Overview
The Conference and Events Manager oversees the day‑to‑day work of the Conference and Events Office, making sure that all College events run smoothly and that commercial activities such as conferences, filming, and weddings are well managed and continue to grow.
A key part of the role is developing and supporting sales and marketing activity promoting the College’s facilities, building strong relationships with clients, and finding new opportunities that help increase commercial income.
Above all, the Manager ensures that every event is delivered to a high standard, creating a warm, professional experience for students, Fellows, alumni, visitors, and guests. Throughout, the postholder works in a way that supports and respects the College’s core academic purpose.
Key Responsibilities
Sales and Finance
* To assist the Head of Operations in the creation, review and control of the conference and event budget to maximise revenue. To control costs to deliver the contribution (profit) to the College – ensuring the activities of the Conference and Events office are in line with the College’s conference booking policy.
* To produce financial and written reports relating to conference operations, including assisting with a regular revenue and profit forecast.
* To assist the Head of Operations in creating proposals and managing contracts and payments for all commercial events. To be proactive in seeking and delivering new business to maximise income using the College’s facilities, as well as building loyalty with existing customers. To anticipate and identify potential areas of risk to the Domestic Bursar, in the first instance.
* To manage the College’s bed and breakfast operation to maximise occupancy and rates during periods of commercial activity; To negotiate with suppliers to get the best price and maintain expenditure within the agreed budget.
Marketing Strategy and Planning
* To support the Head of Operations in implementing a rolling three‑year marketing and business development strategy for conferencing and events.
* To develop and deliver annual marketing strategies to promote conferences and corporate events, ensuring strong market positioning and revenue growth.
* To conduct market research to identify target audiences, emerging industry trends, and competitor activity.
* To manage the creation of high-quality promotional materials, including brochures, event guides, digital assets, and event signage.
* To oversee and regularly update the events section of the organisation’s website, ensuring content is accurate and engaging.
* To plan and coordinate integrated digital campaigns, including email marketing, social media, paid advertising, and remarketing strategies.
* To monitor campaign performance through analytics and reporting, using insights to improve engagement, conversion rates, and overall effectiveness.
* To lead post-event communications, including follow-up emails, surveys, highlight videos, and press coverage.
* To produce comprehensive event performance reports covering attendance metrics.
* To analyse post-event insights and apply learnings to enhance future event marketing strategies.
Customer Service - Conference and External Events Business
* To be the main point of contact for conferences and events, supported by the Conference team.
* To provide a warm, friendly and professional welcome to the College, ensuring visitors are acknowledged quickly and helped in a timely fashion.
* To lead the teams to develop a culture focused on the importance of outstanding customer service.
* To work proactively to anticipate potential issues and to plan strategically for contingencies, communicating these effectively; To take due account of the ‘bigger picture’ i.e.. how the activities and interactions of a busy College operation relate to the conference operation. To understand and be sympathetic to the needs of the various constituents of the College community including the student body and the Fellowship.
* To work with and influence on an operational level, other Head of Departments during vacation periods, working with them to ensure delivery of high levels of service, standards and customer experience. To this end, to organise regular briefings and planning meetings as well as productive debrief meetings, establishing areas for future improvement and guidance as required.
Customer Service – Internal Events
* To oversee the delivery and coordination of internal events and ensure smooth communications between events team, housekeeping team and those booking events (other departments, Fellows, students (the college ball every two years).
Customer Service – General Duties
* To liaise effectively with a wide and varied flow of people at different levels. Professionalism, tact, and discretion are required as well as a warm and friendly approach.
* To deal effectively with unforeseen situations, responding calmly and with initiative to resolve issues in a timely manner. To exercise good judgement, with an understanding of when to escalate.
* To share information for planning purposes, communicating effectively, both externally and across the College as part of internal communications.
* To ensure that invoicing, internal costing and recharging processes work smoothly and in accordance with procedures agreed across all relevant departments (e.g. Finance, IT and Development Office).
* To be sensitive in handling complaints, demonstrating a responsive approach to resolve complaints quickly. To ensure relevant departments are made aware of relevant issues and actions taken, escalating where appropriate.
* To monitor feedback and continuously evaluate the service to identify opportunities and potential improvements.
General Duties
* To line manage the Conference and Events office team to support delivery of conferences and events, including internal events.
* To ensure smooth administration and communication of event information to relevant departments within the College.
* Oversee and implement operational processes to improve efficiency, productivity, and overall organisational performance.
* To oversee the organisation of all events internal and external.
* To identify areas for operational improvement and work alongside Domestic Bursar, Head of Operations and Heads of Department to bring about positive change.
* To work with the College Office to support Brasenose’s commitment to fair access for students and to support the primary academic objectives of the College.
* To ensure all personal data relating to individuals is kept confidential in accordance with the College policies and relevant data protection regulations.
* To be familiar with and work in accordance with all College’s policies and procedures.
* To represent the College at meetings and events relating to the Conference and Events operation.
* To participate in training and development required by the College.
* To be willing to undertake other reasonable duties.
Person Specification
Essential Criteria - Evidenced through either interview and/or application form
* Experience running a conference operation.
* Experience of accommodation management within the hotel sector.
* IT systems experience (room booking databases).
* Experience of budgeting and finance skills and understanding of regulatory environment.
* Ability to develop annual marketing strategies for conferences and events.
* Ability to create and manage high‑quality promotional materials.
* Excellent customer service and relationship building skills with an understanding of how to identify the needs of various groups.
* Ability to multi-task and prioritise effectively.
* Excellent planning and project management skills with excellent attention to detail.
* Ability to work under pressure and remain calm and courteous.
* Ability to identify opportunities and deliver new cost-effective ideas.
* Team leadership and management skills.
* Flexible approach to ensure the best standards and service delivery.
* Professionalism and excellent presentation skills, in person and in writing.
* Excellent ability with range of Microsoft packages skills (e.g. Excel and Word).
* Good understanding of current commercial operations and competitive market rates, including marketing on social media.
Desirable Criteria - Evidenced through either interview and/or application form
* Experience of working in a College environment.
* Good understanding of relevant statutory regulations including VAT.
* Ability to analyse campaign performance and improve results.
* Experience conducting market research and identifying industry trends.
* Experience maintaining and updating event website content and social media.
Terms and Conditions of Employment
Appointment: This is a permanent full-time post and there will be an initial probationary period of six months. The appointment will be conditional on verification of the successful candidate’s ‘Right to Work’ checks in advance of employment commencing and subject to the receipt of satisfactory references and medical clearance through the University’s Occupational Health Services.
Salary: Equivalent to Brasenose College Grade 6 salary scale, currently £35,851 to £41,806 per annum depending on experience. Advancement up the scale is on merit.
Hours of Working: Full time 35 hours each week. Standard hours are from 9 am until 5 pm, with an unpaid hour taken for lunch, Monday to Friday, although some flexibility is available. Evening and weekend work as required. The post holder must be contactable in emergencies and, when necessary, report to site. A willingness and ability to adopt a flexible approach to working hours and duties is necessary.
Benefits: The full range of benefits can be found on our Brasenose College 'Open Roles'.
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