensive list is provided in the salon.

Communal areas housekeeping

  • Keep a high standard of hygiene, tidiness and safety in communal areas. This includes the waiting area, kitchen area, wash basins and toilet area. Examples include washing up after clients and staff, replenishing stock, cleaning surfaces, emptying bins and handling laundry – a more extensive list is provided in the salon.

General

  • Attend staff training sessions as and when required, generally with time off in lieu provided.
  • Provide cover for key holding if applicable and when required. Some staff are nominated keyholders with duties in opening and closing the salon, or caretaking the salon in the middle of the day. Separate guidance and induction is issued for those undertaking keyholder responsibilities. 
  • Agree to communicate with admin staff in a timely manner with regard to planned or unplanned absence or other requests.

This job description is non-contractual and does not form part of any Terms & Conditions of Employment.  It is intended to give a general overview of the post’s responsibilities, which may change and develop in order to meet the needs of the business.

Person specification

Essential criteria

  • High levels of competency in hairdressing, including cutting and styling long layered hair of straight and curly types. 
  • Moderate levels of competency in barbering services, such as fades and tapers. 
  • Confidence with cutting creative hairstyles in accordance with client wishes. 
  • Some experience of working with styling products and advising on hair care.
  • A friendly and welcoming manner.
  • Sensitivity towards individual client comfort levels.
  • A clear and calm communication approach and ability to listen openly.
  • Positive awareness of all genders and sexualities including those outside of binary identities.
  • Commitment to making the salon a welcoming place for a wide range of people from various backgrounds.
  • Commitment to working as part of a team.
  • Shares our ethos of affordability and accessibility.
  • Reliable and punctual time keeping skills.

Desirable criteria

  • A qualification to at least NVQ level 2 or equivalent qualification.
  • The ability to cut and style Type 4 / Afro textured hair. 
  • The ability to cut the hair of people of all ages including young children.
  • Additional hairdressing skills such as colour, extensions and trichology knowledge.
  • Experience working with neurodivergent people.
  • Experience supporting the broader aspects of running a small business such as stock taking and using digital technologies including social media, booking systems and payment systems.

We actively welcome and encourage applicants from a range of backgrounds including LGBTIQ+ identified people, people with access needs and people of the global majority. 

Application procedure 

Please submit:

  • Completed our online application form (or apply by post or email*)
  • Up to 10 images of haircuts from your portfolio.
  • A CV including your personal contact details (optional)
  • Any access information so that we can ensure that we can support applications from all, regardless of the access needs of the individual.

* If preferred, you can submit an audio or video file with responses to the questions in the application form, or a pre-prepared CV only if all the questions in our form are already addressed in the CV.

Application form questions (as found in the online application form):
Please use the following questions to help you tell us everything we need to know about how well you fit the person specification and job description. Giving examples is the best way to demonstrate your experience.

  1. Do you have experience in hairdressing and barbering? Explain in one or two sentences what your experience consists of.
  2. Give two examples of haircuts you have done which illustrate that you have a broad set of skills and competency in cutting and styling hair of varied length and type.
  3. Explain how you have worked with styling products and give an example of how you have advised on hair care. This would also be a good place to mention any colour, extensions and trichology knowledge you might have.
  4. Do you have a friendly and welcoming manner? As part of your answer, give an example showing how you can make the salon a welcoming place for a wide range of people from various backgrounds.
  5. Give an example of an occasion when you showed sensitivity towards individual client comfort levels. If you have experience with neurodiversity, you could talk about that here as well.
  6. Do you have a clear and calm communication approach and ability to listen? Give an example of a time when you demonstrated this. 
  7. How do you know that you have positive awareness of all genders and sexualities including those outside of binary identities?
  8. Tell us a story about how you demonstrated good teamwork – if this was part of a small business, let us know what kinds of things you did in this context.
  9. Explain why you are comfortable with our ethos of affordability and accessibility.
  10. Tell us a true story which demonstrates how you are reliable – for example, about your punctual time keeping skills.

Deadline for applications is: 6pm, Friday 1st May 2026.
If not using online application form, please email openouthair@gmail.com or post to Open Out, 4 Clunbury St, N1 6TT
For further enquiries on the role or application procedure please email openouthair@gmail.com
This application pack can be posted out in large print on request.

Interview process

Applicants will be shortlisted on the basis of how well they meet the job description and person specification.

Shortlisted applicants will be required to:

  • Attend an interview with the Open Out Director and an Open Out stylist.
  • Carry out a trade test on three typical Open Out clients

Application Deadline: 6pm, Friday 1st May 2026

Interviews will take place between Monday 18th – Wednesday 20th May 2026