Commercial Events Officer
- Job title: Commercial Events Officer
- Job Type: Permanent – Full-time
- Salary: £35,000
- Department: Operations
- Reporting to: Head of Commercial
- Location: Highgate, London
- Start: ASAP
- Closing Date: 1 October 2024 at 5:00 pm
This is an excellent opportunity to join an award-winning charity; working closely with the Head of Commercial to help our Commercial department in increasing the potential for generation of non-fee income.
If you are interested in working in a fast-paced environment at one of the country’s top independent schools where kindness is at the heart of what we do, then this is an ideal opportunity for you.
You will have excellent administrative, communication and customer service skills to ensure a positive experience for clients hiring our premises. Calm and organised, you will be a people-person with a flexible, pro-active and can-do approach. You will thrive in a busy environment and you will enjoy developing your skills.
The Department
The Commercial Department within the school plays a crucial role in generating non-fee income to support and enhance the funding of our pupil bursary scheme and other charitable activities.
This department is responsible for identifying and developing diverse revenue streams beyond traditional tuition fees. Key activities include managing public bookings of school facilities, organising and delivering all these events, and exploring external hire opportunities.
The Head of Commercial has significant experience in commercial operations. In this role, you will benefit from this expertise, whether transferring from a different sector or building on existing commercial experience.
MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES
Events operations
- Establish a clear understanding of the demands of the School and ensure that all commercial use is compatible with day-to-day School usage/requirements.
- Host visits of prospective clients.
- Manage all event bookings, from enquiry through to invoicing in a timely manner and ensuring payments and contracts are received in advance of any event.
- Analyse the practical feasibility and profit potential of a booking before accepting the booking.
- Management of all commercial activities to ensure that provision meets customer expectations and budgetary targets.
- Attend events personally, or to ensure that events are managed by a suitably qualified and competent member of staff.
- Liaise with Catering, Estates, IT and other departments in advance of events to ensure all logistics are signed off.
- Ensure all relevant health and safety documents from third party suppliers are in place.
- Liaise with the financial department on a regular basis for account management. Compile financial reports as required.
Stakeholder
- Ensure careful planning and communication with all stakeholders in relation to commercial projects and events at all times, and in a timely manner.
- Ensure local residents are informed as considered appropriate.
Business Management
- Continual review of practices and procedures to ensure compliance, best practice and ongoing identification of improvements
- Preparation of business plans, including financial reports and forecasts for new business ideas/projects, ensuring revenue and profit targets reach the maximum in line with commercial strategic targets.
- Management of commercial budget.
Filming
- Attend film crew and location scout site visits.
- Ensure careful planning and communication with film agencies in relation to film projects hosted on the premises.
Other
- Organise or assist with School events as reasonably required.
These duties and responsibilities are intended as a guide. They are not exhaustive: the Commercial Events Officer will be expected to undertake any reasonable task or responsibility as required by the Head of Commercial.
- Criteria
- How will these be tested or verified?
- Qualifications and Experience
Essential:
- Experience of planning and overseeing events.
- Experience of a sales-focused role.
Desirable:
- Degree or equivalent.
- Experience of utilising marketing tools to help increase revenue.
- Knowledge and Skills
Essential:
- The ability to maintain in strictest confidence any information received concerning School matters.
- High level of IT skills including Microsoft Office, MS Teams and Zoom.
- Attention to detail.
- Experience of managing extensive and diverse workload within tight deadlines.
- Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to communicate effectively.
Desirable:
- Understanding of the education sector and independent schools.
- Personal Attributes
- Organised with an ability to prioritise workloads.
- Ability to work calmly under pressure.
- Showing initiative to deal proactively with any situation.
- Confident and personable with a positive ‘can do’ attitude.
Benefits
Location | Highgate Village, adjacent to Hampstead Heath, with quaint shops and easy connections across London.
Pension | AVIVA workplace pension scheme offered with a generous 26% employer contribution, with the ability to flex up to 16% of this as additional non-pensionable salary, employees contribute a minimum of 5%.
Personal development | Comprehensive induction support for new staff. Focus on continued professional development for all employees.
Leisure facilities | Free access, at stipulated times, to our sports facilities, including a fitness suite and swimming pool (recently refurbished).
Lunch | A complimentary lunch.
Help with sustainable travel | Access to the Cycle to Work Scheme and a Season Ticket Loan scheme for public transport.
Family-friendly policies | Highgate appreciates that employees sometimes have family commitments so we try to be as supportive as possible, for example with enhanced maternity pay (8 weeks’ full pay, then 10 weeks’ half pay) and paid dependant leave.
Working at Highgate
A culture of community, kindness and belonging
Highgate is a caring, open-minded community, where we promote kindness, empathy and friendship. Everyone who works and studies with us deserves to feel they are part of a welcoming environment that enables them to be themselves and to thrive as individuals.
Our community extends beyond the school, through partnerships, charity work and our commitment to equality, inclusion and sustainability. All members of our school community are encouraged to look outwards and play an active role.
In a recent ISI inspection (Dec 2021), it was noted that “Pupils show exceptional respect for, and appreciate diversity within the school and wider community, and their own and other cultures, demonstrating sensitivity and tolerance to those from different backgrounds and traditions.”
Staff wellbeing
Highgate is committed to staff wellbeing, which we promote by encouraging a strong work-life balance; trying our best to support flexible working requests; providing a nutritious complimentary lunch in the dining hall; and offering access to sporting facilities including our recently renovated swimming pool.
The Staff Wellbeing Committee, with representatives across the School, meets regularly to drive forward initiatives, and a selection of staff have been trained as Mental-Health First Aiders.
We encourage an open culture throughout our school, with regular staff surveys, action committees and opportunities to feedback. We strive for continual learning and improvement, and staff training and development is paramount. There are opportunities to participate in the wider life of our school, such as taking part in trips or societies and getting involved in partnership projects.
More details about working at Highgate can be found here:
Charitable work and sustainability
As an independent school, we want to use our position as a charity effectively: to make high-quality education accessible to as many children as possible – through our bursary programme at Highgate and through our work with local state schools. We have partnerships with over 60 state schools across 7 London boroughs, and we are the principal educational sponsor for London Academy of Excellence, Tottenham – an academically-selective state sixth form in a community where such opportunities are lacking.
Alongside this, our staff and pupils undertake charitable activities throughout the year. These range from staff giving up their time to neighbourhood schools and charitable organisations, focused fundraising campaigns, to pupils undertaking community work in the local area or further afield.
As a school, we have a central role to play in educating our pupils, staff and parents about the importance of environmental sustainability. We are taking positive action to adapt our operational performance to tackle the negative effects of climate change. We encourage all our staff to reflect upon their personal and professional practices, to support our environmental agenda and to make positive changes wherever possible.
Application procedure
- Closing Date: 1st October 2024
- Timing of interviews: w/c 30th September or sooner
Contact: Please contact the Recruitment Team
Early Application: Applications will be considered ‘as and when’ received and we may close the vacancy if we appoint before the closing date.
Apply hereInclusion
We know that more diverse teams are stronger teams, and that the more inclusive we are, the more our staff and pupils will feel a sense of belonging and will thrive. To enable us to make reasonable adjustments, please let us know of any disabilities (including neuro-divergence) when you submit your application.
Safeguarding
As this role will have regular unsupervised contact with children you must, if appointed, comply with Highgate’s Safeguarding Policy and Staff Code of Conduct. If in the course of carrying out the duties of the post the post holder becomes aware of any actual or potential risks to the safety and welfare of our pupils, these concerns must be reported immediately in accordance with the Safeguarding Policy. If whilst in the post, Highgate becomes aware of any safeguarding concerns to staff, pupils or the community; these will need to be followed up in line with the safeguarding policy and code of conduct which is underpinned by KCSE and other legislation. These concerns may need to be shared with other agencies. A copy of these policies will accompany all offers of employment. Training will also be provided to all staff to support Safeguarding practice.
Please read before you apply
Highgate is committed to the safeguarding and welfare of children and applicants must be willing to undergo child protection screening appropriate to this post, including checks with past employers, the Disclosure and Barring Service and overseas police check if necessary. Candidates from overseas must provide information about their past conduct, for example, by providing documents issued by overseas teaching authorities. DBS Privacy Policies
Please note that this role is ‘exempt’ from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore, you are required to declare any convictions, cautions, reprimands and final warnings that are not ‘protected’ (i.e. filtered out) as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2013). Shortlisted candidates will be asked to provide details of all unspent convictions and those that would not be filtered, prior to the date of the interview. DBS Code of Practice
In accordance with the latest guidance from KCSIE, we shall be conducting online searches on any candidates who are shortlisted.