Senior Events Project Manager, FT Live

About Us

The FT has an uncompromising mission: delivering independent, quality information, news and services to individuals and companies around the globe. It’s the cornerstone of our reputation and the heart of our ambitions for the future. But for our people, the FT offers so much more than what we do. FT people come from all kinds of backgrounds and work across a huge range of disciplines and locations, and find an empowering, warm and welcoming culture that values curiosity and rewards smart, ambitious thinking. Those who are willing to unite around our mission and live our values will find plenty to challenge, inspire and interest them. Like the audiences we serve, no two FT people are the same; but together we help our audience be better informed and understand the world around them. It’s a job that’s never mattered more, and a career that can take you anywhere you want to go.

Our commitment to diversity and inclusion in the workplace

At the FT, we aim for employees across all regions to have a voice so that diverse perspectives are heard and valued. We believe that a supportive workplace is one where employees feel they can be themselves at work and have the flexibility they need to meet their personal needs. We'll continue to remove barriers for all, and in particular barriers facing employees from underrepresented groups.

FT Live overview:

Financial Times Live (FT Live) is the conferences and events division of the Financial Times newspaper and its group publications. Our mission is to bring our global executive audiences the very latest in knowledge and opinion, and connect them to one another.

Chaired by senior FT journalists, the 200-plus core events, strategic forums and digital webinars organised by FT Live every year gather pre-eminent public and private sector decision-makers, visionaries and strategists from the world’s most important economies and industries for agenda-setting debates that cover the key issues of our time.

From unique experiences such as the FTWeekend Festival to our senior-level business summits such as the award winning Global Boardroom, FT Live has become one of the FT Group’s most successful and fastest-growing divisions, and is at the forefront of the FT’s accelerated development as a crucial, interactive information source across numerous platforms.

Summary of role:

The heartbeat of FT Live is our strong portfolio of event products and our ability to access, convene and engage the highest quality delegates and speakers. The Senior Project Manager will work within the Partner Events team, this team is dedicated to creating and delivering high level bespoke physical and digital events for clients. 

The Senior Project Manager reports directly to the Head of Project Management and is responsible for project managing sophisticated partnership campaigns - from the seed of idea to delivering tailored events that help a client connect with FT audiences. This role will also be programme lead for the programme of events that take place at one of the annual industry events.The Senior Project Manager will also be responsible for supervising a team of two direct reports. They will lead their team in successfully delivering projects that encompass multiple clients and sectors. This involves effectively managing resources, schedules, and financials while ensuring adherence to internal processes throughout the entire event life cycle. Additionally, the Senior Project Manager will support in handling issues and risks that may arise during team projects to ensure timely and successful project completion.

In addition to their team leadership responsibilities, the role also includes actively chipping in to process improvement initiatives across the team. This is done to ensure that premium client service is consistently delivered to clients, covering all aspects from project briefs to debriefs.

As a hands-on role, the Senior Project Manager will need to exhibit initiative and creative problem-solving skills. They will be held accountable for achieving seamless project delivery and meeting client important metrics consistently.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

• Providing leadership for your two direct reports within the project management team, motivating team members to meet project goals, and adhere to their responsibilities and project achievements
• Training and onboarding new team members
• Supervising team performance, conduct performance reviews, set goals and implement professional development plans as needed
• Report to the Head of Project Management on team resource and capacity to support the assigning of projects based on workload, knowledge and experience.
• Lead team meetings or attend senior leadership meetings to provide updates in the absence of the Head of Project Management
• Provide guidance, mentorship, and support to other team members, fostering a positive and productive work environment
• Working with the Head of Project Management to participate in establishing practices, templates, policies and tools to expand and mature capabilities for the whole team
• Managing more sophisticated projects or event series effectively and efficiently - developing and implementing new and improved processes 
• Leading on the programme of events that take place during the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Working closely with the project team and senior management on the strategy, planning, client and collaborator management and overall delivery of the multiple projects that take place during WEF. 
• Work creatively and analytically in a problem-solving environment demonstrating collaboration, innovation and excellence 
• Analyse the client brief to decipher how solutions will address client goals while maintaining alignment with FT process and industry standard methodologies
• Working closely with the sales team to ensure that events are being pitched to a result standard, reviewing client contracts and project feasibility
• Carry out planning - this will include setting goals and objectives, KPI metrics, defining roles & responsibilitties and producing schedules and timelines for deliverables - in accordance with the project and client needs
• Communicating verbal and visual plans for clients to engage with - lead expectations and provide regular project updates to key collaborators
• Lead and empower your project team from both internal and external partner organisations 
• Develop trusted adviser relationships with project collaborators - become the first point of contact for any project issues and undertake appropriate troubleshooting when problems arise
• Carry out supervising and control activities in order to track the progress of the project. Track project performance, specifically to analyse the successful completion of short and long-term goals
• Meet budgetary objectives and make adjustments to project constraints based on financial analysis
• Create and maintain comprehensive project documentation
• Managing admin across the projects, dealing with sign off,  budgets and compiling post event reporting - including evaluating successes and challenges to enhance learning for your next project
• Identifying and supervising competitor events and alternative ways the marketplace will accumulate information, market knowledge, and commercial relationships.  

Person specification

• 5+ years of B2B account or project management experience (particularly in events)
• Excellent leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills to work effectively with diverse teams and collaborators. Plus show shows proficiency in leading others to deliver goals
• Customer Focus: Builds strong relationships (internal/external) and uses well-developed project management skills to deliver customer-focused event solutions.
• Action-Oriented: A true self-starter. Uses initiative at all times, combining strong project management skills with analytical abilities to take on new opportunities and tough challenges with a sense of urgency and passion.
• Communicates Effectively: Effective written and verbal communication skills that convey clearly project status and achievements.
• Solid analytical and problem-solving abilities to address project challenges and make data-driven decisions
• Exceptional organisational and time management skills to handle multiple projects simultaneously along side the line management of a small team
• Self-Development: Actively seeks new ways to grow and be challenged using formal and informal development channels.
• Proficient with Microsoft Office, Asana or other Project Management systems. Competent in project methodology

What’s in it for you? Our Benefits

Our benefits vary depending on location, but we are committed to providing best in class perks across all our offices as well as an inclusive environment to develop your career. Examples of our benefits include; generous annual leave allowances, flexible working (including working from home), medical cover, enhanced parental packages, subsidised gym memberships and Giving Back opportunities. Full details of our benefits can be found here.

Further Information

The FT is committed to providing an inclusive working environment for all. We are an equal opportunities employer who seeks to recruit and appoint the best talent regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, socio-economic background, religion and/or belief. We also promote flexible working and will consider specific requests around flexibility for all roles where it can be accommodated. Please let us know if you require any adjustments as part of the application process or to enable you to attend an interview. If you would like to discuss your requirements, or have any questions, talent@ft.com and a member of our team will be happy to help.

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