Job Description
Position Details
Campus Services
Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK
Full time starting salary is normally in the range £33,002 to £35,608 with potential progression once in post to £39,906
Grade: 6
Full Time, Permanent
Closing date: 11th December
UK travel may be required for this role.
Our offer to you
People are at the heart of what we are and do.
The University of Birmingham is proud to have been a part of the City of Birmingham and the wider region for over 100 years, and we are equally proud to be recognised as a leading global university. We want to attract talented people from across the city and beyond, support them to succeed, and celebrate their success.
We are committed to helping the people who work here to develop through our sector-leading Birmingham Professional programme which provides all professional services staff with development opportunities and the encouragement to reach their full potential. With almost 5,000 professional services jobs in a wide-range of functions in Edgbaston and in our campus in Dubai, there are plenty of opportunities for you to be able to develop your career at the University.
We believe there is no such thing as a typical member of staff and that diversity is a source of strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation, and debate. We warmly welcome people from all backgrounds and are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where diversity is at the heart of who and what we are, and how we work.
Supporting our people to achieve a healthy work/life balance is important both to our employees and to the success of the University and, depending on the role, we offer a variety of flexible working arrangements. We therefore welcome discussions on all forms of flexible working. In addition, you will receive a generous package of benefits including 40 days paid holiday a year, one paid day a year for volunteering, occupational sick pay, and a pension scheme. We also have three high quality subsidised day nurseries.
The University is situated in leafy Edgbaston and there are excellent transport links to our beautiful campus, including main bus routes and a train station on site. On campus we have a state-of-the-art sports centre with pool, shops, places to eat and drink, our own art gallery, museum and botanical gardens.
Find out more about the benefits of working for the University of Birmingham
Background
Campus Services is responsible for a very large range of services within the University including Conferences and Events, Student Accommodation, Catering, Sport and Fitness, Cleaning, and Waste Management, delivering the University’s post, Day Nurseries, Security and Emergency Response, and Winterbourne House & Garden.
The Senior Event Manager post is part of the Event Management Team that sits within Conferences & events (C&e). C&e sells and delivers a vast number of conferences and events to underpin academic work, support the student experience and drive additional income. As with any commercial revenue generating department within a university, C&e seeks to strike a balance between enhancing the student and staff experience and ensuring a financial return to the University.
Role Summary
This is an exciting opportunity for an exceptional Senior Event Manager to deliver a large portfolio of Academic Conferences and Events. The post holder will have a track record of extensive and successful event management and will lead on the planning and delivery of a number of conferences whether they are internal, external, commercial or non-commercial.
The Senior Event Manager will have strong event management, administrative and organisational skills and have the ability to manage a variety of tasks in an accurate and timely manner to meet event deadlines. The post holder will need to thrive in a pressured environment, be able to prioritise a heavy workload and have fantastic attention to detail. A thorough understanding of how to run an academic conference successfully is key.
The post holder will be required to make an important contribution to the delivery of the event management strategy, helping ensure effective budget and project management and a successful return on investment.
The post holder will need to work flexibly when events are held in the evening or at weekends. Although most events will be based on campus, the post holder may also be asked to support events at the Exchange, Edgbaston Park hotel or any other appropriate location.
Main Duties
- Project manage a variety of large conferences, whether they are internal, external, commercial or noncommercial.
- Work with academic colleagues and commercial clients to discuss and plan event requirements, proactively suggesting options and areas for increasing revenue.
- Proactively lead on event planning meetings with stakeholders and manage and advise on all aspects of events, including registration, abstract management, websites and sponsorship.
- Produce detailed project plans for events including timelines, legal obligations, staffing and budgets, ensuring allocated actions are met within set deadlines.
- If required, identify potential external venues that are suitable for the event and negotiate contracts and manage all details.
- Ensure all compliance documentation is submitted such as but not exclusive to risk assessments and Freedom of Speech.
- Coordinate staff/stakeholder briefings; handling client and delegate queries and troubleshooting on the day(s) of the event to ensure that all runs smoothly.
- Oversee the closure of events and carry out post-evaluation analysis and produce reports for event stakeholders.
- Ensure final invoice reflects the work delivered and ensure invoice is sent out within the agreed timelines.
- Ensure clients have approved additional charges and that written documentation is saved on the event management system.
- Responsible for maintaining an oversight of all allocated events and allocating events and duties to the Event Manager/s.
- Supporting the Deputy Head of Event Management and the Account Management Team with meeting the event management targets.
- Support the implementation of the event management strategy and ensure the team is engaged and aware of objectives.
- Maintain operational efficiency by ensuring procedures and service standards are followed by the team and service partners.
- Identify and implement process improvements where necessary. Flag cumbersome processes and inaccuracies.
- To Deputise for the Deputy Head of Conferences and Event Management as required.
- Work closely with marketing to brief in designs and ensure design consistency across all material, - digital or print.
- Work with all teams across Venues and Events to optimise the customer journey and experience.
Financial and Systems
- Ensure timely and accurate reporting.
- Develop, deploy and review key performance indicators and metrics to support informed decision making.
- Ensure that all administrative work is completed accurately and confirm to university financial rules and procedures.
- Ensure all systems are used correctly, making sure event details are captured correctly and charges loaded correctly.
- Identify and make recommendations for improvements for system processes and procedures.
- Monitor daily, weekly and monthly performance and to apply corrective actions as necessary to deliver on budgets targets.
- Manage event budgets for the client alerting managers to deviations from the agreed budget.
Relationships
- Line management of some of the team’s Event Managers, ensuring they are working at the expected standard.
- Lead, manage and develop the team using agreed standards, key performance indicators and objectives.
- Ensure staff engage with the performance development review process, ensuring staff attend regular meetings and participate in full team briefings as appropriate.
- Responsible for absence management and reporting any disciplinary matters and taking appropriate action.
- Ensure that staff have a strong knowledge of the University regulations, Codes of Practice and specific rules appropriate to their job role.
- Ensure staff are fully skilled in the use of relevant IT systems to support administration of events.
General
- Representing C&e at appropriate committees and other meetings, both internally and externally as required.
- Supporting new projects within the Campus Services as specified by the Deputy Head of Conferences and Event Management.
- Providing support for Deputy Head of Conferences and Event Management in promoting sustainability across the University.
- Promotes equality and values diversity, acting as a role model and fostering an inclusive working culture.
- Supports the University’s sustainability agenda through resource efficient working.
- Any other duties commensurate with the grade.
Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience
- Educated to Degree level in a relevant events-related area, or significant practical experience of working at a management level in event delivery in a substantial/complex organisation.
- Literacy and numeracy skills which may be evidenced by Mathematics and GCSE grade C or equivalent (or other equivalent level 2 qualifications).
- Strong communication skills are essential with an ability to listen to colleagues, identifying their event needs and propose innovative and creative solutions.
- Experience of working within a complex environment with diverse stakeholders.
- Excellent organisational, communication and relationship buildings skills with the ability to deal confidently with a range of internal and external stakeholders including senior management, academics and staff at all levels of the organisation and community.
- Proven project management and budgetary skills are essential.
- Demonstrably strong time and people management skills.
- Strong client facing and presentation skills.
- Ability to work across functional boundaries to negotiate, influence and gain commitment from colleagues.
- Willing to work unsociable hours as required by the nature of the work.
- Ability to resolve issues and complaints/concerns and make day to day decisions on the way forward on the full range of your duties.
- An understanding of EventsAir or a similar Event Management System is desirable, but not essential.
Dimensions
Roles at this level will require expertise and a detailed understanding of methods, systems and procedures in an administrative or professional area. You will either use specialist knowledge or have more of a planning/coordination/project role or a role which is supervisory in nature where you may manage a team doing similar kinds of work. You will have the opportunity to exercise a high degree of personal responsibility and initiative which you will use to resolve queries; you will use your judgement to deal with unforeseen problems and circumstances, all with limited guidance/supervision.
Core Competencies/transferable Skills
Working at this level you will be able to develop and successfully use the core competencies/transferable skills outlined in each of the areas shown below. As appropriate for the level, our Birmingham Professionals will take ownership for getting things done. You will be expected to be flexible as required in supporting your department and wider University.
Planning and organising
- prioritise and schedule work and resources to ensure on time and (where applicable) on budget delivery;
- set priorities and quality standards for a wide range of tasks and duties;
- manage a team of staff who are carrying out similar kinds of work;
- contribute to written documents, for example guidelines internal to the area, taking account of audience;
- operate with limited supervision as they will have considerable scope for initiative, within established work procedures.
Problem solving and decision making
- anticipate and identify issues in own area based on experience;
- make appropriate suggestions for improvements and implement these when agreed in own area;
- facilitate change, and articulate the implications and benefits of change to others;
- focus on determining short-term priorities of work area, and how to maximise quality, efficiency and continuity.
Organisational understanding
- quickly develop an understanding of their working area and how it contributes to the success of the University;
- display an interest in how the University operates beyond own working area; develop and share this knowledge with others.
Relationships and communication
- develop and maintain excellent working relationships in own area, and more widely as required for collaborative working opportunities;
- communicate clearly and openly with others both within and external to the University, and use a range of communication skills and strategies to gain commitment to a course of action;
- demonstrate collaborative working at all times, including with others outside the immediate work area.
Informal enquiries to Louise Walczak, email: l.walczak@bham.ac.uk
View our staff values and behaviours here
We believe there is no such thing as a 'typical' member of University of Birmingham staff and that diversity in its many forms is a strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation and debate at the heart of University life. We are committed to proactively addressing the barriers experienced by some groups in our community and are proud to hold Athena SWAN, Race Equality Charter and Disability Confident accreditations. We have an Equality Diversity and Inclusion Centre that focuses on continuously improving the University as a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone has the opportunity to succeed. We are also committed to sustainability, which is a key part of our strategy. You can find out more about our work to create a fairer university for everyone on our website . 
