Open role
Plan and deliver an outstanding programme of Jobs Foundation events and stakeholder engagement — from concept through delivery to follow-up — with rigorous project management and excellent stakeholder judgement.
To apply
Please send your CV and a cover letter to Sarah Harding, COO, at careers@thejobsfoundation.com.
Job description
About the Jobs Foundation
The Jobs Foundation is a growing charity that champions the role of business as a force for good, particularly the crucial role companies play in giving people a step up in life by providing jobs and training.
We have a practical impact – providing business leaders with the tools, knowledge and best practice to help them employ and train people from less privileged backgrounds. We also have a policy impact – through our advocacy work, we seek to create a more positive business environment so companies can do even more to support people and their local communities.
Events and convening are an important part of how the Jobs Foundation delivers its mission. We bring together senior figures from business, government and parliament, charities, the media and wider society through major events, report launches, roundtables, briefings and other targeted engagement.
Purpose of the role
The Events & Engagement Manager is responsible for planning and delivering an outstanding programme of Jobs Foundation events and associated stakeholder engagement.
Working closely with the Chief Executive, President, COO and colleagues across the organisation, the role takes events from initial concept through detailed planning and delivery to effective follow-up. The role closely relates our events with our supporter base, ensuring thoughtful alignment.
Jobs Foundation events are about more than excellent logistics. They are an important means of building relationships, sharing our work, convening influential people and advancing our mission. The role therefore combines rigorous event and project management with excellent stakeholder judgement and a strong understanding of what each event is intended to achieve.
Core accountabilities
Event leadership & delivery
- Take end-to-end responsibility for the successful planning and delivery of Jobs Foundation events, ensuring consistently high standards and an excellent experience for guests, speakers and partners.
Project management
- Bring structure and discipline to event delivery through clear plans, responsibilities, dependencies, deadlines and critical paths, ensuring risks are identified and addressed early.
Stakeholder engagement
- Our supporter base is an important source of perspective, sharing of our mission and fundraising. The role ensures that the stakeholder dimension of every event is thoughtfully managed, including speakers, guests, partners and other important relationships.
Organisational coordination
- Coordinate colleagues, senior leaders, suppliers and other contributors effectively, ensuring everyone understands what is required and events are delivered seamlessly.
Key responsibilities
Events planning and delivery
- Manage the Jobs Foundation’s programme of events, including major launches, parliamentary events, report launches, Business Council events, roundtables, breakfasts, briefings and other stakeholder convening.
- Take responsibility for events from initial scoping and planning through to delivery and post-event follow-up.
- Develop and maintain detailed event plans, with clear actions, owners, dependencies, deadlines, risks and critical paths.
- Manage venues, suppliers, speakers, event materials, catering, production and other logistical requirements.
- Develop detailed event programmes and run-of-show plans.
- Lead delivery on the day, anticipating and resolving issues and ensuring a highly professional experience throughout.
- Ensure events are delivered within agreed budgets and that the recording of interest and attendance is done in the CRM system.
Guests, speakers & stakeholder engagement
- Work with senior colleagues to develop guest strategies and invitation lists that support the objectives of each event.
- Liaise directly with senior speakers and guests from business, politics, government, charities and other sectors.
- Coordinate speaker requirements, briefings and communications to ensure contributors are well prepared.
- Oversee invitations, RSVPs, guest information and seating arrangements, drawing on administrative support where appropriate.
- Ensure VIPs and other important stakeholders receive thoughtful and professional handling before, during and after events.
- Understand the relationship context around important attendees and ensure relevant colleagues are appropriately briefed.
Internal coordination
- Work particularly closely with the Chief Executive to translate organisational priorities into well-designed and effectively delivered events.
- Coordinate the involvement of the President, COO and other senior colleagues, ensuring their requirements and responsibilities are clear.
- Work closely with Communications to ensure events are supported by effective promotion, messaging, collateral and follow-up.
- Coordinate with Policy, Research, Pledge and other colleagues to ensure event content and objectives reflect the Foundation’s wider work.
- Drive actions across the team, following up proactively and escalating issues where necessary. Review the status of individuals in CRM to track and manage connections.
Event communications & materials
- Coordinate the production of invitations, agendas, speaker briefs, guest information, event packs and other materials.
- Ensure all event communications and materials are accurate, professionally presented and delivered on time.
- Work with Communications and other colleagues to ensure appropriate pre- and post-event communications.
Follow-up & continuous improvement
- Ensure actions and relationship follow-up arising from events are clearly captured and allocated.
- Work to ensure relevant attendance, interactions and stakeholder information are accurately recorded in CRM.
- Evaluate events against their objectives and identify improvements for future activity.
- Maintain a forward view of the Foundation’s event programme, identifying dependencies, resource requirements and potential clashes well in advance.
Success in the role
Success will mean:
- Jobs Foundation events are consistently professional, well planned and exceptionally well executed.
- Event planning is structured, visible and under control, with risks and dependencies identified early.
- Senior speakers, guests and partners experience the Jobs Foundation as thoughtful, organised and highly professional.
- Events actively strengthen important relationships and advance the Foundation’s wider objectives.
- The Chief Executive and senior team have confidence that events will be delivered without requiring unnecessary day-to-day intervention.
- Internal contributors understand what is expected of them and deliver against clear deadlines.
- Event-related actions and relationship intelligence are reliably captured and followed through.
- Lessons from each event are applied to continually strengthen future delivery.
Knowledge and experience
The successful candidate will bring:
- Strong experience of planning and delivering high-quality events involving senior stakeholders.
- Excellent project management and organisational capability.
- Experience managing events end-to-end, including speakers, guests, suppliers, venues and event-day delivery.
- Confidence working directly with senior figures and high-profile stakeholders.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- Strong attention to detail and exceptionally high standards of execution.
- Ability to manage multiple events and competing priorities simultaneously.
- Experience managing budgets and external suppliers.
- Confidence coordinating and constructively chasing colleagues and senior stakeholders to ensure deadlines are met.
- Experience of business, public policy or charity environments would be advantageous.
Personal qualities
- Highly organised, structured and dependable.
- Excellent judgement and stakeholder awareness.
- Proactive, with a strong sense of ownership.
- Calm and solutions-focused under pressure.
- Confident and professional with senior people.
- Exceptional attention to detail.
- Able to anticipate requirements rather than wait to be asked.
- Diplomatic but persistent when action is required.
- Collaborative and collegiate.
- Committed to delivering work of the highest quality.
Salary and benefits
Salary dependent on experience. Workplace pension and 20 days’ annual leave, in addition to bank holidays and an office closure period over Christmas.
To apply
Please send your CV and a cover letter to Sarah Harding, COO, at careers@thejobsfoundation.com.