Exhibition Manager (P/T)
Duration: (Initial) fixed term contract, starting in early June through to the end of September 2026.
Hours: Part-time, flexible hours which will be variable across the duration of the contract, increasing in the weeks leading into and over the actual event delivery period.
Current planning is based on 20 days / 150 hours pre & post-production, plus time on site.
Work:Fully remote, with travel to San Diego at event time. Would suit UK or CA based candidate
Contract: Self-employed freelance contract preferred.
The Role
We seek a highly-organised Exhibition Manager to support our September 2026 event in San Diego, California: brightonSEO San Diego.
You will sit within the Operations Team, reporting to the Head of Ops, and working closely with the San Diego Event Operations Manager, Head of Sponsor Sales and Event Project Manager.
You will work to an existing planning time-line and exhibition management work-flow, providing excellent customer service to our exhibitors, liaising with our General Service Contractor and other key suppliers throughout the pre-production phase of the project. You will maintain accurate and well structured spreadsheets, update Expo plans, and track costs throughout.
You will travel with the event team in September to the Convention Centre and oversee the Exhibition element of the 2026 event, from build day, through event, and get-out.
Key areas of responsibility:
* Exhibition planning & administration
Solid planning, chasing details and information, and monitoring and updating of our sponsor management system https://www.ffair.io/, as well as using Asana, and Google suite planning documents, to ensure the event team remains up to date.
* Liaison with our Exhibitors
Walking the line between providing good customer service for our valued exhibitors, and being firm on requirements and ordering deadlines to ensure a smooth process.
* Liaison with our General Service Contractor (GSC)
As a key partner for a successful event, the GSC will install custom booths, along with critical event equipment, signage and event branding for us as Organisers.
* Liaison with Event Ops Manager, Head of Ops, and other internal stakeholders
Coherent event planning with joined up schedules, staffing and equipment requirements is critical to a successful experience on site.
* Production of event documentation
You will need to produce a range of schedules, order lists and documentation. You keep the Expo plan up to date and ensure booth numbers are consistent across all documentation.
* Liaison with third party vendors
To ensure actual orders for exhibition peripherals and services are cross-checked with Exhibitor expectation, and to plan and manage activity on site.
* Financial tracking & budgeting
Tracking Exhibitor orders to ensure smooth service provision, as well as clear and comprehensive reporting on this revenue stream.
* Onsite management and support
Support Exhibitors during the build day to ensure that their orders with third party vendors are fulfilled, and troubleshooting any issues which arise across the 2 days of the event.
* Additional Operations support
Naturally as you get up to speed, other Expo related tasks and responsibilities are likely to emerge.
Contract timeline and time:
June
You will come onboard in early June, picking up on the internal planning to date.
July, August, September
You will track, prompt, chase and cross-check orders and requirements across the stakeholders as the plans develop and the workload increases into July, August and early September.
You will finalise plans schedules, cross-check order lists and spot any gaps leading into our days on site in mid-Sept.
14/15/16 Sept
You will join the team on site for the event; a one day build day, followed by two live event days and a get-out on the evening of the second day. With travel as required on either end.
Late Sept
The contract will conclude with an evaluation of the process and final budget reconciliation in late Sept, early Oct.
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As is the nature of event work, it is challenging to be precise about the spread of the work of this contract, and work will be flexible and spread unevenly across the cycle.
Regular slots of availability across the working week is a better fit to our patterns of working than pre-prescribed constrained days per week, especially as we get into the busy August and early September period.
Planning has been based on a pre and post production work period of 20 days / 150 hours, plus the onsite time on top. This might break down along the lines of;
* 1 day / 7.5 hours a week in June to receive a handover of planning and platforms to date, meet the key parties.
* 1 day / 7.5 hours a week in July as some early exhibitors come online, possibly increasing to;
* 1-2 days (7.5-15 hours) a week in August and early September as the volume of planning work / Exhibitors increases.
* The onsite period will be three live onsite days 14/15/16 Sept, plus travel either side (if relevant)
* 2-3 days post event to wrap things up.
About Rough Agenda
Rough Agenda produces:
brightonSEO UK is the largest search marketing event in the World. It takes place twice a year, usually in Spring and Autumn, and the event week programme is centred on three days of training, conference and exhibition events in the Brighton Centre.
brightonSEO San Diego takes place annually in September, with a move to a new venue at the San Diego Convention Centre for our 2026 event.
Hero Conf is integrated into the brightonSEO events in the spring in the UK, and the US event in September.
Alongside our events we run a busy programme of training courses, parties, events and activities which expand out to multiple hotels, bars, and event spaces across San Diego. For each event we welcome over 150 speakers, 70+ sponsor partners, and more than 2500 delegates who travel from all over the US and further afield.
More information about our events can be found on the brightonSEO website alongside a brightonSEO San Diego 2025 photograph gallery.
Working with Rough Agenda
Rough Agenda works as a fully remote team with a strong ethos of autonomous working.
This means that as long as you are delivering your work, and have shared when you plan to be working and available, no-one will be monitoring exactly when you are logging on and off, and you will be able to work flexibility around other commitments. You will be expected to record and report on where your time is spent using Toggl, or equivalent.
We have found that for this to work, it is essential that you are an excellent self-starter, motivated to learn quickly, happy to crack on under your own steam, and assured enough to ask for extra support from the team when you need it.
It is also important that you are happy to work remotely from your colleagues, with no central office. There isn’t one.
Person specification:Essential:
* A solid demonstrable background and experience in the management and coordination of Exhibitions / trade-shows throughout the whole project cycle; pre-production planning and scheduling, through to onsite delivery, and post-event loose ends and budget reconciliation.
* Very strong Project Management and Administration skills. You will be calm, highly-organised, and able to accommodate and prioritise a workload which can increase significantly towards event time.
* Proven experience of working with a General Service Contractor (GSC) as a key delivery partner. The ability to build a constructive working relationship here in order to maximise the value of their contribution to the event.
* Personable. You will need to work across multiple areas of Rough Agenda to ensure things are running smoothly and you are getting the information you need, as well as building positive and constructive relationships with exhibitors and the full range of external suppliers and vendors.
* You will thrive in the onsite environment. Regardless of the quality of the planning, the build day on site is invariably a very busy and long day, with exhibitors looking to you to resolve their issues.
* Strong digital first working style. Comfortable working across a range of digital platforms and software solutions. Specifically GSuite (docs, sheets, slides, draw Drive etc), Asana, Xero, FFAIR. You will need to be able to work with existing systems and workflows in order to track, record and report on a lot of detailed information.
* Good availability throughout the August period when the detailed planning for brightonSEO San Diego goes up a gear, and some of the Rough Agenda team are juggling school summer holidays.
* Suitable capacity throughout the planning cycle as outlined above, with the ability and flexibility to check in frequently throughout the working week.
* Eligibility to travel to the US to be onsite for the event (via ESTA or B1 Visa, or equivalent if required)
Desireable:
* Experience of working on ConfEx events in the USA.
* Experience and understanding of the implications and best working practices when working in a fully unionised venue in the USA,
* The means and skills to draw scaled Exhibition plans.
* Experience of working with a Exhibition Management platform, in an absolute ideal world: FFAIR
* Experience (and enjoyment of!) Asana as a task management system.
* Availability to attend our UK event in Spring in Brighton as a chance to get a sense of our event and meet the team in person. Dates: 29th 30th April and 1st May.
Applying & Anticipated Timeline
Please send a covering letter or email (no longer than one side A4 please), along with your CV and/or any pertinent links to LinkedIn or online portfolios etc to kelvin@roughagenda.com with Expo Manager Job in the subject line.
Shortlisting and interviewing will take place throughout December, and we are looking to appoint by the end of 2025.
Applications will remain open until December 5th, however, we may appoint a candidate prior to this date, so early applications are encouraged.