Assistant General Manager - Events in Newcastle upon Tyne

Working week: 45 hours per week, working 5 out of 7 days by rota (variable). Weekends required.

Key Working Relationships: General Manager, Head office functions, Senior Management Team, Team leaders.

Welcome to Newcastle’s Newest Neighbourhood! Freight Island is one of the most exciting, forward-thinking and disruptive food markets in the world. It’s a game changer and more importantly, it has soul. Established in Manchester, Freight Island is bringing an exciting mix of culture, food, drinks and music to Newcastle. Sitting above the city and blurring the lines between a food hall and a festival, Freight’s unique set up reflects the times, the demographic and the city. An urban oasis where guests can enjoy delicious food, great drinks and live entertainment. We specialise in curating an evolving calendar of residencies and menus that span emerging local talent and nationally recognised names, keeping the experiences fresh and engaging.

The Assistant General Manager - Events will be responsible for the daily operations of the venue with a focus on events, financial reporting and strategic decision making. Ensuring strategic goals are met by setting operational policies, maintaining budgets and managing employees, you should have strong commercial thinking and exceptional planning, organisation, and collaboration skills. Ultimately you are responsible for ensuring the business is effective in achieving their goals.

You will need considerable experience with large scale venue management and event operations (min. 3 years), managing both general admission trade and programmed events. You will come from an event/nightlife background, such as festivals or multi-purpose music venues. You’ll be someone who genuinely cares about their working environment and has a solid understanding of licensing objectives, crowd management and safety procedures, is detail orientated and has a passion for our industry. You will bring a positive, can-do attitude to work every day and lead from the front.

Key Responsibilities:

• Work collaboratively with all department managers to make sure venue operations are running smoothly and in sync with one another, in the most appropriate and cost-effective way.
• Supporting the logistical planning and execution of assigned events to ensure they run smoothly and successfully.
• Maintain up-to-date knowledge of legal obligations and compliance relating to the business.
• Confident working in collaboration with stakeholders and senior leadership teams, and excellent at building relationships.
• Maintain full knowledge of all inner workings of the venue.
• Working closely with the Marketing team to ensure all event communications are filtered through all operational departments in good time.
• To promote and ensure the implementation of best practice within Freight Island and constantly look to improve processes and procedures.
• Assist in developing event budgets and track actual vs. projected expenses.
• Create security operation plan and share with stakeholders.
• Participating in pre-contract site visits when required to support planning and alignment.
• Be the promoter’s main point of contact.

The Specifics:

• Managing all event-related administration ahead of time, including gathering and organising key documents and details, and sharing this information promptly with all involved stakeholders.
• Applying operational best practices specific to the venue, ensuring these standards are consistently met.
• This includes sourcing quotes from preferred vendors, coordinating staffing needs, and overseeing on-the-day operations and briefings.
• Forming accurate projections for financial performance and managing Event P&Ls.
• Compiling a comprehensive post-event report and arranging debrief meetings with internal teams, external suppliers, and clients to evaluate event outcomes and identify areas for improvement.
• Maximise operational profitability by seeking opportunities to increase sales, managing inventory effectively, and controlling materials/wage costs.
• An understanding of programming and artist booking.

Venue Management:

• Maintain full knowledge of all inner workings of the venue.
• Reviewing and verifying documentation from clients and their contractors—such as Risk Assessments, Method Statements, event schedules, insurance coverage, and licenses—to confirm compliance with venue policies and procedures.
• Joining the dots between departments to ensure all functions of the business work together to deliver operations seamlessly.
• Perform quality controls.
• Maintaining strong relationships with security, staffing suppliers and other key stakeholders.
• Communicating changes in processes to all relevant parties.
• Ensuring all Company policies, standards, initiatives and requirements relating to the operation are upheld and fit for purpose, including licensing objectives, food & hygiene, H&S.
• Overseeing the timely return and completion of paperwork, ensuring it is being correctly completed by all departments and suppliers.
• Reporting any concerns regarding unsafe work practices for employees and advising RIDDOR accidents and EHO visits to the General Manager.
• Ensure the operational team conduct shift briefings to keep everyone informed of developments and changes daily.
• Ensure agency rotas are to budget, security staffing levels support efficient operations.
• Establish and consistently strive for the highest standard of staff performance and holding agencies accountable where standards are not met.
• Maintaining safe working conditions for all employees and a healthy, enjoyable working environment.
• Be a proud ambassador of our Company culture, creating a warm, inclusive and welcoming working environment.
• Leading from the front, supporting and uplifting staff members who may be new or in training.
• Ensure the success of your operational teams through leading positively by example.
• Set targets with clear standards and timescales.
• When required, support on managing staffing procedures, HR processes and team performance with support from the People & Talent Manager.

You must have:

• Min. 3 years of Venue & Event Management in a food & beverage environment.
• Previously held a management position in a similar large unique venue, large nightclub or festival environment.
• Experience in managing full site budgets.
• Personal Licence Holder.
• Ability to work under your own initiative.
• Confidence & competence with Microsoft Office, G-Suite, particularly Excel & Google Sheets.
• Confidence and willingness to make decisions and able to present the rationale driving them as the senior decision maker on site.
• Ability to identify, prioritise and resolve problems.
• Natural leadership skills.
• Confident working in collaboration with stakeholders and senior team, and excellent at building relationships.
• Knowledge of organisational effectiveness, efficiency, and ops management.

Nice to haves:

Interview Process: 1st Stage - Video call with our People & Talent Manager; 2nd Stage – Interview with our General Manager.