Role Purpose
Southwark Cathedral has been a place of Christian worship for over 1400 years. Now it stands on the vibrant and exciting regenerated south bank of the Thames surrounded by cultural venues such as Tate Modern, Shakespeare’s Globe and Borough Market, the offices of major companies as well as schools and diverse residential communities. It is an inclusive Christian community that offers a welcome to all.
The Cathedral’s mission, ministry and musical tradition are core to its life as a Cathedral and a parish church serving the community. It also relies on the valuable financial contribution made by its income generating activities such as its shop, café, conference rooms, corporate events and concerts. It is a very busy place, attracting over 200,000 visitors a year to the Cathedral, its churchyard and medieval herb garden. The Cathedral relies on a small but dedicated team to be inclusive and welcoming to all.
The role is a key one to ensure Southwark Cathedral is able to:
* Promote the Cathedral’s image and reputation as a place of inclusive welcome
* Trade profitably
The Events & Enterprises Assistant will be expected to work within the diverse and inclusive ethos of Southwark Cathedral. They should be able to be flexible and creative in maximising the opportunities for commercial income alongside the worshipping and community life of the Cathedral. The post-holder will also be expected to work closely with staff and volunteers from all areas of Cathedral life. Role Overview
The Events & Enterprises Assistant is an exciting role offering both administrative and practical support to the Cathedral and its trading company Southwark Cathedral Enterprises Limited (SCEL). The post-holder will provide key administrative support to the COO, who is Company Secretary of SCEL, as well as giving broad practical support to the Head of Events to help deliver the special events and commercial meeting-room business. The post-holder will provide support to the Head of Events in the delivery of a colourful programme of special events in the Cathedral space. Each year we hold a number of private parties, dinners and fundraising events as well as concerts, memorial events and carol services. The Head of Events holds the responsibility for converting special event enquiries into confirmed visits, relationship management and this post will share event management ‘on the day’, to ensure the smooth and safe delivery of often complex large-scale events. Most often working one year ahead of the event, the post-holder will provide administrative and operational support for preparations and the delivery of the events by completion of operational notes, RAMS or similar. Additionally, the Events & Enterprises Assistant will be responsible for the effective day-to-day management of commercial bookings for the Cathedral’s meeting rooms. Our conference business, comprising three main meeting rooms of varying sizes, has a wide client base drawn from the commercial, government, charity and national health sectors and many of the bookings are repeat business. The meeting rooms have an excellent reputation and are popular with clients and for managing the clients’ experience from initial enquiry to final invoice. The post-holder will provide a welcome to clients on arrival, ensuring that their room, IT and catering specifications have been met and manage their requirements during their stay. They will also work closely with the Marketing & Communications Manager on communications campaigns which are relevant to the Cathedral’s conference and special events business activity. The post-holder will support the work of the Board of Enterprises by organising the annual schedule of Board meetings – booking meeting rooms, setting up technology and refreshments on the day, attending and minuting meetings and acting as a point of contact for members of the Board. They will also support the Cathedral’s COO in their role as Company Secretary of SCEL - assisting them with correspondence, meeting arrangements, collation of papers and drafting reports for meetings and liaising where necessary with the finance team. Principal Tasks
Support for Commercial & Special Events
* Support the Head of Events to ensure that all necessary paperwork is put in place for events including confirmations, contracts, production check lists, PRS returns & invoices;
* Work with the Head of Property and Facilities Manager to obtain satisfactory Risk Assessments and Method Statements from suppliers, contractors and external organizations, and Health & Safety documents;
* Submit information to the Finance teams to raise appropriate invoices;
* Support the Head of Events and the Duty Verger team in on-boarding a variety of service providers parking spaces on arrival on the day;
* Check back-of-house room layout, present door keys to the client and secure catering from the catering partner as necessary;
* Assist the Head of Events with keeping records and up-to-date data in-putting Excel spreadsheets - showing income generation and occupancy for commercial and special events across each year;
* Work with Head Steward and external contractors for porterage, security and stewards as appropriate.
Commercial Meeting Room Bookings Management of each commercial room booking from initial request to final invoice:
* Raise booking forms and arrange client requirements;
* Liaise with the Café operator or external caterers on clients’ catering requirements and liaise with the Site Assistant to arrange room layouts;
* Attend planning meetings where necessary for multi-day meeting room bookings;
* Provide a welcome to clients and ensure the health & safety briefing has been carried out; liaise with the Facilities Manager to ensure this takes place in the post-holder’s absence;
* Support hybrid events with a good knowledge of the Cathedral’s technology;
* Ensure all client requirements are in place and take effective action to remedy omissions as quickly and efficiently as possible;
* Ensure all financial information is received by the Finance Department in a timely manner to ensure accurate and prompt client invoicing and payment;
* Ensure the meeting rooms’ professional appearance is maintained at all times and liaise with the Property Department on facilities management issues and the Site Assistant on conference room set-up;
* Procure replacement equipment and furniture when required;
* Produce fortnightly sales reports on conference business.
Promotion
* Work closely with the Head of Events to support the achievement of the income budget set annually for the meeting rooms and large-scale commercial events by the SCEL Board of Directors and ensure monthly targets are met;
* Work with the Head of Events, COO and CFO on annual review of meeting room charges and contribute to setting on annual budgets and sales targets;
* With the support of the Head of Events, maximise the number of enquiries that are converted from enquiry to secure sale, using a range of client incentives as appropriate, eg. seasonal discounts to drive business enquiries;
* Develop and maintain relationships with existing key accounts, not-for-profits, NHS and regulators;
* Manage and refresh the client database;
* Show potential clients around the meeting rooms and explain charges and booking policy.
Marketing
* Work closely with the Marketing & Communications Manager on communications campaigns and the creation of materials to support the conference business & large-scale events;
* Represent the team with the Head of Events or on occasion solo at relevant marketing events and trade fairs (such as Bankside Venues, Unique Venues of London) to promote the meeting rooms to new markets;
* Develop further existing data analytics and identify patterns of business/growth for the meeting room budget line;
* Regularly request, collate and act upon customer feedback.
Administration for the Executive Director & SCEL Board Provide administrative support to the Board of Enterprises:
* Organise the schedule of SCEL Board meetings and arrangements for the AGM, including diarising meetings, creating Zoom links and keeping members informed of any changes to meeting times;
* In coordination with the Executive Director, collate the relevant papers and circulate them to the Board in advance of meetings;
* Assist the Executive Director and Head of Events with the drafting of reports and other documents for SCEL-related matters;
* Provide IT support and refreshments for SCEL Board meetings (usually in office hours);
* Attend and minute SCEL Board meetings;
* Act as the primary administrator and a point of contact for Board members.
Cathedral Diary
* Ensure all changes to the diary are made quickly and communicated to all relevant parties;
* Balance the needs of competing groups to ensure the Cathedral space is used efficiently and the profitability is maintained.
General
* Attend weekly Diary Meeting;
* Attend regular meetings with the catering partner and work closely with them to ensure client catering requirements are satisfied;
* Attend weekly meetings with the Site Assistant and/or Property Team representatives to discuss forthcoming room layout requirements;
* Attend meetings of SCE Ltd Board of Directors on a regular basis and take minutes;
* Attend and participate in annual performance reviews.
Person Specification
* Confident in dealing with problems and identifying effective solutions quickly;
* Experience in successfully managing client relationships to ensure customer satisfaction;
* An eye for detail to ensure meeting room facilities are maintained to the highest standards;
* Able to deal appropriately with a varied client base;
* Able to work under pressure;
* Excellent attention to detail particularly in administrative tasks;
* Experience of working in an office setting;
* Experience supporting formal meetings through report writing, collating papers and taking minutes desirable;
* Competent in the use of Microsoft Office applications, especially Outlook, Word and Excel and online diaries;
* Experience of marketing or digital advertising desirable;
* Aptitude working to robust commercial targets;
* Experience in managing room bookings in a small-to-medium-sized organisation desirable;
* Able to work on own initiative, largely unsupervised;
* A good team player with ability to relate equally well to paid and voluntary staff;
* Able to demonstrate sympathy with the aims and objectives of Southwark Cathedral;
* Flexible and willing to work evenings when required.
Southwark Cathedral is committed to being an Equal Opportunities Employer. We believe in promoting and building a diverse and inclusive team, and workplace, culture and governance structures that are welcoming to and respectful of all. We welcome applications from all suitably qualified people whatever their ethnicity, background, age, disability, long term condition, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other characteristic protected by law.
Safeguarding is at the core of all we do. We follow best practice for Safer Recruitment.