Events Manager

National Institute of Economic and Social Research

About the Organisation

National Institute of Economic and Social Research is Britain’s oldest and one of its most prestigious independent research institutes. We specialise in applied social and economic research, combining high academic standards with relevance to policy making. Our reputation for quality and independence, outstanding networks, and unrivalled location at the heart of Westminster make us the ideal base to build a national profile for academic or policy research that makes a real impact. 

About the role

NIESR are seeking an Events Manager to join the External Affairs Team. This is a newly appointed role, reporting to the Head of External Affairs. The postholder will be responsible for the overall events function, with no direct reports. To lead the planning and delivery of NIESR’s events programme, ensuring that events are professionally organised, well attended, and support the Institute’s strategic objectives on impact, profile and stakeholder engagement. The post-holder will work closely with colleagues across External Affairs and research teams, and will act as a visible and professional point of contact for speakers, partners and attendees. 

Responsibilities

Event Planning:

• Plan and coordinate a quarterly programme of events aligned with the Institute’s strategy and broader research priorities.
• Research, in collaboration with Institute staff, suitable themes for the event series.
• Develop clear objectives for each event, including target audience, attendance, format and desired outcomes.
• Build and maintain positive working relationships with key stakeholders, partners and sponsors, ensuring that events are well coordinated and delivered to a high standard.
• Coordinate the invitation, booking, and briefing of speakers, liaising with the senior team to ensure speakers are suitable and meet the Institute's needs.
• Ensure that all events are promoted in a timely and appropriate manner, including creating content for the website, sending out event invitations to targeted audiences, and working with the communications function to ensure it is promoted via social media.
• Maintain all event listings on the internal planner and reservations diary, ensuring that everyone who needs to know is aware of the date and the relevant rooms are booked.
• Ad-hoc organisation of internal events.

Event Delivery:

• Attend each event, coordinating on-the-day event delivery (including testing any technology), working with colleagues in the External Affairs team and throughout NIESR so the event positively contributes to NIESR’s strategic priorities.
• Act as the first point of contact for the event (including liaising with the speaker and answering questions from attendees and sponsors), escalating any issues as appropriate to ensure that all participants know what is expected of them.
• Liaise with external suppliers (any external venues, as well as caterers and audio-visual specialists) to ensure a smooth event delivery.
• Conduct on-the-day briefings for speakers, the Chair and any panellists so they are familiar with the technology, timings and wider event logistics.
• Troubleshoot issues calmly and efficiently on the day, escalating where appropriate.

Post-Event Follow-Up:

• Maintain accurate records of registrations, attendance, feedback and follow-up actions, and produce short post-event reports where required.
• Send out feedback requests to attendees and collate responses for internal reporting.
• Ensure any event recordings are added to the website, and any follow-up activities (for example, slides circulated to attendees) are completed.

General Responsibilities:

• Ensure all Health & Safety, and any other relevant legislation with regard to events and event management is adhered to, escalating issues where appropriate.
• Cover for other members of the team and division as necessary.
• Adhere to policies and procedures at all times.
• Undertake, as required, any other duties compatible with the level and nature of the post and reasonably required by more senior members of staff.
• Attend and participate in divisional and team meetings and other meetings as required.

Skills, Competencies, Experience & Attributes

Essential Requirements:

• Experience in coordinating and delivering events, from planning through to post-event follow-up.
• Experience in managing multiple events or projects simultaneously and prioritising effectively.
• Excellent organisational skills and attention to detail.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Confidence in dealing professionally with senior external stakeholders, speakers and partners.
• Ability to remain calm and solution-focused under pressure, especially during live events.
• Proactive, able to work as part of a team as well as take ownership of tasks and work independently on their own initiative.
• Experience in coordinating suppliers, venues, catering and event logistics.
• Able to work at off-site events, sometimes requiring additional hours.
• Good working knowledge of Microsoft Office 365 and virtual meeting/webinar platforms
• Willingness to work flexibly in response to changing organisational requirements.

Desirable:

• Experience of working in a charity, think tank, membership organisation, university, and policy environment.
• Experience with hybrid events and webinars.
• Experience in using CRM and event registration systems.
• Experience in supporting sponsored events or stakeholder engagement activities.

Conditions of employment

• You must have the right to work in the UK.

Working locations

• Hybrid model, working in the London office and remotely

How to apply

• To apply for this role, please send a full CV and a supporting statement of no more than 1000 words setting out how you meet the essential requirements outlined above. Please number each point and address these one at a time to ensure that we are able to fully consider how your experience, skills and abilities meet the needs of the post. Please refer to the attached job description and person specification for full details of the role.
• Applications should be sent to Kirsty Pearce-Perkins email at [email protected] .In your application, please include the following:
  • Approximate start date & confirmation of right to work in the UK

Policies

An understanding of, and commitment to, Equality and Diversity

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