Events Executive (£34,284 per annum)

Location: Craven Street with opportunity for hybrid working (see job profile for details)
Job level: Level G – Officer/Executive
Salary: Starting salary of £34,284 plus competitive benefits 
Working hours: The normal working hours for the above post will be 9am – 5pm, Monday to Friday

The College of Optometrists is the professional body for optometry. We inspire and support optometrists to excel in the provision of eye health care for the benefit of patients. We achieve this through:

• Promoting lifelong learning and career advancement
• Effectively amplifying the expert voice of optometrists
• Defining and supporting good clinical practice

We are looking for an Events Executive who will join our established and busy Events team. This role will provide support in the organisation, delivery, evaluation, and development of a range of in-person and digital events to meet the College’s objectives.

Reporting to the Senior Events Manager, the role holder will be responsible for: 

• Supporting the Events Team in the co-ordination and delivery of key College events such as the Diploma Ceremony and flagship conference Optometry Tomorrow. 
• Organising the delivery of smaller College events with support from other team members, including regional events, webinars, online peer reviews, and other ad-hoc events.
• Maintaining accurate data on events, analysing the results and implementing change.
• Using the College’s systems to set up, monitor and publicise events.
• Liaising with suppliers, venues, facilitators and speakers, as well as negotiating contracts.
• Coordinating, collecting and, promoting events in collaboration with the Communications team.
• Contributing to the development of event content and processes by analysing member feedback and inputting ideas for efficiency improvements.

Successful candidates would need to demonstrate the following skills, experience and knowledge:

• Relevant experience in an events role.
• Experience administering and supporting the delivery of a diverse range of in-person and online events.
• Experienced in handling data, and creating analytical reports.
• Effective use of IT systems including Microsoft Office, in particular Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams.
• Experience in updating budgets.
• Accuracy and attention to detail.
• Strong organisational and logistical skills.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Excellent customer service skills.
• Capable of managing conflicting priorities to meet deadlines.
• Flexibility and adaptability.
• Willingness to travel and work flexible hours, including evenings and weekends.

In return, we offer a variety of benefits including a generous pension plan, life assurance and a health care cash plan. The College has a TOIL policy and provides time off for events taking place during the evening and weekends. There is also potential to progress to a range maximum of £41,501 under our performance based/market driven incremental scheme.

• Interviews will take place on Tuesday 20 August 2024.

The College is committed to providing equal opportunities in employment and to avoiding unlawful discrimination. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, valuing the differences that a diverse workforce brings to the organisation. In support of this we follow a fair recruitment process in which shortlisting and other recruitment decisions are made on the basis of skills, competencies and experience demonstrated in the application and interview process. 

If you require a reasonable adjustment to be made to support your application due to a disability or other condition, please let us know. 

• Typical working hours at the College are 9 am to 5 pm (7 hours, excluding lunch) working five days a week. We operate a flexible working window from 8 am to 6 pm where you can vary your start and end time (working a 7 hour day). 
• We also offer hybrid working (a mixture of home and office working). Typically College staff will work around 20 - 40% of their time at the workplace (whether this is the office at Craven St, or a face-to-face meeting, exam or event at another business related site or organisation) per week. Members of the events team may be expected to attend the office 2 days a week on non-event weeks.
• The post holder will be required to work late in the lead up to, and during planned events. Applicants should therefore have some flexibility with regard to working hours. The College runs a programme of in-person or online evening events across the calendar year. The Events Executive will be expected to attend approximately one to two evenings per month as well as the weekend events. The College has a Time Off In Lieu (TOIL) policy and provides time off for events taking place during the evening and weekends. The post will involve UK travel.

• We act with integrity and transparency.
• We listen and we learn.
• We demonstrate respect and professionalism.
• We achieve high quality.
• We champion diversity and inclusion.