Local Events & Community Specialist in Southampton

ABOUT THE ROLE

We’re looking for a creative, community-focused Local Events & Community Specialist to turn our branch into a vibrant hub for events and social impact. Are you passionate about bringing people together and making a real difference in your local area?

In this role, you’ll be the face of our community effort by bringing national campaigns to life locally and building a brand reputation that people truly care about.In addition to your contractual pay, any time worked between 22:00 - 06:00 will attract Night Premium at a rate of £4.25 per hour. This will also apply to existing Partners who have enrolled onto Enhanced Hours Premium arrangements.

Key Responsibilities

Day-to-day you will be responsible for:

• Executing a high-energy calendar of local events and brand experiences.
• Leading our social impact programs and manage charity donations with heart and efficiency.
• Working closely with central teams and local stakeholders to make sure every activity is relevant to your community.
• Inspiring our internal Partners to get involved and take pride in our local initiatives.

Essential skills/experience you’ll need

• Experience in activating events and/or community plans
• Managing various stakeholders including third parties
• Customer facing or customer service experience
• Prioritising, organising and planning multiple activities and projects at the same time

Desirable skills/experience you may have

• Delivery of events within a retail environment
• Experience with delivering relevant marketing activity
• Understanding of social impact, local community needs and charities and/or community groups
• Delivery of brand experiences to drive customer engagement and/or brand buzz
• Experience working in agile and cross-matrixed organisations

Closing Date:

September 29, 2026

Pay:

£28,400.00 - £34,400.00 Annual

Contract Type:

Permanent

Hours of Work:

Varied hours of part time work (20 hours a week) across seven days to include early starts, late finishes, evenings and weekends.

Job Level:

Partnership Level 9

Where You’ll Be Working:

Southampton (John Lewis & Partners), West Quay Shopping Centre, Southampton, Hampshire, SO15 1QA

ABOUT THE PARTNERSHIP

We’re the largest employee owned business in the UK and home of our cherished brands, John Lewis and Waitrose. We’re not just employees, we’re Partners, driven by our purpose to build a happier world. As we look to our future, there’s never been a more exciting time to join us.

We’re ruthlessly focused on being brilliant at retail. We continue to innovate, adapt and diversify. Never Knowingly Undersold on price, quality and service in John Lewis and passionately serving food-lovers in Waitrose.

As Partners we all share the responsibility of ownership and in its rewards. We use our voices to contribute to our success, working together through the good and challenging times, holding true to our behaviours and treating everyone with kindness and respect.

We all own making the Partnership somewhere we belong. Embracing our differences and creating an environment where we’re free to be ourselves and can THRIVE. Growing ourselves individually, and as a collective.

As Partners, we make all the difference. And, we all own it.

Important points to note:

It’s important to note that some of our roles are subject to pre-employment vetting (which may include DBS checks for successful candidates). If required, you’ll be informed and provided with information about vetting during the recruitment process and we encourage you to complete any vetting documents quickly to avoid delays. Any DBS checks required will be carried out by a third-party registered body and financial probity checks may also be required for some of our roles.

We want all of our Partners to have a good work-life balance and we support flexible working. This might mean flexible or compressed hours, job sharing or shorter hour contracts, where possible. Please discuss this further with the hiring manager during your interview.