Deputy Head of Delegate Services, Ft Live

**About Us**: The Financial Times is one of the world's leading news organisations, globally recognised for its authority, integrity and accuracy, with a mission to deliver quality information and services worldwide. At the FT, curiosity thrives and ambitious thinking is rewarded. Here, you're given the chance to reach millions, create work that matters and deliver impartial journalism in a polarised world. In our warm, collaborative culture, you'll connect with a diverse community of experts who support your growth, career aspirations and wellbeing. Your future at the FT will be filled with opportunities that challenge and inspire you. With no fixed path, you'll discover new skills and forge a career that can take you anywhere. Build a newsworthy career at the FT. **Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion**: We believe in the power of unique perspectives and want all voices in our organisation to be heard, respected and valued. An encouraging workplace is one where employees feel they can be themselves and operate to their full potential. We are committed to removing barriers for everyone, with a focus on addressing those faced by underrepresented groups. **The Role**: As the **Deputy Head of Delegate Services, Acquisition & Customer Services** at FT Live, you will support the Head of Delegate Services in leading a team of delegate services managers for both paid and VIP categories. This role is pivotal in helping shape the sales approach for our event propositions, while also contributing to the development of our team, processes, and strategies. You will ensure that FT Live's delegate revenue targets and VIP recruitment objectives are achieved, while also maintaining the high standard of customer service encouraged from the Financial Times. Your role will be integral to the success of FT Live's **Premium Experiences** strategy, assisting in driving improvements across the delegate services team and ensuring operational excellence. **Key Responsibilities**: Support the Head of Delegate Services in building a high-performing delegate acquisition and customer services function aligned with FT Live's Premium Experiences strategy. Oversee delegate services operations across EMEA, US, and Asia, and provide insights into each market's unique challenges. Assist the Head in guiding the team towards achieving annual delegate revenue targets set by senior management. Collaborate with FT Live departments to ensure VIP audience requirements are met, guaranteeing the right quality and quantity of attendees at each event. Serve as the primary contact for delegates, addressing FAQs, troubleshooting, and supporting the registration and attendance processes. Manage event guest lists accurately, ensuring GDPR/ePrivacy compliance when distributing information. Establish and maintain clear processes across delegate services and acquisition, ensuring team-wide consistency and high standards. Partner with the Strategic Marketing team to build targeted prospect lists that improve conversion rates. Support team recruitment, training, and coaching to maintain and uphold service standards. Ensure the team maximises the use of CRM systems (e.g., Salesforce) to record activities accurately and keep pipelines current. Assist in generating regular sales reports, forecasts, and budgets in line with established KPIs. Act as a secondary critical issue point for customer complaints, ensuring prompt and effective resolution. Maintain GDPR and ePrivacy compliance, ensuring secure handling and sharing of customer data. **Required Skills and Experience**: Experience supporting Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Proven experience managing staff across different time zones Background in delegate sales Familiarity with CRM systems such as Salesforce, Aventri, Pure, PeopleStage, and LinkedIn for reporting and revenue generation Experience delivering premium "on-the-day" experiences for high-value delegates - Application Closing Date: 14 November 2024 (Thursday), 5pm GMT_ **What's in it for You?**: Our benefits vary by location, but we are committed to providing best-in-class perks across all our offices. These include generous annual leave, medical cover, inclusive parental leave packages, subsidised gym memberships, and opportunities to give back to the community. Full details of our benefits are available here. We've embraced a hybrid working model that promotes flexibility, including remote work options. We will support specific flexibility requests for all roles where feasible. **Accessibility**: LI-KF1