External Events Manager

External Events Manager Candidate Information Pack

Contents

Welcome to St James Schools

Page 03

About Us

Page 04

Job Description

Page 06

Person Specification

Page 09

The Recruitment Process & How to Apply

Page 11

Welcome

Founded in 1975 with the aim of providing a complete education for boys and girls from the age of 4 -18, the three St James Schools are based in London and Surrey. The Junior School and Senior Girls’ School are centrally located together in West London, close to Hammersmith and Kensington Olympia. The Senior Boys’ School is located in a 32 acre site in Ashford, Surrey. Together, St James Schools offer a distinctive approach to education; we aim to provide an environment in which a pupil can discover all that is best within his or her own nature. St James provides the ideal environment for nurturing and enriching the intellectual, emotional and spiritual development of our pupils; thereby creating a balance of academic excellence. Our teachers have excellent subject knowledge and give their time generously to support the well-being and development of their pupils. We all enjoy the stimulating and positive atmosphere, characterised with generosity, kindness, mindfulness and mutual respect, where every member of the St James community is truly valued.

I wish you good luck in your application process.

William Wyatt Bursar

About Us

Our Senior Boys’ School occupies a 32-acre site, we moved to this site from Twickenham in 2010. Before we took over the site, we completely refurbished all the facilities and created a new dining hall. We have also built an award-winning design technology workshop. The estate comprises of two rugby pitches, cricket square, athletic track and an elegant Victorian Chapel built in 1898 with beautiful welsh stained glass windows. The main feature of the estate is our beautiful grade 11 listed building which during term time is hub of education and transforms into a unique venue for private functions, corporate functions and weddings. Some of events space includes: The Main Dining Room - A large spacious room leading out to an outdoor lawn and patio area. A beautiful space that host an array of events. The Moot Hall - A stunning function room. Including a stage and black wrap around curtains, The Moot Hall is a wonderful blank canvas and is a great space to hold an event, whether it be a formal hire with guest speakers or a more theatrical room to host a band, this room certainly provides a professional and luxury look to any event. The Chapel – The grand and exclusive Victorian Chapel built in 1898, is part of the Parish of St Hilda’s Church, Ashford, Surrey. This is fully licensed for weddings. Ground Hire - The beautiful grounds can accommodate a large Marquee or Tipi to create the perfect setting for your celebration or event.

External Events Manager: Job Description

Overview

• To ensure the highest possible standards of organisation, presentation and delivery to ensure that events promote and reflect the School’s ethos. • To plan and oversee the organisation of external events, weddings and all private hires. • To actively promote events and weddings to the public aiming to deliver a high revenue for the School. • To be a professional and competent representative for St James Schools, as this is a high profile role.

Key Areas and Responsibilities

Commercial Activity

• Create an overall strategy for generating commercial income which complements the ethos of St James School. • Identify opportunities for generating commercial income, ensuring a blend and balance of high quality activities. • Strategic and proactive in initiating contact with potential customers. • Meet with potential customers to show the facilities available. • Oversee and manage all external events and hires, while being on site throughout specific events such as weddings. • Preparation and dissemination of advertising information, such as brochures and literature with the schools marketing company, Enterprises website and social media, including organisation of wedding fairs. • Ongoing updating of the Enterprises website. • Review and update venue/food/hire costs year on year; through undertaking market research of local competitors. • Develop the School’s standing in the local community. • Prepare for adequate planning time and have experience in event management. • Appropriate levels of staff supervision at external events. • Liaise with the Deputy Head in regard to the Schools events to foresee any future clashes of the external and internal school events. • Liaise with Estates Manager, Catering Manager as appropriate to book in events and hires. • Oversee the bar, bar stock together with reviewing and update bar price list year on year. • Ensure that risk assessments are completed in accordance with School Policy for events and hires. • Ensure all documentation including contracts, DBS checks, insurance, mission statements are in place before each hire. • Ensure the Schools Safeguarding Policy is adhered to when necessary for all events and hires. • Monitor progress of event-planning to ensure their efficient delivery and completion progress towards completion. • Undertake effective evaluation and constant review of events to maximise sales within a competitive market. • Understand and be responsible for the Schools premises licence and licensing objectives. • Communicate with the local registry office and parish church in logistics for wedding ceremonies. Events Management

Communication & Relationships

• Ensure excellent communication and fast response with clients regarding events, including follow ups on enquiries to help create more bookings. • Meet with the Bursar each week. • Ensure the discussion and transmission of events issues, requirements and agreed procedures to all relevant parties. • Support effective communication and conclusions of meetings and any other documentation or memos to the relevant members of staff. • Be aware of the School’s events related information on the School website and be responsible for co-ordinating with the School’s internal events to enable external events to take place. • Liaise with the Estates Managers at both sites regarding use of the buildings for bookings and related Health and Safety issues. • Liaise with Holroyd Howe catering company and the Catering Manager regarding hospitality needs for all events. • Manage appropriate income and expenditure budgets and contribute to the annual budget process, including staff/food/building costs in relation to events producing revenue for the School. • Prepare quotes for clients. • Liaise with accounts for invoicing and making sure payments have been paid from events and hires. • Log and keep up to date information of income from external events. • Research competitors pricing to remain competitive in the surrounding market. Finance

Person Specification

About You Essential

• Demonstrate significant experience in a commercial sales and marketing role, ideally in a residential conference facility or similar, of sufficient quality to demonstrate proven success in this area. • Evidence of a proven ability to manage prestigious events and deliver excellent customer service. • Demonstrate the ability to create, present and implement a number of sales related projects at any one time with foresight and strong planning/organisational skills. • Display an aptitude to be creative, generate new ideas, and develop them into successful initiatives. • Provide evidence of an ability to work unsupervised, use own initiative and manage own time. • Demonstrate excellent communication and presentation skills with the ability to liaise tactfully and effectively with staff, pupils, visitors and the general public. • Demonstrate a willingness to be adaptable, flexible and to work unsociable hours as sometimes required by the job. The role will require some work at weekends and Bank Holidays. • Provide evidence of a positive, proactive attitude, with the proven ability to analyse and evaluate complex issues and provide appropriate solutions. • Able to demonstrate a good understanding of financial constraints. • Excellent IT skills to navigate software systems and proficiently use Microsoft Office. • Strong communication skills, both oral and written; as representing the School to the public there is a particular importance that communication is clear, professional, timely and courteous at all times. • Must deal with challenging deadlines and workloads at times, so be organised, calm and efficient under pressure. Desirable • Evidence of previous management experience within the education or leisure sectors. • A detailed understanding of the effective use of print and social media for promotion and This role was previously performed on a part-time basis, however, as the commercial activity of the School grows, we acknowledge that the position may warrant full-time commitment. For this reason, we are inviting all candidates to apply, whether they seek full or part-time hours, in accordance with the following guidelines: • Part Time Candidates: 3.5 days per week (Monday to Wednesday 07:45 to 16:15; Thursday: 07:45 to 12:00); however flexibility is required depending on events. • Full Time Candidates: Monday to Friday 07:45 to 16:15; however flexibility is required depending on events. communication purposes (including writing engaging copy). • Proven track record in project management of events. Normal Working Hours

The Recruitment Process

Application Process Applications should consist of a CV and covering statement outlining key matching experience and rationale for applying for the post.

Applications should be sent to; Hayley Mintern of The Management Recruitment Group via email at hayley.mintern@mrgpeople.co.uk.

All candidates invited for interview will also complete a St James Application Form.

The School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. The successful candidate will be subject to receiving a DBS check.

Regal House 70 London Road Twickenham TW1 3QS Tel: 020 8892 0115 www.mrgpeople.co.uk

Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11

Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs