Meeting Planner

**BCD Meetings & Events - Sourcing Manager**

**About Us**:
**At** **BCD Meetings & Events (BCD M&E),** we provide more than meeting and event planning services: we create connections that inspire, motivate, and change behaviour for our customers. As the world’s most trusted and innovative meetings and events agency, BCD M&E cultivates a culture of people, passion and purpose to drive business forward.

Headquartered in Chicago, with locations in 50+ countries across the world, BCD M&E’s team of 1,500+ people are committed to sustainability and driving success for our customers, our business, and ourselves. In the UK we have a team of around 300 located across four BCD offices or are remote based.

While we can’t guarantee every day will be the best (who can?), we can promise a community of people who genuinely care and lead with empathy, a flexible workplace with awesome perks and challenging work that means something.

**About the role**:
We have a new opportunity for a** Sourcing** **Manager** to join us. In this role you will be joining a client dedicated team and you will act as a primary contact for our clients UK & EMEA Stakeholders for their meeting and event enquiries. You will have a breadth of experience of sourcing, negotiating and contracting UK and international hotels and venues, used to be comfortable in dealing with clients and suppliers at all levels across a variety of communication styles. You will also be comfortable is supporting your stakeholders on their planning for their events which may require additional services, delegate registration and/or budget creation. You thrive on working independently, yet you know when to call on your US team colleagues or your wider UK team for collaboration, ideas and support.

**As a Sourcing Manager you will**:

- Deliver an innovative, quality, venue find (sourcing) service and/or meeting planning service that consistently exceeds client’s expectations encompassing all MICE categories.
- To ensure relevant customer service levels are understood and consistently met or exceeded and to be suitably conversant in all relevant systems, and processes in line with customer requirements
- Continually develop excellent and venue destination knowledge through building positive relationships with key supplier contracts, attending familiarisation visits, destination workshops and webinars.
- Consult with Client during research of venues ensuring client requirements are met for meeting specifications, prepare availability grids and present hotel options to client within agreed meetings policy.
- Prepare estimated budgets and communicate budgetary information to your stakeholder throughout the purchasing process including final reconciliation after the event has taken place in client’s preferred meeting tool.
- Utilise preferred suppliers for quality of service, minimize risk and maximum pricing advantage.
- On specific assigned enquiries you will also provide additional planning support which will include being the primary main contact with client providing consultative approach to planning, ensuring the client has identified clear objectives for the outcome of the meeting, and determine steps to ensure these objectives are achieved.
- On specific assigned enquiries you will also be the primary contact for Client registration and reporting requirements.

**What you bring**:

- Excellent communication skills along with a calm, positive and collaborative approach.
- Knowledge of meeting & event venues in the UK and EMEA and overseas.
- End to end event management experience in the UK, EMEA and overseas.
- MS Office skills including Excel, you will also have experience of entering and extracting data from databases.
- Flexible and proactive approach to work, able to juggle multiple priorities and projects with resilience under pressure with an ability and willingness, along with the ability to adapt to change.
- Meticulous attention to detail and accuracy.
- Proficient in Microsoft Office suite (e.g., Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Forms).

**You may also have**:

- Strong budget management experience - from creation to event / meeting reconciliation.
- Experience of using meeting technology tool (Cvent) for sourcing, budget creation / reconciliation and registration - however training can be provided.
- European language.
- Event Management degree.

**Our Benefits for this role**:

- 25 days holiday plus bank holidays (additional days awarded for long service)
- Birthday day
- Private Healthcare
- Travel Insurance (Personal and Business)
- Travel & hotel, Gym & Fitness discounts

Along with the usual - Company Pension, Life Assurance, Company sick pay

**You should know**:

- This a UK based role which can be hybrid or fully remote working
- Our standard working hours are 9:00 AM -5:30 PM with an hour break
- **_You must have the right to live and work in the UK for this role_**

**How to Apply**:
Click the “Apply” icon and upload your CV.

LI-KW1

ME

L