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Senior Content and Conference Production Manager

Employer
Times Higher Education
Location
London/Homeworking
Salary
Competitive salary + bonus + benefits
Closing date
1 Feb 2022

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About Us

As the voice of global higher education, THE is an invaluable daily resource higher education academics, students and institutions.

THE has grown from a weekly magazine into a 24/7 digital hub for global HE, with new content published daily. Whether it’s agenda-setting news and analyses, commentary from the sharpest minds in international academia, our influential university rankings, or the latest insights from our World Summit Series, everything we do is focused on helping HE individuals and institutions to excel.

www.timeshighereducation.com

The Opportunity

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced education events professional (or a higher education journalist/external communications specialist looking for a career change) to join the Times Higher Education to lead the content for our THE Campus Live series.

The THE Campus Live event series facilitate discussions for university stakeholders on the latest issues and challenges facing the HE sector, as well as offering practical support for the teams responsible for university management marketing/communications, estates, student recruitment and those shaping teaching and learning strategies.

Public intellectuals, media figures, university leaders, government representatives, policy-makers and commentators, and experienced administrators are all typical speakers at events held across the event series held currently in the UK, Asia, US, Australia and New Zealand, with ambitions to grow further.

Reporting to the Content Director – the Senior Content and Conference Production manager will primarily work on Times Higher Education’s THE Campus Live series but also some specialist events for similar audiences. You will be responsible end-to-end content delivery by researching the market through speaking with key contacts to determine compelling themes and discussion topics, and producing innovative event programmes with excellent speakers. The ideal candidate will be passionate about higher education and its impact and be prepared to proactively foster and build relationships with stakeholders across the sector.

You must have at least 4 years’ experience of successfully producing events and/or working within the higher education sector – or have the equivalent experience in a closely related industry, and demonstrate clear transferrable skills. You’ll need to be used to a fast-paced environment, be an innovative thinker and have the ability to research independently and thoroughly to discover the best speakers. You will have a creative approach to be able to spot opportunities that add value and enhance the experience of our stakeholders. You’ll need to be confident talking to senior leaders and stakeholders.

Working with the Events team and across the wider business you will play an important role in delivery our global conferences.

Key Responsibilities

Programme research and development

  • Conduct effective phone and desk research with a variety of stakeholders to create high-quality event programmes that include compelling subjects for discussion
  • Work in partnership with commercial partners to shape programmes to their objectives (and occasionally with host partners)
  • Collaborate with the wider THE team to identify opportunities on event programmes that support the wider business portfolio
  • Collaborate with the Sponsorship Directors to support the engagement of potential business partnerships at our events
  • Participate in meetings with sponsors, host partners and other stakeholders. Client liaison skills are a must

Content delivery

  • Recruit senior level, high-quality speakers to participate
  • Ensure event programmes are researched, well-written, compelling and thoughtful to attract speakers and delegates to attend
  • Draft ‘best practice’ speaker briefs on the event themes and discussions
  • Verify speaker submitted presentations prior to each event and ensure they are appropriate
  • Ensure that all speakers involved in THE’s events portfolio have a positive experience through its high-quality speaker liaison
  • On-site co-ordination of speakers and other key stakeholders, stage management and liaison with AV team to ensure a seamless production

Driving attendance, marketing and prospect management

  • Write compelling programme abstracts and website copy to help market our events
  • Clarify the event value proposition for interested parties
  • Contribute to the production of effective marketing collateral
  • Engage with key influencers of the market and generate interest in the event
  • Support THE’s events engagement strategy to build a community around our events
  • Identify potential fringe event and collaboration opportunities which support strategically supports the host partners and commercial educational partners

Experience and Skills Required

  • 4+ years of proven experience successfully producing events, ideally within the higher education sector
  • Quick to grasp concepts and understand the value proposition for different event stakeholders
  • Confident and talented self-starter who is able to hit the ground running
  • Experience of managing junior members of staff and/or freelance support staff
  • Excellent communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to work with senior leaders from government, academia and industry
  • Commercially astute and entrepreneurial outlook in order to work on commercial events
  • Experience of work with media and communications
  • Ability to work to agreed deadlines, working well under pressure
  • Excellent planning and organisational skills in order to manage and prioritise workload
  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including spelling, grammar and proofreading, with the ability to tailor style and approach to suit a variety of global audiences
  • Passionate about international global higher education and current affairs
  • MS Office essential – Word, Excel and PowerPoint
  • Flexibility to travel overseas to events
  • Educated to a degree level

 

THE are proud to be an equal opportunities employer. We recognise that we are all different. Great strength is born through different perspectives and experiences. That is why we are committed to our mission of creating an inclusive culture that enables our people to feel able to bring their whole selves to work.

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