HYBRID / LOCATION (1 - 2 days/week in the office)
SALARY: £38,000 - 42,000

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 and our events series act as the home of higher education thought leadership around the world.

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced events Conference Producer to join the Times Higher Education global events team.

THE events discuss the future of higher education and the role of universities in addressing the biggest challenges facing society. Nobel laureates, leading global thinkers, university leaders and government representatives are typical speakers at our events.

You will be responsible end-to-end content delivery by researching compelling themes and discussion topics through phone and desk research and producing innovative programmes with world-class speakers. The ideal candidate will be passionate about global affairs and higher education and be prepared to proactively foster and build relationships with stakeholders across the sector.

You would have working experience of successfully producing events within 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, be an innovative thinker and have the ability to research and discover key topics and 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. 

Working with the Summits & Events team and across the wider business, you will play an important role in delivery our global events, in partnership with our host partners.

Key Responsibilities

Programme research and development

• Conduct phone and desk 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 Directors of Sponsorship and MD Events to support the engagement of potential business partnerships at our events
• Participation in meetings with host partners. Client liaison skills are a must

Content delivery

• Recruit senior level, high-quality speakers to participate
• 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
• On-site co-ordination of speakers and other key stakeholders, stage management and liaison with AV team to ensure a seamless production

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 around our events
• Identify potential fringe event and collaboration opportunities which support strategically supports the host partners and commercial educational partners

Experience and Skills Required

• Proven experience successfully producing international events, ideally within the higher education sector
• Confident and talented self-starter who can hit the ground running
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to work with senior leaders from government, NGOS, academia and industry
• Commercially astute and entrepreneurial outlook in order to work on commercial events
• Experience working 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 higher education and global affairs
• MS Office essential – Word, Excel and PowerPoint
• Experience of planning virtual events; moderating experience preferred
• Flexibility to travel overseas to events
• Ideally educated to a degree level

You do You
You do You. With colleagues located around the world, we know that our individuality and diversity of experiences are our greatest strengths. That’s why we want THE to be a place where you are welcome to be who you want to be at work; where you can share whatever part of your life or self-identity you want, without obligation or facing discrimination; and where all abilities and perspectives are recognised and accommodated.