Location: Craven Street with opportunity for hybrid working (see job profile for details)

Job level: Level C2 – Head (Operational)

Working hours: Three days, 21 hours per week, with flexibility to work additional hours/days as needed

Duration: Maternity cover up to one year, with review in 9 months, possibility of extension

The College of Optometrists (The College) is the professional body for optometry. It qualifies the profession and delivers the guidance and development to ensure optometrists provide the best possible care. We promote excellence through the College’s affixes, by building the evidence base for optometry, and raising awareness of the profession with the public, commissioners, and healthcare professionals.

We are looking for a proactive, energetic, resourceful, and creative Event Development and Delivery Specialist to develop and deliver The College’s flagship conference in 2026. The conference, typically a mix of plenary sessions, discussion and hands-on workshops, networking and exhibition hall has taken place over two days and draws an audience of c900. For 2026, we are looking to do things a little differently and there are currently two proposals, both with the remit to elevate the standing of the College conference, and to increase delegate numbers. As in previous years, we may also partner with key organisations in the sector to widen the reach and encourage multi-disciplinary learning.

This role, while having a significant amount of autonomy, will work with the Director of Membership, Marketing and Communications (MMC), collaborate across all departments within the College, and be supported by the Events team when necessary. It will also be responsible for leading a Programme Group, made up of College staff, members, partner organisations and stakeholders, to advise on topics, themes and content.

This is an excellent opportunity for a highly experienced Event Specialist to work to their full capability to develop and deliver an outstanding healthcare conference, utilising their extensive creativity, negotiation and project management skills.

While the conference is the significant focus for this role, there are two other areas which we would like to enlist the expertise of this post holder:

• We will agree a new 5 year organisational strategy this year, and would want this role to work with the Senior Events Manager and Director of MMC to show how events will support this strategy.
• We have begun a project for events to assess and develop what data we collect, why, where it’s stored and how it’s visualised and used to support membership recruitment and retention, as well as event development. We’d like this role to work with the Director of MMC and other colleagues to progress this work, including feeding specifications into potential new tech systems to ensure we collect, process and use data effectively and efficiently.

Reporting to the Director of Membership, Marketing and Communications, the principal activities the role holder will be responsible for are (please see job profile for more detail):

• agreeing the vision, aspirations and success metrics for the conference
• agreeing partnership terms
• leading a programme panel of College staff, members, partners and stakeholders
• developing a comprehensive plan and schedule of activity needed to deliver the conference
• preparing a detailed conference budget, agreed by key stakeholders within the College
• planning and sourcing the programme and content
• leading the negotiations for the venue and all related suppliers
• organising the event booking platform and data collection
• planning, scheduling and briefing event staff, both professionals and College staff volunteers
• preparing sponsorship and exhibitor packages
• agreeing the key marketing messages, audiences and incentives; with the communication plan and execution delivered by the Marketing Team
• delivering an outstanding conference.
• Advising and supporting on event planning to meet the College’s new 5 year strategy
• Progressing the data project to ensure that we effectively and efficiently capture and use event data to support College needs.

Successful candidates would need to demonstrate the following skills, experience and knowledge:

• Experience of leading, creating and implementing large-scale conferences, including project planning, budgeting, scheduling, and on-time delivering.
• Experience creating and managing conference and project budgets autonomously.
• Experience of leading successful multi-stakeholder groups for large scale events.
• Excellent creative skills to develop and deliver unique and engaging event content/programme.
• Excellent leadership skills with demonstrable experience of leading a diverse team across a range of functions.
• A collaborative working style, able to build effective working relationships with a diverse range of colleagues and stakeholders at all levels.
• Experience of the production of reports and statistics for management information purposes.
• Experience of using CRMs, event management booking systems and online event platforms.

A copy of the full job description summarising the key activities and full list of essential requirements can be downloaded from here. In return, we offer a variety of benefits including a generous pension plan, life assurance and a health care cash plan. The College has a TOIL policy and provides time off for events taking place during the evening and weekends.

Application deadline:              19th March 2025 at 12noon

Interview date:                        24th March 2025

Second interview:                   31th March/1st April 2025

Equality and inclusion

The College is committed to providing equal opportunities in employment and to avoiding unlawful discrimination. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, valuing the differences that a diverse workforce brings to the organisation. In support of this we follow a fair recruitment process in which shortlisting and other recruitment decisions are made on the basis of skills, competencies and experience demonstrated in the application and interview process.

If you require a reasonable adjustment to be made to support your application due to a disability or other condition, please let us know.

Additional Information

Typical working hours at the College are 9 am to 5 pm (7 hours, excluding lunch) working three days a week. We operate a flexible working window from 8 am to 6 pm where you can vary your start and end time (working a 7 hour day). This role is flexible and can be worked over a variety of working patterns.
We also offer hybrid working (a mixture of home and office working). Typically College staff will work around 20 – 40% of their time at the workplace (whether this is the office at Craven St, or a face to face meeting, exam or event at another business related site or organisation) per week.

To apply for the position, please send your CV and a cover letter no later than the closing date below clearly demonstrating how you meet the requirements of the role. When applying, kindly mention that you saw this role on MemberWise Jobs Board.