Events, Sales & Business Development Manager

Events, Sales & Business Development Manager

Location: Guards Museum, London SW1 (on-site)
Salary: £38,000
Contract type: permanent, full-time, 37.5 per week
Benefits: 33 days leave, including bank holiday entitlement; NEST pension
Core hours: 0830 to 1630, 5 days a week
Circumstances: Post will involve regular evenings, occasional weekends, bank holidays, and early mornings and late evenings as and when required by the events schedule
Reporting to: Museum Director

Role Summary:

The Guards Museum, London, is seeking an Events, Sales & Business Development Manager to join our small, dynamic team, with responsibility for establishing and driving forward a new venue hire offer and maximising the profitability of special events.  In this role you will also investigate and deliver other profitable commercial opportunities and paid experiences.

The ideal candidate will have an entrepreneurial mindset, with demonstrable experience managing and selling events, venue hire and other commercial activity.   You’ll have a solutions-focussed approach, comfortable with rolling your sleeves up to get things done; confident engaging with, and selling to, a wide variety of current and prospective event and hire clients; and well-versed in liaising with a range of key stakeholders. 

It’s an exciting time to join the museum, as we invest in technology, digital and infrastructure to increase our reach and profile and build engagement and audiences.  We are commercially focussed, with ambitious plans to grow visitor numbers, expand our offer and diversify our income portfolio.  Venue hire and events is a key strand of our 5-year plan, and you’ll lead the development of our new venue hire offer, implement commercial events processes, and scope other commercial opportunities in order to meet stretching financial targets.

Responsibilities:

Sales

• Effectively manage and cultivate relationships with existing and prospective clients, providing an outstanding customer experience and encouraging new and repeat business
• Establish, maintain, develop, and promote relationships with venue-finding organisations, corporate clients, the local business community and key regimental and divisional contacts
• Manage client site visits, showcasing spaces and services to maximise conversion to sales

Event management

• Implement and deliver the Venue Hire and Events Plan, working with museum colleagues to set up our venue hire offer and improve profitability of special events
• Effectively plan and deliver all commercial and internal events, developing administrative processes and operational procedures, including risk assessments, bookings and diary management, event schedules and briefings, contracts, deposits and invoices, and post-event evaluation
• Manage client and stakeholder feedback, promptly addressing and resolving issues to improve service quality
• Manage all supplier relationships, establishing and maintaining an approved supplier list; ensure supplier SLAs are consistently met

Business development

• Develop and implement an effective commercial events and venue hire marketing strategy, working closely with the Coordinator: Collections & Marketing to deliver effectively
• Develop a strong knowledge of the Museum, the Guards, and the Changing of the Guard Ceremony in order to effectively represent and promote the Museum
• Investigate, develop and market other commercial income streams, including bespoke tours, museum experiences and travel trade packages
• Benchmark the Museum’s events offer with other comparable venues to ensure an attractive, competitive, and profitable offer is maintained

Finance, administration and compliance

• Create and deliver an annual sales plan and strategy to maximise commercial opportunities
• Manage events income and expenditure budgets, and prepare and present reporting and analysis of activity against budget on a regular basis to key stakeholders
• Maintain accurate records for all events in compliance with GDPR, including bookings, financial records, client and prospect information
• Ensure that all contractual, technical, and logistical requirements for events are met, with all appropriate licences, insurance, risk assessments and method statements in place

Museum Operations

• Provide support and holiday cover for the small museum team, including administrative tasks and delivery of tours
• Support planning and delivery of public programme events when required
• Ensure all catering equipment is maintained and regularly serviced

Person Specification:

Essential

• Proven experience of events management including demonstrable event sales, operations and marketing experience
• Strong organisational and time management skills with impeccable attention to detail
• Resilient, adaptable, and proactive
• Able to work well on own initiative as well as effectively as part of a team
• Experience of budget-setting and a proven record of achieving sales and profit targets
• Experience of new business development
• Marketing knowledge: familiar with marketing principles to effectively promote events and commercial products
• Excellent interpersonal and verbal/written communication skills, able to build effective relationships with colleagues, suppliers, clients and key stakeholders
• Strong client management and customer service skills
• Proven experience of databases, and excellent IT skills across all major MS Windows-based software packages
• Flexibility to work evenings and some weekends

Desirable

• Experience of working in a museum or similar setting
• Experience of managing external caterers and suppliers
• Personal licence holder

About Us:

The Guards Museum commemorates nearly 400 years of history of the five regiments of Foot Guards, who protect the Sovereign and the royal palaces.  Founded to teach new recruits their Regimental heritage, it now enables a diverse audience to discover the soldiers’ stories: a life of combat, peace-keeping and ceremonial duty.  We strive to educate, inspire and connect visitors to the rich traditions of the Guards: fostering an understanding and appreciation of their pivotal role in our history, present and future.  The Guards Museum is primarily self-funding, relying on income from visitors, events and private tours.
Find out more at theguardsmuseum.com and instagram.com/guardsmuseum/

Our Aims:
Sharing the story of the Guards
Continued financial sustainability
Widening our reach and raising our profile
Delivering memorable experiences

Our values:
Authentic: we share honest stories and real experiences
Collaborative: we work closely with others, bringing together diverse skills and ideas
Confident: we act with authority, sharing and seeking out knowledge and expertise
Inclusive: we are open to all, embrace different perspectives and foster mutual respect

How to apply:

Please send your CV and cover letter outlining your suitability for the role (no more than 750 words) to applications@guardsmuseum.org.uk, quoting reference EM.  Closing date for applications is Thursday 13th March 2025.  Interviews are expected to take place on Tuesday 25th March 2025.  Due to the anticipated high volume of applications, we are unable to provide a response to applications on an individual basis. If you do not receive a response from us within two weeks of the closing date, then you can assume that you have not been successful on this occasion.