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:

For any informal enquiries regarding this Venue Manager position, please contact Jane Pinder, Head of Conferences and Events.