Head Of Events

Full Time Job
Description

Job title: Head of Events
Responsible to: General Manager
Department: Abbey Road Studios
Location of work: 3 Abbey Road, London, NW8 9AY

Music is Universal

It's the passionate and dedicated team at Universal Music who help make us the world's leading music company. From A&R to finance, legal to digital, sales to marketing, Universal Music is the place to grow and develop your career within a truly commercial and innovative business that leads in everything it does.

Everyone is welcome to apply for our roles, and we are determined to ensure that no applicant or employee receives less favourable treatment because of gender, race, disability, sexual orientation, religion, belief, age, marital status, background, pregnancy, or caring responsibilities. We also recognise the importance of diversity of thought within our teams and are fully committed to embracing the talents of people with autism, dyslexia, ADHD, and other forms of neurocognitive variation.

We will always seek to make appropriate adjustments to recruitment, workplaces, and work processes to be fully inclusive to people with different needs and working styles. If you need us to make any reasonable adjustments for you from application onwards, including alternatives to the online form or to disclose a neurocognitive condition, please email [email protected]

The A Side: A Day in The Life

A global music icon and the world's first purpose-built recording studio, Abbey Road Studios has been home to countless landmark recordings and pioneering advances in music technology for 90 years. From the Beatles, Pink Floyd, Shirley Bassey, Ella Fitzgerald, Fela Kuti, Kate Bush, Oasis and Radiohead to Sam Smith, Florence The Machine, Ed Sheeran, Kanye West, Lady Gaga, Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Frank Ocean, Amy Winehouse, Brockhampton, Little Simz and Adele, we've been fortunate to welcome many of the world's most celebrated artists to our home. We've also recorded the scores to some of the biggest films of the last 40 years, from Raiders of the Lost Ark and most of the Star Wars and Harry Potter films to Black Panther, Gravity, The Lord of the Rings trilogy and Avengers: Endgame.

Part of Universal Music UK, Abbey Road Studios is a diverse and vibrant business comprising legendary and contemporary studio spaces, world class mixing & mastering, an online studio and production tools, together with music tech innovation, education, and retail arms.

Whether planning business development strategies, running an event or delivering a speech on the rich history of the Studios for a client, every day is different in the life of the Head of Events at Abbey Road Studios.

We're on a mission to create unique events that share the heritage, magic and creativity of the Studios in a premium way to our clients, artists and music community.

The B Side: Skills & Experience

Reporting to the General Manager, you will be responsible for managing Abbey Road Studios' events business, from budgeting, business development and team management, to planning and delivering events of varying size and complexity.

We're a small team with big ambitions, so this is a hands-on role, juggling multiple projects, events, and priorities. You will be responsible for all departmental financial and strategic objectives, team management and business development, and as the client's key contact, you will be managing all elements of the event process, whilst managing Abbey Road's internal team, external suppliers, and all supporting processes.

Growth/Business Development
• Develop and grow Abbey Road's events business in a considered manner, by proactively generating creative strategies and refining the sales mix
• Be a passionate music fan, with a keen understanding of the heritage and unique history of the studios, and its importance to the pitch process
• Be an inspiring brand ambassador who will drive Abbey Road as a market leader within the high-end events sector
• Manage and develop the sales process, including target setting, client sales visits, development of client proposals, and presence at trade shows and showcases
• Foster a creative approach to business development to deliver financially viable events with a client ''wow'' factor, within the remit of a commercial studio
• Demonstrate real value, commitment and responsiveness to client and customer needs, ensuring client satisfaction, business retention and positive advocacy
• Ensure effective management of existing event client, agency and supplier relationships, and pro-actively explore multiple avenues for new business
• Understand and interpret client needs to deliver winning and profitable pitch solutions and develop effective sales assets and events case studies

Budget & Process Management
• Own and manage the departmental budget, from revenue through to profitability, and prepare forecasting and sales reports for strategic planning
• Be fluent and experienced in working to department budget and undertaking financial forecasting based on enquiry pipeline, sales and conversion ratios
• Manage internal sales funnel and financial processes: cost proposals, invoicing, post-event reconciliation, and work fluently with internal studio booking and venue management software
• Develop processes to ensure events are delivered on project budget target, to meet both client expectations and company profit margin metrics
• Manage supply chain of services to ensure high standards of service and optimised profitability whilst always minimising impact on the wider business
• Maintain a consistent and effective CRM process for existing and prospective clients, to drive conversion and retention

Enquiry & Account management
• Respond to and manage event enquiry pipeline. Deliver creative proposals for the client's brief and maintain the budget effectively to win new business and retain existing clients
• Be a continuous point of contact for event clients at all stages of the process, managing operational and administrative functions to ensure that projects are delivered effectively
• Responsible for the financial overview of an event, from cost proposal, deal negotiation, budget, and profitability management, to invoicing, reconciling costs and delivering reports to the finance team
• Manage and implement client feedback to ensure consistent quality of service

People Management
• Inspirational and motivational leader with experience in working with multiple stakeholders, both internal and external, to communicate expectations, challenges, solutions and successes
• Responsible for line management and development of the Senior Events Manager
• Work closely with a range of internal departments to forge effective working relationships across the business, to maximise event quality and profitability
• Establish effective relationships with suppliers and venue services, always maintaining excellent communications to drive quality of event delivery and maximise departmental profitability
• Foster strong, credible client relationships, to ensure over-delivery against their objectives, and support client retention and advocacy

Partnerships & Special Projects
• Work with partnerships team to support delivery of existing Abbey Road brand partnership events in line with brand/Studios creative vision

Person Specification

Necessary
• Several years venue and event management experience
• Proven track record of venue manage

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