PROGRAMME DIRECTOR - EDUCATION WORLD FORUM
HYBRID / LONDON (1 - 2 days/week in the office)
SALARY: £55,000 - 60,000 

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 to join the Times Higher Education (THE) and Education World Forum (EWF) teams as Programme Director for EWF.

For 20 years, EWF has provided a forum for education and skills ministers from across the globe to share best practice and discuss solutions to common challenges. It comprises of three days of sessions featuring policymakers and experts, with many sessions given by ministers themselves as part of an honest assessment of the state of global education.

The Programme Director will be responsible for the programme, speakers and delivery formats across the three-days. This is to include the main programme and oversight of wraparound programmes and partner sessions. Reporting to the Director of Global Events, and working in close collaboration with the EWF team, you will be responsible for end-to-end content delivery. You will be expected to encourage innovation and improvement from previous events and oversee the project in partnership with government stakeholders. The ideal candidate will be passionate about global education, education policy and innovation and be prepared to proactively foster and build relationships with stakeholders across the sector.

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 and managing high-profile speakers and delegates.

Key Responsibilities

• Oversee work in partnership with government stakeholders to produce a high quality programme that appeals to an international audience of education ministers and their delegations
• Project leadership throughout the event lifecycle, ensuring programme development meets deadlines in accordance with event work plan
• Collaborate with the sales and sponsorship teams to support engagement with corporate sponsors and curate their content to align with the overall event programme
• Manage stakeholder meetings and communicate clear agendas, outcomes and next steps for all parties. Stakeholder management skills are a must.
• Research, invite and confirm senior level, high-quality speakers to participate and ensure quality is consistent and balanced, with an eye to diversity in all respects.
• Draft ‘best practice’ speaker briefs on the event themes and discussions and provide moderator and panel briefings pre-event
• On-site co-ordination of speakers and other key stakeholders, stage management and liaison with AV team to ensure a seamless production
• Write compelling programme abstracts and website copy
• Clarify the event value proposition for interested parties

Experience and Skills required

• Extensive experience in the education sector, ideally with editorial, policy or events experience
• 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
• 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 high-profile global audiences
• Passionate about international education and global affairs
• MS Office essential – Word, Excel and PowerPoint
• Educated to a degree level

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