Unique Venues of London
Jun 27, 2025
Full time
Home Jobs Venue Hire & Events Manager - The Guards Musuem Venue Hire & Events Manager - The Guards Musuem Location: Guards Museum, London SW1 (on-site) Benefits: 33 days leave, including bank holiday entitlement; NEST pension (8% employer contribution); participation in bonus scheme; health cash plan. Core hours: 0830 to 1630, five days a week Circumstances: Post will involve regular evenings, occasional weekends, bank holidays, and early mornings and late evenings as and when required by the events schedule Reporting to: Museum Director Role Summary: The Guards Museum, London, is seeking a Venue Hire & Events Manager to join our small, dynamic team, with responsibility for establishing and driving forward a new venue hire offer and maximising the profitability of special events. In this role you will also investigate and deliver other profitable commercial opportunities and experiences. From selling our unique museum space, to planning and marketing a packaged event, to delivering internal events; this is a multi-faceted role, and you'll have a broad remit in a small organisation. The ideal candidate will have an entrepreneurial mindset, with demonstrable experience selling venue hire and managing events, and other commercial activity. You'll have a solutions-focussed approach, comfortable with rolling your sleeves up to get things done; confident engaging with, and selling to, a wide variety of current and prospective event and hire clients; and well-versed in liaising with a range of key stakeholders. It's an exciting time to join the museum, as we invest in technology, digital and infrastructure to revitalise our brand, extend our reach and profile and build engagement and audiences. We are commercially focussed, with ambitious plans to grow visitor numbers, expand our offer and diversify our income portfolio. Venue hire and events is a key strand of our 5-year plan, and you'll lead the development of our new venue hire offer, implement commercial events processes, and scope other commercial opportunities to meet stretching financial targets. Responsibilities: Effectively manage and cultivate relationships with existing and prospective clients, providing an outstanding customer experience and encouraging new and repeat business Establish and promote relationships with venue-finding organisations, corporate clients, the local business community and key regimental and divisional contacts Manage client site visits, showcasing spaces and services to maximise conversion to sales Develop and implement an effective commercial events and venue hire marketing strategy, working closely with the Coordinator: Collections & Marketing to deliver effectively Benchmark the Museum's events offer with comparable venues to ensure an attractive, competitive, and profitable offer is maintained Develop a strong knowledge of the Museum, the Guards, and the Changing of the Guard Ceremony in order to effectively represent and promote the Museum Investigate, develop and market other commercial income streams, including bespoke tours, museum experiences and travel trade packages Event planning and management Implement and deliver the Venue Hire and Events Plan, working with museum colleagues to develop our venue hire offer and improve profitability of special events Effectively plan, deliver and manage all commercial and internal events, developing administrative processes and operational procedures, including risk assessments, bookings and diary management, event schedules and set up, contracts, deposits and invoices, and post-event evaluation Support internal events and meetings with room set up and delivery/ service of refreshments Manage client and stakeholder feedback, promptly addressing and resolving issues to improve service quality Manage all supplier relationships, establishing and maintaining an approved supplier list; ensure supplier SLAs are consistently met Finance, administration and compliance Create and deliver an annual sales plan and strategy to maximise commercial opportunities Manage events income and expenditure budgets, and prepare and present reporting and analysis of activity against budget on a regular basis to key stakeholders Maintain accurate records for all events in compliance with GDPR, including bookings, financial records, client and prospect information Ensure that all contractual, technical, and logistical requirements for events are met, with appropriate licences, insurance, risk assessments and method statements in place Museum Operations Provide administrative support and holiday cover for the small museum team Support planning and delivery of public programme events when required Ensure all catering equipment is maintained and regularly serviced Person Specification: Proven sales experience in venue hire or hospitality Demonstrable event planning and operations experience Strong organisational and time management skills with impeccable attention to detail Resilient, adaptable, and proactive Able to work well on own initiative as well as effectively as part of a team Experience of budget-setting and a proven record of achieving sales and profit targets Experience of new business development Marketing knowledge and experience: familiar with marketing principles to effectively promote events and commercial products Excellent interpersonal and verbal/written communication skills, able to build effective relationships with colleagues, suppliers, clients and key stakeholders Strong client management and customer service skills Excellent IT skills across all major MS Windows-based software packages Flexibility to work evenings and some weekends Experience of working in a museum or other unique venue Experience of managing external caterers and suppliers Personal licence holder About Us: The Guards Museum commemorates nearly 400 years of history of the five regiments of Foot Guards, who protect the Sovereign and the royal palaces. Founded to teach new recruits their Regimental heritage, it now enables a diverse audience to discover the soldiers' stories: a life of combat, peace-keeping and ceremonial duty. We strive to educate, inspire and connect visitors to the rich traditions of the Guards: fostering an understanding and appreciation of their pivotal role in our history, present and future. The Guards Museum is primarily self-funding, relying on income from visitors, events and private tours. Find out more Our Aims: Sharing the story of the Guards Continued financial sustainability Widening our reach and raising our profile Delivering memorable experiences Our values: Authentic : we share honest stories and real experiences Collaborative : we work closely with others, bringing together diverse skills and ideas Confident : we act with authority, sharing and seeking out knowledge and expertise Inclusive : we are open to all, embrace different perspectives and foster mutual respect Contact: Please send your CV and cover letter outlining your suitability for the role (no more than 750 words) , quoting reference VHEM. Closing date for applications is 9am on Monday 14th July 2025. Interviews are expected to take place on Tuesday 22nd July 2025. Due to the anticipated high volume of applications, we are unable to provide a response to applications on an individual basis. If you do not receive a response from us within two weeks of the closing date, then you can assume that you have not been successful on this occasion. We are committed to treating job applicants and employees fairly and equally throughout our operations, irrespective of sex, marital status, sexuality, gender identity, age, colour, race, nationality, religion, ethnic or national origin, disability, working pattern, educational or social background or Trade Union preference or activity. Unique Venues of London Henwood House Henwood Ashford TN24 8DH