Conference Manager

CONFERENCE MANAGER - FULL AND PART TIME ROLES AVAILABLE

Salary - from £30,000 pa (full time equivalent) subject to experience

Are you an experienced professional conference manager ready to join a talented team for your next career step?

If you can tick all these boxes, please contact us on personnel@conferencecollective.co.uk with your CV and a covering email detailing why you think you are ideal for the position, whether you are looking for a full time or part time role and your desired salary:

☑ I have extensive event management experience and a strong administrative background

☑ I am customer-focused with good attention to detail

☑ My CV is full of examples of successful organisational, communication, management and customer service skills in a similar role

☑ I can demonstrate that I am capable of successfully managing a variety of tasks in an accurate and timely manner to meet event deadlines

☑ I have managed all elements of the conference delivery process (ideally in the not for profit sector, but you can demonstrate how your experience fits with our needs)

☑ Good numeracy, written and verbal communications skills are simply part of my DNA

☑more than anything I am enthusiastic, conscientious and will be a committed team player with high standards, a proactive attitude and a hard-working approach.

JOB DESCRIPTION

The Conference Collective, based in Teddington, Middlesex, are experts in medical, scientific, research and academic event organisation as well as association and society management.

The Conference Manager will be the main point of contact for clients providing a full event management service to clients organising in-person, virtual and hybrid events.

The Conference Manager will be responsible for the efficient and effective delivery of an annual portfolio of conferences and exhibitions and be the first point of contact for a number of clients. You will need to be very customer orientated with excellent communication skills. Your strong administrative, organisational, leadership and customer service skills, along with proven experience in dealing with public and external stakeholders, in particular in the association, society and charity fields, will demonstrate you have the ability to deliver a variety of projects in an accurate and timely manner to meet event deadlines.

You will thrive in a pressured environment, effectively manage a varied workload and have attention to detail. You must have good written and verbal communication skills and have proven experience of managing in-person and online events. You will be skilled in Excel, Word, and Outlook and be comfortable learning new software packages. You will be responsible for directing other team members who support the delivery of our events. More than anything you need to be enthusiastic, conscientious and a reliable team player with a can-do attitude and a hardworking approach.

Our clients include the public, private and not-for-profit sectors and our events range from one-day events to residential international congresses.

This is a “hands-on” project management role that requires a focused and experienced individual who is capable of working autonomously.

Typical activities include:

• managing the overall delivery of in-person, virtual and hybrid events to ensure all activities are delivered on time and on budget
• liaising with clients to ascertain their precise event requirements and producing detailed timelines/production plans for events
• reporting regularly to the client to keep them informed of the progress of each project
• preparing and managing budgets on a regular basis, with the finance team
• overseeing and managing a conference administrator who administers delegate registrations and the abstract submission process
• working closely with Conference Programme Committees to prepare individual conference programmes and an abstract submission process
• managing VIP, speaker and chairperson liaison and participation
• venue sourcing, contracting and management of suitable conference venues and hotel accommodation
• venue sourcing, contracting and management of suitable venues and programmes for social networking events
• sourcing, contracting and management of AV production teams for smooth delivery of in-person, online and hybrid events
• coordinating all suppliers and contractors for the smooth delivery of events, including adherence to insurance, legal and health and safety obligations
• briefing the design team on website requirements and populating and maintaining website content
• liaising with clients and designers to create event branding and organising digital and print production of collateral for events
• managing a marketing plan to promote the event through a variety of media
• preparing a prospectus and selling sponsorship/stand/exhibition space to potential exhibitors/partners
• providing a secretariat service for conference committees, producing agendas, minutes and follow-up actions
• coordinating staffing requirements and staff briefings
• overseeing set-up, on-site management and breakdown of events
• preparing a post-event report and evaluation (data analysis and producing reports for event stakeholders)

Education and experience

The successful candidate is likely to possess a high level of academic achievement, with a degree in events management, business administration, marketing, leisure and tourism management or experience in a similar industry. A minimum of three years relevant experience is required.

Skills and interests

Candidates for this post need to:

• keep oversight of the delivery of our conference services for your events
• have experience of budgeting and financial management
• assist the management team with the allocation of staff to events
• be able to manage a small team including a conference administrator and temporary event staff
• be able to establish productive relationships with people at all levels
• be able to demonstrate excellent organisational skills
• have excellent time management and delegation skills
• have good communication and presentation skills
• gather and interpret information to support event marketing
• be commercially aware and customer-focused
• have a positive and adaptable approach to problem solving
• be innovative and creative to distinguish events from the competition
• have knowledge of sales, marketing or copywriting
• be enthusiastic and self-motivated
• possess an eye for detail
• work well under pressure, ensuring the smooth and efficient running of each event
• Carry out additional duties from time to time as deemed appropriate by the Operations Manager

Hours/Environment

The standard office hours of work are 09.00 -17.30 from Monday to Friday with one hour for lunch. Occasionally, longer hours may be required, particularly in the run up to events when it is necessary to meet deadlines.

The Conference Manager’s hours of work are either 37.5 hours/week full time or 22.5 hours/week split over 3 days. Weekend and evening work may also be necessary and overnight stays away from home will be required for residential conferences but plenty of notice is provided in these cases.

The job description describes the principal purpose and main elements of the job. It is a guide to the nature and main duties of the job as they exist currently, but it is not intended as a wholly comprehensive or permanent schedule.

This is primarily an office-based role located at our offices in Teddington. Hybrid working may be considered after a qualifying period.

Line Management

The Conference Manager will report to the Operations Manager or their designate who will be responsible for ensuring the allocation of work.