Events and Conferences Manager – UK’s development finance institution

Up to £71,916 (depending on level of experience) + excellent pension and benefits

Central London

Established 70 years ago, this UK’s development finance institution supports the building of businesses throughout Africa and South Asia, to create jobs and make a lasting difference to people’s lives in some of the world’s poorest places.

With a focus to invest where they can have the greatest impact. In countries where the private sector is weak and jobs are scarce. And in sectors where growth leads to jobs – both directly and indirectly.  They prioritise manufacturing, agribusiness, infrastructure, financial institutions, construction, health and education. 

As a high-quality investment organisation, they use the best commercial skills and judgement to make investments in great companies and supporting them to grow over the long term. 

The institution was given additional capital by the UK Government in 2017 to support an ambitious new five-year Strategic Framework. Therefore the organisation has created a number of new roles and is looking to attract highly skilled people who are motivated to use their skills to support the organisation’s mission to improve the private sector in Africa and South Asia dramatically.

The opportunity

The organisation’s role as a development finance institution has grown significantly in the last few years and will continue to grow through to 2021. This is reflected not only in their growing employee base and their growing balance sheet, it is also reflected in their 2017 – 2021 Strategic Framework which sets out a clear ambition for the organisation to become a thought leader on private sector development.

To reach people in an engaging and effective way, the Communications team and other teams across the organisation have begun to hold and support more events.  This ranges from devising and arranging their own events (for internal and external audiences, on and off-site) through to sponsoring and attending third-party events and conferences. The success of these events means that there is demand to do more, both in the UK and overseas. The Events and Conferences Manager will ensure the organisation capitalises on this opportunity and build on this initial work.

In addition, the organisation also has an ambition to devise a high-quality flagship event or conference to raise the institution’s profile and bring together various stakeholders to help them achieve the mission. 

You will be expected to develop strategy, set objectives and put new process in place to improve current events programme as well as to create refreshing and innovative approach for new flagship event for the organisation.

Key Responsibilities for this London based Events and Conferences Manager role:

• With the Head of Strategic Communications, devise a strategy for all organisation-run events, both at a corporate level and at an individual team level, to support the organisation’s thought leadership approach.
• Create events that are engaging, fresh and explore new and innovative formats
• Promote events across relevant channels, liaising with other communications colleagues and third parties as appropriate.
• Research and advise on third-party events that the organisation should engage with at a corporate level.
• Liaise with other teams to establish their event objectives and requirements and support delivery as appropriate, including supporting teams to negotiate sponsorship agreements and coaching them to deliver smaller events themselves.
• Ensure appropriate systems, tools and resources for running events effectively, including event management systems, data management, exhibition stands, banners, suppliers and venue lists.
• Manage all pre-event planning, including organising guest speakers, delegate packs, and producing detailed planning documents as appropriate (for example, timelines, venues, suppliers, legal obligations, staffing and budgets).
• Manage and coordinate suppliers and all event logistics (including venue, catering, travel) to ensure the smooth running of events.
• Conduct event evaluation to inform future events and strategy.
• The role will require some overseas travel. 

Requirements for this London based Events and Conferences Manager role:

• At least seven years’ experience leading and executing events of varying sizes, including for C-suite and / or VIPs.
• Proven track record of creating new events and introducing new formats and techniques.
• Proven relationship management both internally and externally.
• Strong written and verbal communications skills – clarity and conciseness of expression.
• Strong negotiation and budget management.
• CRM and online event management tools.
• Strong understanding of data protection requirements.
• Adobe Illustrator / Photoshop highly desirable.
• Ability to speak French or other languages is desirable.
• Collaborative – this role will involve working across teams, and will involve bringing people together to reach agreement on positioning.
• Open to giving and receiving feedback.
• Energetic style and can-do attitude.
• Able to prioritise and delegate: many events will need to be delivered through our teams.
• Able to coach and train others on how to deliver high quality events.

To apply:

• Please click 'APPLY' quoting the reference no. RW-1807-6067
• Closing date 19^th August – if you are interested please apply to this opportunity as soon as possible, relevant candidates may be invited for an interview and be appointed before the closing date