Festival Manager

Culinary Collective; London; On-site; GBP 45,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

Culinary Collective is seeking a Head of Operations to lead event management for food units at large-scale live events and festivals. This pivotal role involves ensuring exceptional execution, managing P&Ls, and coordinating cross-functional teams. Ideal candidates have extensive event management experience, strong budget management skills, and a passion for creating memorable food experiences.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in event management, exposure to venue operations and catering-led events.
• Proven experience owning end-to-end event delivery.
• Strong commercial acumen with experience managing P&Ls.

Responsibilities

• Ensure seamless execution across the full event lifecycle.
• Own and manage detailed P&Ls for each event.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for clients.

Skills

Event Management

Client Management

Budgeting

Stakeholder Coordination

Health and Safety

Job description

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Head of operations at Culinary collective

Who we are

Culinary Collective is on a mission to redefine food across live events, corporate catering, and semi-permanent spaces. We are seeking a dynamic Freelance Event Manager to lead the delivery of our food units at large scale live events and major festivals.

This role is pivotal in ensuring seamless execution across the full event lifecycle. You’ll be responsible for advancing events, managing client relationships, managing event P&Ls, coordinating internal and external stakeholders, and being the on-site lead to guarantee exceptional execution. You’ll work cross-functionally with our culinary, sales, operations, and finance teams to make every event commercially successful and on-brand

What You’ll Achieve in Your First 12 Months

Flawless Event Execution:Successfully deliver 100+ food pitches ensuring smooth onsite operations, happy clients, and brand-aligned execution

Commercial Control:Own and manage detailed P&Ls for each event, ensuring budgets are met or exceeded, and work closely with finance to reconcile post-event.

Client & Supplier Management:Serve as the primary point of contact for clients from event confirmation through delivery, and manage key external relationships with suppliers, venues, and freelancers.

Cross-Team Coordination:Act as the bridge between sales, operations, culinary, and marketing to align expectations, timelines, and deliverables across departments.

Operational Standards:Help develop and refine scalable event processes, templates, and systems to enable growth and consistency across our catering and venue events.

Repeat Business:Deliver events that convert into recurring opportunities through excellent execution and client service.

Health & Safety Management:Deliver all food pitches with 5* health and safety ratings

Key Requirements for the Role

5+ years of experience in event management, ideally with exposure to both venue operations and catering-led events.

Proven experience owning end-to-end event delivery - including advancing, budgeting, on-site management, and post-event reconciliation.

Strong commercial acumen with the ability to build, track and manage P&Ls across multiple events

Excellent client-facing communication skills and a solutions-oriented mindset

Experience working across multiple stakeholders - sales, chefs, marketing, logistics, and finance - to align priorities and execute to a high standard

Deep understanding of supplier, freelance, and vendor management, particularly in hospitality or food and beverage environments

Ability to work autonomously, stay calm under pressure, and deliver multiple events simultaneously.

Available to work flexible hours, including evenings and weekends, when required.

If you're passionate about delivering unforgettable food experiences and thrive in fast-paced, creative environments, we'd love to hear from you. Please include a brief portfolio or examples of past events in your application.

Seniority level

• Seniority level

  Mid-Senior level

Employment type

• Employment type

  Contract

Job function

• Job function

  Management and Manufacturing

• Industries

  Hospitality

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