Events Officer

Position description

The Joint Secretariat of the URBACT IV programme is looking for a creative Events Officer to organise and deliver large-scale, ‘out of the box’, impactful and memorable in-person, virtual or hybrid events mainly for representatives of European cities.

Missions and tasks

Event organisation

• Keep a timeline of all programme events until the end of URBACT IV;
• Plan the organisation of major communications events as outlined above with Gantt;
• Chart or other planning tools;
• Identify locations and venues that can host the URBACT events following specifications and needs;
• Identify suitable digital formats responding to the needs identified should the event be digital;
• Organise taskforce meetings with members of the URBACT Secretariat, experts, and when relevant URBACT’s external events agency, to co-design the content and format of the event;
• Draft communication campaigns for the events;
• Steer and coordinate with the URBACT’s external events agency that contributes to the delivery of the event (with logistics, graphic identity, renting venue, etc.);
• Coordinate with other external service providers linked to the organisation of the events;
• Follow up the logistics, graphic identity, internal and external communication;
• Make sure that the URBACT events are as low carbon as possible and keep record of the carbon impact of events over time;
• Make sure that the budget set for each event is respected;
• Report to the Head of Unit about progress made in the organisation of events and brief the members of the URBACT Secretariat about state of play;
• Report on the events’ activities and results to the URBACT Monitoring Committee, the Presidency of the EU council when requested;
• Produce news/communication materials for the URBACT website and other digital channels on the activities and results of each event once it’s over;

Contribution to the programme communication activities

In addition to events, the successful candidate can be requested to contribute the programme’s communication activities, and in particular to:

• Contribute to external events with submission of applications, stands, etc. (for example European Week for Regions and Cities);
• Ensure smooth, timely and reliable communication within the team, with other technical teams and with event participants;
• Design of visuals (GIFs, short videos, infographics) for communication materials for the programme activities (events, publications, presentations of the programme);
• Draft articles for the URBACT programme to present different activities;
• Present the URBACT programme and activities to external events;
• Support URBACT beneficiaries and National URBACT Points in the organisation of their local, network, and national events (with training workshops, online presentations, guides, tools, etc.);
• Support the members of the URBACT Secretariat in the organisation of small- scale meetings with the URBACT beneficiaries or National URBACT Points;
• Contribute to the conception of communication and knowledge activities and events (for example policy labs);
• Support with the implementation of social media strategy;
• Moderate or facilitate workshops or panels.

Programme implementation

• Contribute to the preparation, implementation and follow up of the decisions of the URBACT IV Monitoring Committee related to communication activities;
• Monitor the events’ budget;
• Meet and monitor the output and results indicators set in the URBACT IV cooperation programme, such as: ‘number of participants in programme- level events aimed at knowledge sharing” and number of people with increased URBACT knowledge due to their participation in programme level events aimed at knowledge sharing”;
• Report to the URBACT Monitoring Committee about the progress on events two or three times per year, with written and oral presentations;
• Contribute to the production of the annual implementation reports in accordance with European Commission requirements;
• Fulfil other competence-related duties assigned by the Director/Head of unit as resulting from the mission and needs of the URBACT programme.

Qualifications & experience

• A degree in communications and/or events organisation;
• At least 2 years of experience in organizing large-scale events, preferably in a European or international environment;
• Experience using online project management and brainstorming tools;
• Project management experience, coordinating and negotiating with external suppliers;
• Excellent knowledge of Microsoft Office and the ability to learn new systems rapidly;
• Experience in another EU programme will be an advantage, as well as knowledge of EU communication rules, EU institutions, urban affairs;
• Experience with graphic design (Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, Canvas, etc.) and ability to produce in-house graphics will be an advantage.

Languages

• Fluency in English (both written and spoken);
• Knowledge of French or other EU languages is appreciated.

Skills and abilities

• Excellent communications skills (both oral and written);
• Excellent organisation skills;
• Excellent coordination and negotiation skills;
• Creativity, thinking ‘out of the box’;
• Attention to details;
• Excellent event project management skills;
• Ability to work with people from different countries and cultures;
• Team player;
• Capacity to work in an autonomous way;
• Ability to handle multiple tasks and deadlines, and work well with others in a fast-paced environment. Should be able to organise and prioritise own work with limited supervision;
• Availability for frequent travels across Europe, subject to public health restrictions.

Application instructions

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