Conference & Event Coordinator

The post holder will play a vital role within Conference and Events and will be responsible for identifying, selling and delivering a professional event management service across a range of venues. 
The role will cover a wide variety of tasks essential to delivering large scale and high profile events and cover a range of residential conferences, through social functions to day events and exhibitions. You will have a specific focus on events held on the main campus and the current hotel and will be key in continuing the development of our diverse product range. Establishing, building and maintaining long lasting relationships with clients will be an important part of the role. 

The ideal candidate will have prior experience of coordinating and/or administering events and of delivering excellent customer service, and will possess excellent communication and organisational skills. 
Along with a representative from Sales you will be responsible for showing the event facilities to prospective organisers and you will be expected to identify opportunities to upsell services. You will need to be confident with excellent communication and presentation skills. 

The post holder will liaise with colleagues across all of Hospitality and Accommodation Services and other University departments, as well as external service providers to manage and ensure all the customers' requirements are delivered. Attention to detail is important as we expect you to ensure all of our customers receive a high quality experience. Documenting all client details accurately on the booking system is essential, as this will ensure we are able to build and maintain up to date client records. 

The post holder will need to be financially aware as maximising income generated through the allocation of facilities and services is crucial. Customer service skills are a necessity as we take great pride in our high level of delivering customer excellence. 

Person Specification 

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience 

• Educated to GCSE/O level 
• Knowledge of Microsoft office, excel and data base systems. Experience of using Kinetics is desirable. 
• Excellent customer service skills 
• Experience in events and/or project management work 
• Excellent attention to detail with high standards of accuracy 
• Must be able to work as part of a team as well as using own initiative 
• Ability to develop appropriate solutions to any issues faced, with a calm and proactive attitude 
• Must be able to communicate effectively at all levels, demonstrating strong verbal and written skills 
• Strong negotiation and problem solving skills 
• Able to analysis numerical and financial data 
• Excellent organisational skills including the ability to prioritise tasks and work to deadlines 
• Enthusiastic and committed 
• Confident and outgoing 
• Must demonstrate a can-do-attitude 
• Ability to adapt easily 

Planning and organising 

• To prioritise own work activities to deliver specific goals, ensuring agreed strategy policies and business plans are implemented. 
• Responsible for own accounts and records with accurate and detailed account of event information. 
• Prioritise own time to manage workloads to ensure timely production of client information and delivery of events. 
• Problem solving and decision making 
• Dealing with complex customer enquiries and advising on suitable venue(s) and services. 
• Identifying and solving day to day operational problems with or without advice. 

Internal and external relationships 

• The post holder will be required to develop and maintain a professional working relationship with the team, clients and stakeholders