Event Operations Manager in London

Agriconnect is the largest multi-platform agricultural information business in the UK. Our brands reach deeply into all the major agricultural sectors – arable, dairy, livestock, agricultural machinery, finance, and equipment. We take a farmer-centric approach to media. Agriconnect is a part of the Arc network. Arc is a B2B events, data, and media platform, backed by investment funds managed by EagleTree Capital. Founded to redefine business networking, Arc organises over 150 events a year and operates critical content platforms in HR technology, agriculture and food, financial services and investing and education technology. Arc has over 350 talented colleagues located in the U.S., U.K., Netherlands, and Singapore who focus on seeking out new ways to connect communities, wherever, whenever, or however people need to come together to grow their businesses.

The Operations Manager is responsible for leading the successful planning and delivery of a portfolio of large-scale exhibitions and events across Agriconnect and the wider Arc Network. This position plays a critical role in supporting business growth, including the launch of new events and scaling existing shows. You will implement high standards of health and safety across the events you work on. Feature builds, signage, rigging, IT, cleaning, staffing, AV, and all other supplier relationships are some examples of key day-to-day tasks. The role requires strong leadership, commercial awareness and the ability to manage complex operations across multiple locations and stakeholders, to the highest quality of delivery.

What you’ll be doing:

• Work with Head of Operations to lead the end-to-end operational delivery of a portfolio of large-scale exhibitions and events, ensuring on-time, on-budget and high-quality execution.
• Support the creation of operational plans, timelines, risk registers and delivery frameworks across multiple events.
• Oversee venue operations, floorplans, logistics, build/break, health & safety, signage, security and regulatory compliance.
• Help train and develop the Operations Assistant, creating a high-performing, accountable team culture.
• Plan and allocate resources across the portfolio to ensure efficient use of team capacity during peak delivery periods.
• Support the launch and scaling of new events, building repeatable processes and operational best practice.
• Manage key supplier and venue relationships, ensuring strong service delivery, value for money and performance against SLAs.
• Contribute to and monitor operational event budgets, driving cost management and identifying efficiencies to protect and improve margins.
• Ensure effective control and monitoring of health and safety standard, constantly pushing to ensure high quality standards are met or exceeded.
• Provide the best possible customer service for our customers and stakeholders.
• Manage the design and build of feature areas to specifications and budget.
• Work cross-functionally to support Sales, Marketing, Finance and Event Directors to align operational delivery with commercial objectives and customer experience.
• Drive standardisation, innovation and scalable processes to support portfolio growth and operational excellence.

What we’re looking for:

• Experience of operational planning and delivery for large scale events, managing venues, suppliers and compliance requirements.
• Ability to multitask and remain calm whilst managing numerous projects. Excellent time management skills.
• Excellent customer service skills.
• Strong leadership and people management skills.
• Excellent project management and organisational capability.
• Demonstrates strong commercial judgment and effective problem-solving skills.
• Takes pride in delivering outstanding attention to detail and accuracy.
• Strong stakeholder management and problem-solving skills.
• Calm and decisive under pressure.
• Strong team player, collaborative, adaptable.
• Growth mindset.
• IOSH Qualification beneficial but not essential.

Benefits:

• 25 days annual leave increasing to 27 after two years.
• An extra day off on your birthday.
• Matched pension contributions up to 6%.
• Employee Life Assurance x4 basic annual salary.
• Employee assistance programme.
• Employee Discount site.

As an equal opportunity employer we hire, develop and retain the best people regardless of their social background, age, sex, ethnicity, religion/belief or disability, and to make use of their talents. We value everyone as an individual. We recognise that everyone is different and have created a work environment where we treat everyone fairly and in a consistent way and promote a culture of respect and dignity, to create a company that’s the right fit for every person inside of it. We are excited by the incredible potential of AI and the innovative ways it can enhance the way we work. However, in our hiring process, we aim to get to know you. To stand out to our hiring managers, we encourage you to let your personality shine through, rather than relying on an AI-generated application. You are welcome to use AI as a writing assistant to help structure and articulate your thoughts. Please do not use it to generate fictional skills or experiences. Using AI responsibly can support your application, but your application must ultimately represent you.