Events Senior Associate

**Description**:
Are you skilled in delivering events to a high standard, enjoy balancing budget and delivery constraints?

**We're looking for a motivated individual with experience of event delivery across a range of different events to join the team on a permanent basis as Events Senior Associate.**

You'll be responsible for supporting the delivery and leadership of a portfolio of programmes in partnership with the Event Managers and wider Faculty, Planning and Events team.

You'll also be responsible for delivering both face-to-face and online events, ranging from short training sessions for 10 people to large, 5-day long conferences for hundreds of delegates which includes several VIPs.

**Who are Ambition Institute?**

A great teacher changes the future every day. Especially for children who have had a tough start in life, a teacher can be the critical factor in their success.

At Ambition Institute we help schools tackling educational disadvantage to keep getting better and help their teachers and school leaders to become more expert over time.

That’s how we’ll make sure every child gets a great education and the best possible start in life.
- **We train** teachers and leaders at all levels to get better at the things that make the biggest difference: what you teach, how you teach it, and how you create the conditions for schools to thrive.
- **We share** what works. Everyone can benefit from evidence of how great teaching and leadership can improve schools and change lives, so we connect people to the latest research and best practice.
- **We champion** every teacher and school leader’s potential to develop, as the driving force for sustainable school improvement.

**We would like you to**:

- Lead and support the delivery of a varied portfolio of online and face-to-face events, ensuring a consistently high-quality experience for all participants and facilitators.
- Manage and develop Events Associates, providing line management, task oversight and professional development.
- Plan and organise event logistics, including venue bookings, catering, travel arrangements and supplier relationships, while balancing budget and delivery constraints.
- Innovate and improve event processes by using feedback data, and maintain accurate records, including raising purchase orders and processing invoices using relevant systems

Working in a hybrid way, you’ll be attached to either our **Birmingham, London or Manchester**office and will report to Events Manager. In line with our current ways of working, you’ll be expected to be in the office at least 1 day a month, in addition to team days and this may be reviewed by Ambition.

**Skills, Knowledge and Experience**:

- Experience of event delivery across a range of different events, from small to large, multi-faceted events, with both online and face-to-face delivery.
- Demonstratable task management experience with the ability to lead and empower small teams, including holding people to account whilst supporting their development.
- Ability to use your own initiative to respond positively to change and/or to challenging situations with a desire to seek solutions and make improvements.
- Ability to manage your own complex workload with shifting priorities, using project management experience where appropriate.
- Ability to liaise successfully across departments, working in a ‘matrix’ style team.
- Excellent communication skills, tailoring and using different approaches relevant to different stakeholders.
- A commitment to very high-quality event delivery, coupled with a high attention to detail.
- Experience managing a budget, and you can deliver events on budget and use creative/innovative and cost-effective solutions to drive best value for money.
- Proficient at using a range of different software such as the Microsoft suite, Salesforce, and Zoom.
- Experience of building culture and ways of working within a team.

**What’s in it for you.?**:

- Competitive annual salary
- Professional development for all staff
- 25 days’ annual leave, plus bank holidays and 'winter shut down’ at the end of December/beginning of January
- Employer pension contribution of 11%
- Agile, hybrid working culture, so you can manage when and where you work
- Staff affinity networks that help keep equality, diversity and inclusion at the heart of our work
- Blind recruitment process to ensure equality and fairness in our hiring
- Enhanced maternity pay after a year’s service
- Shared parental leave package
- Access to free, confidential 24/7 wellbeing and support line
- Comfortable and collaborative workspaces in the city centres of Manchester, Birmingham and London
- Work-from-home technology package to support hybrid working
- Interest free season ticket / bike loans

We don’t expect the person we hire to have all of the following, but this should give you a sense of what would enable you to thrive in this role and in our organisation:

- You care deeply about educational disadvantage