Event Manager (Maternity Cover - Fixed Term Contract for 10 Months)

We are a not-for-profit organisation committed to increasing the diversity and numbers of young people entering engineering and technology to meet the future workforce needs, as well as promoting roles that help us work towards net zero and drive environmental sustainability.

We’re looking for an experienced Event Manager to plan, manage and implement delivery of our Big Bang Fair, Tomorrow’s Engineering Live and Big Bang at Parliament STEM events for young people. This is an exciting role, delivering a variety of events for different audiences, including our showcase event, The Big Bang Fair, which welcomes 20,000+ young people to the NEC, Birmingham, for three days of hands-on STEM inspiration. You’ll work within a high performing team and work closely with other colleagues across the whole organisation. You will ensure that our events are successful and that we meet our targets such as connecting with a diversity of schools and that our events are impactful.

This is a maternity cover role and we are happy to talk to you about your preferred working hours/days. You would need to be available for our events.

About the role

This role will lead the delivery and implementation of The Big Bang Fair (9-11 June 2026), Tomorrow’s Engineers Live (likely February 2027), Big Bang at Parliament (November 2026) and other EngineeringUK events as required. The Event Manager will ensure that we deliver against Key Performance Indicators or KPIs, engage with a diversity of schools or stakeholders and improve the impact of these events.

The role will report into the Associate Director of Engagement Projects and will work closely to support the delivery of the events portfolio, whilst also working alongside many other internal colleagues such as the Business and Industry, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI), Careers, Communications and Evaluation teams. You will also work collaboratively with the wider engineering, education and STEM community as well as stakeholders funding our events and agencies supporting delivery.

You’ll plan, manage and implement the delivery of EngineeringUK events including establishing internal project teams and managing a schedule of project meetings, monitoring and reporting on progress, sourcing and liaising with venues to ensure a successful event. You will ensure that events have a smooth event booking/registration process and deliver events to time and on budget.

You’ll work with suppliers managing relationships and budgets and build and maintain positive relationships with all stakeholders. You’ll work collaboratively with teams across the organisation such as communications, stakeholder management, evaluation, content development, our head of equity, diversity and inclusion and policy and public affairs colleagues, to name just a few!

The role is London based at our office at 10 Lower Thames Street, London EC3R 6EN and will involve some travel in the UK. We believe that hybrid working has many benefits and are pleased to offer flexible working with a minimum of 2 days (or 40%) a week in the office and the option for a flexible start and end to the working day in our vibrant central London office overlooking the Thames.

Further details on our flexible working practices can be discussed at interview or you can reach out to a member of our HR team.

About EngineeringUK

Our purpose is to drive change so more young people choose engineering and technology careers. Our vision is that the UK has the diverse workforce needed for engineering and technology to thrive and drive economic prosperity, improve sustainability and to achieve net zero. Our mission is to enable more young people from all backgrounds to be informed, inspired and progress into engineering and technology.

In the UK, we don’t have enough engineers and demand is going up. So, we need more young people to realise there could be a future for them in engineering and technology. To really thrive, we need a stronger, more diverse and representative workforce and for that we have to do things differently to make engineering more appealing.

We are a not-for-profit working with hundreds of organisations across business, education, professional institutions and the third sector so we can all grow the future talent pool together. We drive that collective effort through research and evidence, leadership, activities for schools and advocacy, with a focus on long-term sustainability.

We are guided by a series of values that we apply to all our activity:

• We are inclusive and care about diversity. We understand that we have different needs and create opportunities for everyone's voice to be heard.
• We are collaborative. We listen, share and work in partnership to achieve our vision.
• We are curious and keen to learn. We challenge ourselves and others to innovate and experiment.
• We are insightful. We evaluate what we do and draw on research to make decisions and to improve our collective understanding.
• We are driven by a strong sense of purpose. We are determined to make an impact and achieve our goals.

About you

Essential Skills / Competencies

• Proven event management experience, with ability to measure and monitor performance against deliverables.
• Experience of managing external agencies, including contract management skills.
• Excellent project management skills and ability to work within a matrix management approach.
• Excellent communication, stakeholder management and relationship building skills.
• Strong attention to detail, ensuring that high levels of quality are achieved within deadlines and to budget.
• Experience of supporting digital projects associated with event delivery such as registration systems and exhibitor portals.
• Understanding of safeguarding and GDPR requirements.
• Ability to think creatively and innovatively whilst working under pressure.
• Ability to work independently and flexibly within a rapidly changing environment.

Education / level of experience

You will have at least 2 years event management experience.

EngineeringUK is committed to being an inclusive workplace, where everyone feels they belong. This is supported by the dedicated work we are doing to ensure our policies and practices are inclusive and that our staff are trained to be able to fulfil this commitment.

We value the benefits of a diverse workforce and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and experiences. Our recruitment process is designed to be as accessible and inclusive as possible and to ensure people are individually assessed regardless of their backgrounds or characteristics.

We are an equal opportunities employer and are open to flexible working, including job share.

Applying for this role

If you would like to request to submit your application in an alternative format to support accessibility, please let us know. We want to hear your voice and experience in your application. We acknowledge that you may use AI tools to polish a response, but your application should reflect your experience and voice. All applications are reviewed and scored by our human hiring team. Our system flags responses that it judges to be AI generated and your application may be disregarded if we feel it has been completely AI generated.

The deadline for applications is 12:00 noon on Thursday 24 March 2026. Interviews will be held week commencing 30 March 2026.

What can we offer you?

• Competitive salary
• 28 days paid annual leave (plus bank holidays), in addition we normally close for the Christmas week
• Competitive pension (10% employer contribution)
• Annual bonus opportunity
• Flexible working
• A vibrant office with terrace overlooking the Thames embankment and Tower Bridge
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Life Insurance (4 x salary)
• Cycle to Work Scheme
• Long term illness/incapacity insurance cover (permanent health insurance or PHI)
• Annual private health check for employees
• Discounted gym membership
• Yearly flu vaccination