Events Manager (One Year Fixed Term Contract)

Events Manager (One Year Fixed Term Contract)

Location: Craven Street with opportunity for hybrid working (see job profile for details)Salary: Starting salary of£43,813 plus competitive benefitsWorking hours: Monday to Friday, 35 hours per week

The College of Optometrists is the professional body for optometry. It qualifies the profession and delivers the guidance and development to ensure optometrists provide the best possible care. We promote excellence through the College’s affixes, by building the evidence base for optometry, and raising awareness of the profession with the public, commissioners, and healthcare professionals.

We are looking for an Events Manager to join our established and busy Events Team to support the delivery of our portfolio of events.

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced event professional to manage the delivery of a diverse range of in-person and online events, from conferences to webinars and workshops. Working closely with colleagues, speakers, suppliers and stakeholders, you will play a key role in ensuring events are delivered to a high standard, on time, within budget and in line with organisational objectives.

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

• Planning and delivering a portfolio of in-person and digital events, including conferences, workshops and webinars.
• Line managing and supporting two Events Executives to ensure high-quality event delivery.
• Managing event logistics, suppliers, venues and event staffing requirements.
• Coordinating speakers, facilitators and programme requirements, ensuring all communications, briefing materials and arrangements are delivered effectively.
• Monitoring event budgets, processing financial administration and supporting post-event evaluation and reporting.

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

• Significant experience delivering a range of events, including large-scale in-person conferences and online events.
• Experience of line management, supervision or mentoring of staff.
• Strong project management and organisational skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to build effective relationships with speakers, suppliers and colleagues.
• Experience managing event budgets and financial processes.
• A proactive, flexible and solutions-focused approach, with the ability to remain calm under pressure during live event delivery.

A copy of the full job description summarising the key activities and full list of essential requirements can be downloaded from the website. In return, we offer a variety of benefits including a generous pension plan (10% employer contribution), 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 £53,038 under our performance based/market driven incremental scheme.

Key dates

• Application deadline: 25 September 2026
• Interview date: 02 October 2026

Equality and inclusion

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.

Our values

• 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

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