JOB TITLE: Venue Hire Manager
HOURS: Full Time
SALARY: £30,000-£35,000 pa depending on experience
LOCATION: JW3, London NW3
REPORTING TO: Chief Revenue Officer (CRO)
ANNUAL LEAVE: 20 days plus statutory Bank Holidays and Jewish Holidays
About JW3
JW3 Trust runs JW3, a non-profit Jewish Community Centre and arts venue based in London NW3, open to all regardless of race, religion, belief, gender, sexuality, ability or age. We are a registered charity and a company limited by guarantee. We opened our doors in October 2013 and usually receive over 200,000 visits each year to our purpose built venue that houses a cinema, bar, café, Nursery, and over a dozen spaces where a year-round programme of over 5,000 activities takes place, including adult education, language classes, theatre, music performances, youth programmes, after-school activities, food & drink workshops and demonstrations, parties, ‘big name’ talks and debates, films, family programmes, a Food Bank and more.
Our Vision is of a vibrant, diverse, unified British-Jewish community, inspired by and engaged with Jewish arts, culture, learning and life. Our Mission is to increase the quality, variety and volume of Jewish conversation in London and beyond. We seek to make an impact by increasing the range and number of Jewish people engaged with positive Jewish experiences and expressions of Jewish life; bringing greater numbers of Jews into positive contact with other types of Jewish people across divides, strengthening sense of community; and fostering closer relationships between Jewish people and other communities, breaking down barriers.
Purpose of Post
To maximise venue hire income with responsibility for all aspects of hire events and functions at JW3. You will be self-motivated with a strong client services background, excellent communication skills, with the ability to work with a wide range of clientele, a strong eye for organisational detail, systems and relish working to financial sales targets.
Principle Duties
- Venue Hire Management – Lead for all hire enquiries & bookings from initial conversations through to event delivery and after-care.
- Sales & Business Development – Proactively drive sales, convert enquiries and reach budgeted targets, working to develop opportunities with current, returning & new prospect clientele. To be conversant with the wider sector, benchmarking against competitor spaces, engaged with external networks and leading on promotion & marketing opportunities.
- Administration – lead and maintain all enquiries & bookings in the venue management system (Artifax), communication with internal colleagues to optimise event delivery before, during and after, and develop & maintain excellent monitoring & evaluation reporting systems.
- Customer Service – provide exceptional service to all event hirers and suppliers with a professional, efficient and welcoming attitude.
Responsibilities
Venue Hire & Event Management
- Responsibility for all venue hires from enquiry to bookings to on-the-day to after care
- Follow up all enquiries, proactively and promptly.
- Lead client site visits around JW3
- Negotiate & contract venue hire events including pre-quotations, contract agreements, invoicing, operation scheduling.
- Ongoing client contact in the lead up to an event through to successful completion, with appropriate level of ‘hand-holding’ through the event process.
- Responsible for planning, delivering and implementation of all hire events meeting the needs and requests of clients within the context of JW3
- Support clients on their ‘hire journey’ with JW3 - how to optimise a space, the opportunities a space offers, and manage expectations to pre-empt any future client concerns
Administration
- Use venue management system (Artifax) for all scheduling and revenue forecasting
- Ensure excellent communication with all colleagues across departments to ensure smooth event procedures and positive client outcomes – including Front of House, Programming, Operations, Building Manager, Technical Production, Finance & Resources.
- To be fully conversant and proactive with JW3 health and safety protocols including evacuation, including outside of office hours
- Lead on distribution of weekly function sheets to Heads of Departments
- Responsible for event hirer billing with Finance department
- Ensure all GDPR policies are upheld.
- Develop and maintain systems for monitoring, analysis and evaluation of hire events in context of budget targets and for improving customer service and repeat business.
- Establish best practice procedures and protocol for wide range of clients: private, corporate, charity
Sales & Business Development
- Proactively research and reach-out to new business hire opportunities
- Be conversant with competitor offers and to regularly benchmark JW3 pricing.
- Proactively engage and participate in networks within the events industry and community to promote JW3 hire event opportunities
- Work to agreed enquiry : conversion rate as agreed with CRO
- Lead and develop marketing platforms for JW3 hires events including on social media, third party websites, advertising, venue fairs, press & PR.
- Explore new creative opportunities with the CRO to optimise use of space around the venue, inside/outside.
- Develop excellent supplier relationships e.g. event planners, caterers – to build and promote opportunities to hire spaces at JW3.
- Negotiate and develop a beneficial ‘preferred suppliers’ list for JW3.
Other Responsibilities
- Attend all relevant staff meetings, supervisions, training days etc
- Act as an ambassador/ point of contact, enhancing the reputation of JW3 in an appropriate and professional manner.
- Develop and maintain detailed knowledge and information on JW3 services, projects and organisational priorities.
- Undertake other reasonable duties as required by you line manager or other member of the Senior Leadership Team (SLT).
- In addition, undertake any other duty or responsibilities that may reasonably be allocated by the Board of Trustees or SLT. It is a requirement of the organisation that all staff work in a flexible manner compatible with their jobs and in line with the objectives JW3 must fulfil. Please note that the job description for this position may be reviewed and amended to incorporate the future needs of the department and the organisation.
Personal Specification
Essential
- Minimum of 5 years event management delivery, evidenced by examples
- Confident approach to working with in a high pressured busy environment with multiple demands on your time
- Experience of developing pro-active sales leads, and up-selling additional opportunities
- Friendly professional approach & positive, enthusiastic attitude
- Evidence of working with a wide range of clientele appropriate to JW3 building strong empathetic relationships
- Evidence of excellent customer service and experience of dealing with challenging and complex events
- Excellent communication, listening, diplomacy and problem-solving skills
- Evidence of working with inter-departmental teams to achieve shared objectives
- High level of written and verbal English communication skills
- Strong negotiation skills both financial and verbal
- Highly organised with initiative and good time management efficiency
- Evidence of systems and procedures created to support a time-pressured environment, supported by use of IT systems
- Excellent attention to detail
- Flexible approach and team-spirited supporting and working with colleagues across JW3
- Pro-active ‘can-do’ problem solving attitude
Desirable
- Working in an arts & culture / community venue environment
- Working in a customer-service led role
- Experience of using Artifax (venue management system) and Spektrix (Box Office system)
- A demonstrable personal interest in arts, culture and Jewish life
Personal Qualities
- Commitment to furthering JW3’s vision and goals
- Has a proactive and flexible approach to work
- Has passion, drive, commitment and integrity
- Has a natural ability to effectively work across team and form positive relationships
All staff must wholeheartedly support JW3’s mission, vision, values and guiding principles. A belief in the importance of inclusivity and working cross-communally with a commitment to high quality Jewish engagement, arts and culture and community is critical.
Conditions of Service
- This post will include out of office duties such as evening meetings, Sundays and events. These are part of your core commitment to JW3.
- There will be no overtime payments, but time off in lieu of significant extra working hours may be taken
- You will be able to take 20 days annual leave plus statutory public holidays and Jewish holidays
- You will be expected to actively participate in the implementation of JW3’s policies with regard to equal opportunities, safeguarding and health & safety
- The job description outlines the duties required of this post to indicate the level of responsibility. It is not a comprehensive or exclusive list and duties may be varied from time to time which do not change the general character of the job or the level of responsibility outlined.
Detailed terms and conditions will be outlined in the staff handbook.
To apply, please send your cover letter and CV to recruitment@jw3.org.uk
Further information can be found here - https://www.jw3.org.uk/jobs-jw3