Venue Manager

Are you an experienced conference, events or venue professional ready to take the next step in your career? Do you thrive in fast-paced environments, enjoy leading people, and take pride in delivering outstanding customer experiences?

We’re looking for a Venue Manager to join our Conferences & Venues (C&V) team at The University of Manchester – a role offering real variety, responsibility and the chance to make a visible impact across a diverse portfolio of venues and events.

About This Role

As Venue Manager, you’ll play a pivotal operational role within our conference business venues, overseeing the day-to-day delivery of events while leading and developing a small, dedicated events and operations team.

You’ll ensure conferences and events are professionally planned, smoothly delivered and consistently exceed client expectations, from initial enquiry through to post-event delivery. Working closely with colleagues across Hospitality, Estates, IT and academic partners, you’ll be at the heart of a highly collaborative operation that supports events of regional, national and international level.

Due to the nature of events, working hours will vary (typically between 7am–7pm, Monday to Friday, with occasional weekend working).

You’ll focus on:

• Providing supportive, motivational leadership to a small Events and Operations team, fostering high standards of service, professionalism and engagement
• Ensuring all venue facilities and services are planned, prepared and delivered safely, efficiently and to agreed quality standards
• Working closely with Sales and Hospitality colleagues to maximise space utilisation and identify opportunities to upsell services
• Supporting recruitment, induction, training, performance management and wellbeing within your team
• Overseeing and monitoring Health & Safety (H&S) requirements within your venues

About You

You’ll be a confident and organised events or venue professional who enjoys leading others and taking ownership of operational delivery. You’ll bring:

• A qualification in Events Management (or equivalent professional experience within conferences, venues or hospitality)
• Strong knowledge of the conference, events or hospitality sector, including current operational and commercial challenges
• Experience of leading teams and delivering high-quality customer service in a busy, customer-facing environment
• A sound working knowledge of Health & Safety requirements relevant to venue and event operations
• Excellent communication skills, with the confidence to work with a wide range of clients and stakeholders
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to manage competing priorities and deadlines

What you’ll get in return

You’ll feel valued as a Venue Manager at The University of Manchester, receiving access to exclusive rewards and benefits including:

• Generous annual leave, starting at 23 days (plus Bank Holidays)
• Annual closure for Christmas and New Year
• A pension scheme with generous employer contributions.
• Subsidised car parking
• Access to a wide range of staff benefits, including discounts, wellbeing support, and development programme

Explore full benefits: www.manchester.ac.uk/connect/jobs/benefits-working-here

For any informal enquiries regarding this Venue Manager position, please contact Jane Pinder, Head of Conferences and Events. jane.pinder@manchester.ac.uk

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