Event and Operations Manager – The City Centre, City of London Corporation and New London Architecture

Salary: £31K + 2K Incentive

Contract: Permanent. Full Time

The role

The Event and Operations Manager will take the lead on operations and event management for The City Centre - an exhibition and events venue in the Guildhall managed by New London Architecture on behalf of the City of London Corporation. 

The Event and Operations Manager will work closely with the NLA Head of Events and Director, establishing efficient systems and strategies to ensure the smooth running of The City Centre whilst optimising business, delivering against targets and managing the on-site events and catering team. The right candidate will maintain facilities to the highest standard and embed key operational efficiencies at this leading City venue.

This role is a key position in the NLA events team with responsibility for ensuring the smooth delivery of high-quality events on behalf of a broad range of high-level clients and the NLA City programme. Strong relations and stakeholder management skills are essential as the role will act as a key liaison between NLA, the City of London Corporation and leading City businesses.

Background

NLA is London’s Centre for the Built Environment. Our purpose is to bring people together to shape a better city.

We are an independent, research-led, membership-funded, purpose-driven organisation with public galleries at The Building Centre in WC1 and at The City Centre in EC2 featuring large scale interactive models of central London.

Our actions are driven by our core values, which guide us to be Informed, Rigorous, Collaborative and Responsive in everything that we do.

The City Centre is the place to come to learn about and debate the built environment of the Square Mile and home to the City of London’s official architectural model. Through exhibitions, events and learning activity, The City Centre provides access to the City for professionals, the public and young people, helping to inform good decision-making and inspiring young people to engage with the built environment. It is managed by New London Architecture on behalf of the City of London Corporation.

An established programme of Exhibitions and Events has included art installations such as Rebecca Louise Law’s ‘City Garden’ and Linda Kitson’s iPad drawings as well as consultations for the City’s Transport, Security, Smart and Cultural Strategies. The programme enables a wide range of audiences to engage with the history, culture and future of the City of London and provides a hub for the built environment in which to network, debate and learn about City developments.

The Centre is available for private hire with the model and exhibitions providing a key focal point and USP for businesses across the City. We run our own catering offer and provide space for panel discussions, PechaKuchas, conferences, breakfast talks, board meetings and evening receptions.

Reports to

Head of Events

Main duties and responsibilities

Operations of The City Centre and NLA City events programme

• Line management of Events Assistant and Chef
• Financial management: adhering to budgets and monthly reporting of front of house and public gallery. Handling petty cash and credit card receipts.
• Opening and closing the Centre, managing any facilities issues and updates to the space
• Liaison with facilities teams at the City Corporation and tracking progress
• Attendance and contribution at weekly NLA events meeting and leading City Centre ops meetings
• Developing and maintaining internal and external client relationships
• Preparation of all NLA City event materials including badges, delegate lists and marketing materials etc.
• Liaison with speakers in the run up to NLA City events to collate presentations, biographies and head shots
• Front of house event management including registration, client management and checking event set up
• Post event administration including but not limited to event archiving, evaluation form administration and client liaison
• Coordination of model tours and bespoke walking tours
• Dealing with access requests and client deliveries
• Logging monthly stakeholder usage including financial information
• Monthly reporting of KPIs and deliverables
• Communications regarding upcoming events to the wider NLA team

Desirable Qualifications and Experience

Experience of handling finances and account logging. Xero accounting software

Experience of managing a catering operation or organising event catering

Experience of working for or with a local authority

Essential Skills

Excellent interpersonal and customer relations skills

Proven ability to manage and supervise a team

A clear grasp of the English language, using this to write clearly, concisely and professionally

Excellent organisational skills

Strong ability to follow tasks through to completion

Outstanding attention to detail

Ability to accurately report and interrogate finances

Essential Abilities

Good time management

The ability to prioritise effectively, managing a busy diary and varied workload to meet demands and deadlines – multi tasking

Personal Qualities

High personal integrity, honesty, good timekeeping, inter‐personal skills, ability to work under pressure, whilst remaining patient and calm when dealing with clients and colleagues

Confident working with a good degree of autonomy and a flexible approach in terms of working hours, changes and participation

Team player

Ability to take initiative; a self‐starter

Willingness and curiosity to learn

Friendly, sociable and enthusiastic!

Due to the nature of the job, working hours will vary and start and finish times will depend on timings of both NLA and client events. Additional working hours may be required and will be detailed and discussed with the line manager when required.

Commercial Events

• First point of contact for new bookings and enquiries via phone and email
• Proactive business development and upselling
• Conducting site visits for potential clients
• Issuing booking forms, menus, brochures, quotes and terms and conditions
• Diary management
• Daily liaison with Chef regarding changes in times/numbers
• Overseeing invoicing for all clients and stakeholders
• Management, training and scheduling of part time event team members
• Preparing event logistics; laptop, AV, flipcharts, room layout when required
• Acting as secondary fire marshal for the building after the Director
• Keeping marketing channels updated (Hire Space, Canvas, Tag Venues) and working on new marketing opportunities with the Head of Marketing

Person Specification

Essential Qualifications and Experience

• At least 2 years working in a similar role within an events environment
• A hospitality/operations or visitor service background
• Proven sales/business development record
• Experience of successfully leading a team
• Working knowledge of Microsoft packages including Word, Excel and Outlook