Conference Co-ordinator

Faculty/Department
- Commercial Services
- Salary Scale
- £25,742 - £28,759 per annum
- Contract Type
- Permanent
- Full-time / Part-time
- Full-Time
- Weekly Hours
- 36.5
- Employment Visa
- Non-sponsorable
- Posted Date
- 30/01/2024
- Closing Date
- 14/03/2024
- Ref No
- 5404

The Role
What you’ll do
Who you are - Qualifications, Experience, Knowledge and Skills required
How to apply

**Benefits**:
Employment Visa

The Role

The Conference Office is looking for a team member to join our customer facing team.

You will be the main contact for our customers for conferences, events, catering and visitor accommodation. You will be responsible for overseeing the sales and organisation of large events, liaising directly with external customers and organisations. You will need to co-ordinate with internal operational teams to ensure that events run successfully with an exceptional attention to detail.

We are looking for a confident communicator who understands the needs of our customers, as well as someone who is willing to throw themselves in to unexpected tasks as short notice. The ability to speak and write in Welsh is essential for this role.

Aberystwyth University is a great place to work. We offer a competitive salary, 27 days annual leave plus bank holidays and closed days, generous pension scheme and excellent sick pay.

Appointments are normally made within 4 - 8 weeks of the closing date.

What you’ll do

The Conference Office is the sales team for conferences, events, catering and visitor accommodation at Aberystwyth University. We run a year-round operation with visitor accommodation, short conferences and catering bookings. Our busiest period runs from June to August when we accommodate school groups, major conferences and large-scale events. Our primary goal is to generate revenue to support the University’s core teaching and research activities.

The Conference Office is led by the Business Development Manager and supported by the Sales Manager who are responsible for attracting new business.

Booking requirements range from a simple reservation for bed spaces or lunches for example, through to a complex event management service for the client, where a ‘one-stop-shop’ approach is offered. This usually contains elements of booking system design, administration of delegate booking responses, reservation of internal resources, and liaison between internal service providers, reservations of external resources such as coach travel or excursions to visitor attractions, a badge and registration service with financial administration service of delegate fees.

**Main Duties & Responsibilities**

This post will provide a challenging and rewarding role within the conferencing and events industry. The post holder will be expected to demonstrate a real ‘can do’ attitude and drive to succeed, together with a sales and service ethos, putting the client at the centre of everything they do. The ability to manage/prioritise time and tasks and to work as part of a small, sales & customer service focussed team will be needed also.

**Sales Activity**
- Close sales at point of enquiry. If possible, offering ‘up-sell’ of superior/extra services to maximise return.
- Keep log of outstanding enquiries/leads and follow up with courtesy call at agreed later date.
- Bring any ‘barriers to sale’ to the attention of the Conference Office Sales Manager/Business Development Manager. Negotiate rates where authority is given.
- Identify new sales leads according to marketing plan and initiate dialogue with potential clients.

**Sales Administration**
- Ensure all bookings are entered onto the Kinetic booking system with full details included on the day the booking is taken.
- Co-ordinate hospitality orders and liaise with internal service delivery departments including residences.
- Review existing bookings to understand special requirements, VIPs and any potential issues that need bringing to the attention of operations.
- Raise invoices by the end of the week of the event.
- Maintain regular contact with the client in run up to event.
- Act as a nominated representative and customer liaison for internal and external clients before and during event.

**Financial**
- Prepare, process and balance financial transactions, including banking and reconciliation.
- Manage conference budgets and bespoke quotations, including pricing, to ensure agreed profit margins are achieved. Gain understanding of relevant cost base for hospitality, rooms and accommodation operations.
- Perform benchmarking exercises on a regular basis to inform annual price setting.
- Collate feedback data and analyse trends, passing on specific comments to relevant operations and escalating complaints to management.

**Health and Safety**
- The role holder will have health and safety responsibilities in terms of monitoring risk assessments submitted by external clients and advising (in tandem with HS&E Office) internal event clients.

**Oth