Address
Form of work
SalaryDepartment/Team: Development
Responsible to: Head of Events
Contract: Permanent
Location: Flexible mix of home working and from The Old Vic, 103 The Cut, London, SE1 8NB
Hours: Full-Time - 10am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, inclusive of breaks, although it is expected that there will be occasions where evening and weekend work is required in order to fulfil the requirements of the post. The postholder will be eligible for TOIL in accordance with The Old Vic’s TOIL policy.
Salary: £34,000 - £35,000 per annum, depending on experience
Role Summary
The purpose of the post is:
- To organise and deliver a range of on-site corporate, donor, Capital and other ad-hoc events generated by the Development department, such as drink receptions, seated dinners, backstage talks, private building tours, press nights and corporate training events. In collaboration with the Head of Events, taking ownership of, and leading on, a combination of these events.
- To assist in the delivery of all major fundraising events.
- To lead on all events administrative duties including managing the schedule of events and communicating information to internal departments, external suppliers and sponsor stakeholders.
Your Team
The Development Events Manager is essential to deliver events that support the aims of the team and organisation.
We are at a key stage in our fundraising efforts, as we continue to raise funds for our capital development, a new Backstage building adjoining the existing historical building, which will house a new studio theatre, learning centre and café/workspaces over five storeys. Ground has been broken on this exciting project and we aim to open it in 2025.
You will be joining a high performing Development team who take great pride in their work to raise income for The Old Vic. Whilst you’ll sit within the wider Development team, the events team is a busy team consisting of the Events Manager and Head of Events. Your skills will lie in organisation, teamwork, superb attention to detail and event planning and delivery.
Areas of responsibility
The Development Events Manager will be responsible for:
Event Planning & Organisation:
- Prior to a show going on sale, working with the Development team to schedule all the department’s event requirements, ensuring tickets and spaces are held in good time
- Support in organising all event logistics such as catering, drinks, flowers, furniture hire, entertainment, lighting and negotiating the best price with external contractors
- To manage relationships with clients, suppliers and internal Old Vic teams to the highest possible standards
- Ensure guest speakers are booked in, sending timely reminders and speech/briefing notes
- Approaching creative teams, The Old Vic’s Senior Management team, and cast to ensure they attend the necessary events
- Liaising with wider Development team to gather any outstanding information for upcoming events
- Completing events memos and confidently discussing them at weekly meetings
- Planning and managing all event deadlines and ensuring information is circulated and received in good time with internal stakeholders, external clients and suppliers; such as RSVPs, final numbers and dietary requirements
- Supported by the Head of Events, plan and deliver 1-2 Press Night parties a year
- Leading on the scheduling, planning and delivery of The Old Vic’s lucrative and developing Corporate Training programme, including liaison with and contracting of facilitators, external clients, caterers and Stage Team, booking space and producing schedules, while working closely with the Corporate Development officer to ensure outstanding quality of delivery.
Event Delivery:
- Attending evening, early morning and weekend events as and when required
- Overseeing the event setup, ensuring all requirements are met. Delivering the event in partnership with the Event Duty Manager and representing the Development team at events
- Being the central contact for the Event Duty Manager, Event Team, caterer, suppliers, internal stakeholders and external clients
- Managing guest arrival and confidently circulating staff and cast around the room with the support of relevant senior team members
- Corporate Training events (including offsite Corporate Training)
- To support colleagues and Head of Events with the delivery of the Backstage building’s event activity
Event Support for Major Events:
- Providing general administrative and event management support for major or ad-hoc fundraising events that may be planned. This support would include:
- Supporting the Head of Events in many aspects of event scheduling, planning and delivery
- Selling tickets, overseeing guest communications and marketing
- To collate all T&Cs for the auction lots and upload copies onto external online site
- Generating ideas for the auction and proactively making asks
- Compiling the programme, liaising with the graphic designer
- Working closely with the Head of Events and Producer to manage all talent communication and logistics, and assisting with the pastoral care of actors, creative and production staff
- Organising travel, itineraries, booking tickets, and arranging accommodation as required
- Scheduling team briefings and preparing briefing content/packs and contact sheets
Overseeing the live event lifecycle alongside the Head of Events, Producer and Production Manager; supporting the team with any requests and assistance on the day
- Post-event maintenance will include taking payments for pledges/auction prizes; sending thank you gifts and arranging debriefs
- Once the event has wrapped, the Events team continues to deliver auction prizes year-round.
Additional Responsibilities:
- Organising signatures for memento books and auction prizes
- To ensure Risk Assessments are in place for all event activity. Representing the Development/ Events team as the Health and Safety representative
- Maintaining the calendars used by the Events team to utmost accuracy:
- Keeping the management of the Clash Calendar and Skedda system up to date with new/cultural events, holidays, etc.
- Booking in additional events as they arise
- Booking tickets for some events and ad-hoc where necessary via Tessitura; maintaining event attendance on Tessitura
- Processing payments, raising POs and ensuring all events run within an agreed budget
- Representing The Old Vic as part of the Development Events Network; undertaking proactive steps to build industry contacts and create supportive networks with peer organisations
- To comply with The Old Vic’s Equal Opportunities, Sustainability and Health & Safety and Staff Handbook policies at all times.
This is not an exhaustive list of duties and the Theatre's management may, at any time, allocate other tasks which are of a similar nature or level.
Person Specification
This role would be suitable for someone with relevant events experience, within the arts/charity sectors, looking to develop a career in fundraising and event management at The Old Vic.
Essential
- Prior experience coordinating and leading events autonomously within an arts organisation
- Demonstrable organisational skills, ability to prioritise, meet deadlines and manage several tasks at once
- Good problem-solving skills
- Experienced in using Microsoft Office, specifically Word, Excel and database systems for data management
- Experience delivering events to a budget and tracking expenditure
- Excellent interpersonal skills both face to face, over email and on the telephone with the ability to build lasting professional relationships and networks
- Exceptional attention to detail and proof-reading skills
- Enthusiastic team player but able to work independently
- Availability to work outside of normal office hours including evenings, some weekends, and early mornings
How to Apply
We understand that everyone is different and we want you to apply in whichever way you feel best shows your skills and experience. There are a range of ways that you can apply with us:
- 1. Sending a short video file of yourself (no longer than two minutes in length), detailing your experience, why you are applying for the role and what about working at The Old Vic interests you (have a look at the person specification in the job description).
- 2. Sending a short audio file of yourself (no longer than two minutes in length), detailing your experience, why you are applying for the role and what about working at The Old Vic interests you.
- 3. Completing our application form.
- 4. Uploading your CV and covering letter, explaining why you are interested in the role and working at the Old Vic.
As a Disability Confident employer, The Old Vic has made a commitment that all applicants with disabilities who meet the essential criteria for this job will be invited to interview. However in the event that we have a high volume of applications all of whom meet the criteria and identify as disabled, meaning it is not practicable to interview everyone, we may apply a weighting to the shortlisting criteria, or add an additional shortlisting stage before any interviews take place. In all cases we will take care to ensure that any criteria or weightings do not disadvantage disabled applicants.
All appointments are made subject to satisfactory references and proof of eligibility to work in the UK.
The Process
The recruitment process for this role will be two stages;
- 1st stage virtual conversation
- 2nd stage in person conversation
- You may be asked to complete a work based skills assessment or challenge.
The closing date for this role is 3 July 2024 at Midday. First Conversations are likely to take place w/c 12 July 2024.
Equal Opportunities
We actively support and encourage people from a variety of backgrounds, experiences and skill sets to join us and help shape what we do. We are particularly keen to receive applications from people of the global majority, LGBTQ+, neurodiverse and disabled candidates.
We may take positive action, in cases where candidates are equally qualified, to increase the employment of under-represented groups at The Old Vic.
In the event that we ask you to attend the theatre for a conversation and you are struggling financially, we may be able to reimburse you for any reasonable travel costs.
