Senior Events Manager

Selfridges; Manchester; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Selfridges in Manchester and Birmingham is seeking a Senior Events Manager to develop and deliver a programme of market leading events and customer engagement. You will lead multiple projects across stores and coordinate with regional and central teams to retain customers and attract new ones.

You will manage budgets, build strong relationships with store leadership and external partners, and guide the Experiences team of 3 direct reports.

Qualifications

• Extensive Event Production and Project Management experience.
• Proven experience leading high performing teams.
• Exceptional networker with strong leadership and mentoring skills.
• Strong financial acumen with budget tracking and reporting experience.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Creative flair with a commitment to quality programming.

Responsibilities

• Lead on the curation, development and delivery of events across Manchester and Birmingham.
• Produce, project manage and deliver events to a high standard.
• Build relationships with store teams to drive VIP engagement and sales.
• Work with senior leads to create a strategy led programme of events.
• Provide leadership to the Experiences team (3 direct reports) and collaborate with central functions.
• Manage external partners and suppliers to meet project deliverables.
• Oversee store/project budgets and report financial position monthly.
• Present detailed project reports and KPIs for senior stakeholders.

Skills

Event Production

Project Management

Leadership

Budget Management

Stakeholder Management

Communication

Strategic Thinking

Relationship Building

Problem Solving

Job description

A Senior Events Manager for our Manchester and Birmingham Flagship Stores, you’ll develop and produce a programme of market leading events, projects and customer engagement strategies that ensure our customers receive the most personal extraordinary experiences and tailored communications across all touchpoints.

Based in Manchester, and visiting Birmingham store regularly, you’ll deliver on multiple, simultaneous, complex projects, whilst managing various stakeholders and working with teams across the business. The role will involve working with the regional and central events teams to deliver events and experiences to retain our existing customers and acquire new.

You won’t be afraid to push the boundaries, ensuring that Selfridges remains a leader in experiences. You will be an excellent communicator who will keep everyone up to speed and will bring teams and stakeholders on the journey with you along the way.

You will provide strong and supportive leadership to the Experiences team across our flagship cities, whilst also collaborating with central functions including our creative, VIP and membership teams. You will ensure that we continue to deliver market leading events that strategically drive engagement with our customers, acting as an influential ‘voice’ to ensure that objectives are clearly articulated and understood.

As the Senior Events Manager, you will:

• Lead on the curation, development and delivery of strategic projects, events & experiences across Manchester Trafford, Exchange and Birmingham while also working with the wider Events & Experience team to support with the development and delivery of programming.
• Produce, Project Manage and Deliver events and activities to an exceptionally high standard.
• Build relationships and collaborate with both our B + M and retail teams to deliver a programme of exceptional brand experience across both Manchester and Birmingham, to drive sales and VIP engagement.
• Work directly with key leads within the store and creative teams to produce a comprehensive, strategy led programme of events which are appropriate for each individual store and their unique needs.
• Provide strong leadership and guidance to support the Events and Experiences teams across our flagship cities, line managing 3 direct reports.
• Build strong relationships and rapport with the SLT within each respective store location to deliver experiences in line with commercial opportunities and business needs.
• Brief direct customer communications in collaboration with the customer marketing team ensuring that our customers are effectively informed of event and experience information and booking details.
• Attend and be a considered voice within project meetings and communicate effectively across the business with all project stake-holders in Customer, Communications, Creative, Buying, Finance, Legal and Retail Operations Teams with senior stakeholders
• Manage conversations and relationships with external partners and suppliers to ensure that project deliverables are met
• Manage store and project budgets, across multiple cost centres, and effectively monitor and report finance, raise POs and manage suppliers. Report on financial position to Store Directors on a monthly basis.
• Provide production and technical expertise to support teams and share knowledge
• Manage internal business stakeholders such as Marketing, Personal Shopping, Buying, Graphics, Visual Projects, Visual Merchandising and Retail Operations to ensure projects are briefed and delivered seamlessly
• Utilise strong leadership skills to support the team to develop event and project proposals to ensure they reflect the Selfridges vision and are market leading
• Ensure that Senior Leadership teams receive regular updates regarding all planned activity and act upon feedback where appropriate
• Generate and present detailed project reports analysing status and KPIs for senior audiences including Directors.

A bit about you

• Extensive Event Production and Event Project Management experience
• Proven experience leading high performing and successful teams (internal and external)
• Exceptionally good networker and people manager who possesses effective leadership and mentoring skills
• Possess strong financial acumen with budget tracking and reporting experience
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Excellent presentation, pitching skills
• Creative flair and a commitment to quality programming
• Strong organisational skills, being able to manage multiple projects at the same time
• Has the ability to work under pressure calmly and effectively, and to tight deadlines
• Solid experience working in Events / Programming & Communications (preferably fashion, cultural sector with retail experience and knowledge)
• Experience managing teams and partners
• Experience working with Brands and across various Event formats
• Strategic thinker, with the ability to prioritise
• Extremely comfortable in a fast paced environment
• Used to taking initiative – a proactive self-starter
• Excellent ability to build strong working relationships across a diverse range of functions
• Ability to influence and gain the trust and respect of people at all levels quickly
• Able to communicate clearly, articulately, and persuasively
• Able to problem solve/be reactive when required, providing innovative and creative solutions