Head Of Events ( Maternity Cover)

Head of Events (Maternity Cover)

Reports to: Director of Marcomms, Events & Education

Salary range: £47,001 - £52,000 per annum

Location: London – EC4Y 8EE (Hybrid)

Contract: Full-Time, Fixed-term contract (minimum 9 months)

Job Purpose

BSR events are a key benefit to members and the wider rheumatology community, offering the very latest in science, innovation, research and cases.
Our events team deliver the award-winning Annual Conference (Liverpool 24-26 April 2024) in a hybrid format to c2000 delegates, plus our Case-cased conference (Leeds 5-6 Nov, in-person c300 delegates) as well as a programme of celebratory awards. This is a perfect role for someone that relishes the challenge of big events, enjoys working with stakeholders, volunteers and colleagues and is full of ideas of how to deliver impact. 
The Head of Events leads and develops the Events Manager, Digital Events Manager, Events Executive and Partnerships Manager to deliver an events programme that helps members and the wider rheumatology community deliver the very best in patient care.
You’ll work closely with:

• Events team and partnerships/sponsorship manager
• Education and Marcomms teams
• Heads of Department
• Heberden Committee 
• Agencies, venues, destinations, platforms and suppliers

Main Responsibilities 

Management and Leadership 

• Line management, development and coaching of the Events team, plus supervision of the Partnership Manager, ensuring BSR values and ‘one team’ approach are embedded.
• On site management of agency and venue staff plus volunteers and BSR team members. 
• Strategic leadership of the events function, focusing on impact, delivering against our strategy and ensuring financial stability.
• Be a proactive participant in the high-performing ‘Head of Departments’ team, working on cross-organisation priorities.

Conference management

• Lead, plan and oversee the delivery of conference events including the hybrid BSR Annual Conference and exhibition (approx. 2000 attendees) and the Adult and Paediatric Case-based Conference in (approx. 300 delegates).
• Maintain close financial controls to ensure delivery against expenditure and income targets, including contract negotiations with venues/destinations.
• Drive forward impact of BSR events, internally and externally, closely monitoring delegate satisfaction, responding to feedback and making improvements to our product offering.
• Build relationships with BSR’s Heberden Committee and lead them in developing the annual conference scientific programme.
• Monitor and manage risks, health and safety, ABPI compliance, insurance and staff wellbeing.

General

• Review and develop the awards programme to ensure we maximise benefit and impact to members across all membership categories.
• Continue our drive on event sustainability and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.

Please note: This role will require travel, overnight stays and weekend work, for example at our conferences (6 day stay). As we are a small team, you’ll have the opportunity to get involved in cross-departmental projects, lead or contribute to agile sprint working, and support with specific tasks to support wider business needs. There are also other opportunities to get involved including our Staff forum. 

Person Specifications 

• Experience working in conferences and events, including hybrid event delivery
• Experience of leading a team, including facilitating high performance  and staff development
• Confident in managing stakeholders at all levels and dealing with external contacts/suppliers
• Ability to develop strategies and plans to support organisational objectives
• Budget management and financial control, contract negotiation, including financial projections and meeting financial targets
• Experience of producing marketing/comms copy and working with event branding
• Ability to engage with colleagues and collaborators and to bring them on board in line with set targets
• Ability to see opportunities and challenge convention in order to make improvements to how we deliver events, especially virtually 
• Maintain a professional and personable attitude when communicating with colleagues, customers and volunteers

Inclusion and Diversity
BSR is committed to encouraging inclusion, equality, and diversity among its workforce, and eliminating unlawful discrimination, harassment, and victimisation by complying with the Equality Act 2010.
We want a working environment free of all of the above, where individual differences and the contributions of all staff are recognised and valued. To do this, we proactively tackle discrimination and disadvantage and ensure that no individual or group is directly or indirectly discriminated against for any reason. We expect all BSR employees to champion and live our values through their work at every opportunity.