Head of Content – student events
Department:    Summits & Events
Status:    ASAP 
Location:    Red Lion Square, Holborn, London
Reporting to:    Content Director=

What we Offer

• Competitive Salary
• Private Medical Insurance
• Generous Holiday Allowance
• Cycle to Work Scheme
• Opportunities to Travel

Job overview

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an education events professional (or an education journalist or content marketing specialist looking to broaden their career) to join Times Higher Education’s thriving events team to develop the concepts and content to deliver and host an ambitious new series of on-line events for students.  

Times Higher Education is the leading global authority on university performance, and publisher of the THE World University Rankings. It has a global audience of many millions of students, seeking data, advice and support in helping them chose a university and study programme. THE is now investing in an exciting new comprehensive student proposition, including an ambitious new global series of on-line events for students, their families and student support services.

The new student-facing programme of events will sit alongside an established and highly prestigious series of global summits and forums designed for university leaders and policymakers, featuring Nobel laureates, leading global thinkers, university presidents and government representatives.

Reporting to the Chief Knowledge Offer within THE’s events team, but working closely with THE’s Chief Development Officer and editorial team members, the Head of Content – Student Events, will be responsible for conceiving event content themes, and for end-to-end content delivery by researching compelling themes and discussion topics and producing innovative programmes and engaging and recruiting  relevant and highly compelling speakers. 

The ideal candidate will be passionate about higher education, study abroad, student life and consumer affairs, and would have an established expertise, or would rapidly develop an expertise, in providing trusted, expert guidance on international education – for example around university decision-making, international student recruitment, admissions, university rankings and performance metrics, accommodation,  financing, scholarships and study visas/immigration etc. 

The candidate would be very comfortable and ideally experienced with public speaking and hosting and chairing events in front of large audiences, and also be comfortable with potential television and media work, and would be required to develop a personal brand as a leading, trusted authority on for students making perhaps the most important decision of their lives – who to trust with their higher education.

You must have at least five years’ experience of successfully producing events or creating compelling content relating to the education sector – or the equivalent experience in a closely related industry, and demonstrate clear transferrable skills. You’ll need to be used to a fast-paced environment, work independently within a hard-working team, be an innovative thinker and have the ability to research compelling content and discover the best speakers. You will have a creative approach to be able to spot opportunities that add value and enhance the experience of our stakeholders. You’ll need to be confident talking to senior leaders and stakeholders, such as sponsoring partners. 

Key Responsibilities

Programme research and development 

• Conduct research with a variety of stakeholders to create high-quality event programmes that include compelling subjects for discussion 
• Work in partnership with hosts and commercial partners to shape programmes to their objectives
• Collaborate with the wider THE team to identify opportunities on event programmes that support the wider business portfolio
• Collaborate with the sponsorship team to support the engagement of potential business partnerships at our events
• Collaborate with the student editorial team and partnership teams to support the overall development of the student business
• Participation in meetings with host partners. Client liaison skills are a must

Content delivery

• Recruit compelling, engaging and high-quality speakers to participate in events
• Ensure event programmes are compelling and thoughtful to attract speakers and delegates to attend 
• Draft ‘best practice’ speaker briefs on the event themes and discussions
• Verify speaker submitted presentations prior to each event and ensure they are appropriate
• Ensure that all speakers involved in THE’s events portfolio have a positive experience through its high quality speaker liaison
• Co-ordination of speakers and other key stakeholders, virtual  stage management and liaison with AV team to ensure a seamless production
• Host, chair events and moderate panel discussions, as the public face of the student events activities, alongside key senior colleagues at THE

Driving attendance, marketing and prospect management 

• Write compelling programme abstracts and website copy to help market our events
• Clarify the event value proposition for interested parties 
• Contribute to the production of effective marketing collateral 
• Engage with key influencers of the market and generate interest in the event 
• Support THE’s events engagement strategy to build a community of partners around our events 
• Identify potential fringe event and collaboration opportunities which support strategically supports the host partners and commercial educational partners 

Media work

• Develop personal, publicly recognized and trusted expertise in offering independent advice and guidance to students – become a known authority
• Write articles and blogs for THE’s student to build engagement
• Be prepared to contribute as a source of trusted independent advice on student affairs to other media – through interviews and articles
• Actively support the THE student proposition’s social media activity to improve engagement  

Experience and Skills Required

• Five years of proven experience successfully producing international events, ideally within the higher education sector
• Quick to grasp concepts and understand the value proposition for different event stakeholders
• Confident and talented independent self-starter who is able to hit the ground running
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to work with senior leaders from government, academia and industry
• Commercially astute and entrepreneurial outlook in order to work on commercial events
• Experience of work with media and communications
• Ability to work to agreed deadlines, working well under pressure
• Excellent planning and organisational skills in order to manage and prioritise workload
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including spelling, grammar and proofreading, with the ability to tailor style and approach to suit a variety of global audiences
• Passionate about international student mobility, study abroad and the international student journey
• MS Office essential – Word, Excel and PowerPoint
• Flexibility to travel overseas to events
• Educated to a degree level 

The Company 

THE World University Insights Ltd, publisher of Times Higher Education, is the data provider underpinning university excellence in every continent across the world. As the company behind the world’s most influential university ranking, and with almost five decades of experience as a source of analysis and insight on higher education, we have unparalleled expertise on the trends underpinning university performance globally. Our data and benchmarking tools are used by many of the world’s most prestigious universities to help them achieve their strategic goals. 

For more information on Times Higher Education please visit http://www.timeshighereducation.com.