At Clarion, our people are at the absolute heart of what we do. We’re proud that our core values ofPASSION,CARE,IMAGINATION, andTRUSTdefine the way we carry out our work across all of our teams.
If you share our values and want to be a part of a successful, dynamic, and creative global business then we want to hear from you.
The Opportunity:
We have an exciting opportunity for a 7-month sabbatical cover role within our Central Event Operations team. We are looking for an experienced Travel, Accommodation and Venues Manager. You will act as the main liaison for our Travel Management Company (TMC), continue working with our preferred event housing partner and source venues for our global events.
The Candidate:
Candidates will need to demonstrate proven and confident understanding and experience of the corporate travel market, good knowledge of group accommodation and preferably some experience or knowledge of international venues sourcing.
Key Responsibilities:
Global travel programme and traveller support
- Act as the principal business contact for Clarion’s global travel management arrangements, coordinating with regional stakeholders and suppliers.
- Manage supplier service across FCM, Uber for Business and Crisis24, including escalations, renewals, platform configuration and issue resolution.
- Support employees during travel disruption and complex cases, coordinating with suppliers, insurers and internal stakeholders as appropriate.
- Maintain travel guidance, FAQs, communications and platform data, including traveller profiles, cost codes and policy content with the support of a coordinator.
Event accommodation
- Own the relationship with Clarion’s event accommodation partner and support show teams to improve adoption, visibility and commercial performance.
- Review booking performance, release dates, hotel inventory, group bookings, reconciliations and commission arrangements, providing support to event teams where needed.
Venue sourcing
- Perform venue searches for events and internal requirements, from brief development and market research through proposal comparison, site visits and recommendation.
- Negotiate with venues and hotels, including rates, commissions, concessions, payment schedules, cancellation, attrition and other risk-sensitive clauses.
- Prepare costings for venue options and clearly communicate financial risk associated with each contract to all relevant parties
- Review contracts with support of a manager, propose amendments, and escalate material risks for legal, finance or senior approval.
- Consideration of health, safety, security and sustainability during venue sourcing journey.
- Support teams with designing event floorplans
- Maintain clear records and management information covering contracts, commitments, commissions, options and key deadlines.
Knowledge, Skills& Behaviours:
- Essential: Previous experience and knowledge of TMC operations, traveller support and management and online booking tools.
- In addition: Strong experience in at least one of the following: event/attendee housing, meetings and events, or international venue sourcing and contracting.
- Able to quickly learn and adopt technology and online platforms and tools. Good knowledge of Microsoft suite.
- Strong supplier and stakeholder management skills, including the ability to resolve difficult service issues constructively.
- Excellent organisation and prioritisation across a varied portfolio with fixed deadlines and frequent ad-hoc issues.
- Confident reviewing and negotiating commercial contracts and explaining financial risk in plain English to non-specialists.
- Good commercial judgement and confidence working with rates, commissions, deposits, budgets and management information.
- Clear written and verbal communication with the credibility to work across functions, geographies and levels of seniority.
- Proactive, calm and practical approach to problem solving.
- Self-motivated, proactive and able to take responsibility
About Clarion Events
Clarion Events is one of the world’s leading event organisers, producing and delivering innovative and market-leading events since 1947. (https://clarionevents.com/welcome)
Clarion Events embrace diversity and equal opportunities in all that we do. We are committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. The more inclusive we are, the better our work will be.
Clarion is private equity backed and owned by Blackstone. Blackstone is one of the world’s leading global investment funds, investing capital for the long term in order to build successful, resilient businesses. (https://www.blackstone.com/)
Our purpose is to deliver exceptional customer outcomes and experiences, by making every connection count.
Our vision is we want every one of our products to be a market leader in customer satisfaction and delight.
Benefits
25 days’ holiday plus bank holidays
End of year wellbeing shutdown (closed for the last week of the year)
Employees on a permanent or fixed-term contract are gifted an extra day of leave that can be used for a celebration of your choosing, e.g. birthday, Eid, Diwali, etc.
Summer Hours in August (3pm finish on Fridays)
Helping Our World (HOW) Days – one paid day per quarter to carry out charity work
Pension Scheme
Private Medical Insurance
Health Cash Plan
Wellbeing Library (MYNDUP)
Mentoring Programme
Season Ticket Loan
Cycle to Work Schemes
Free on-site gym and shower facilities
Free eyesight tests
Free flu vaccination – offered on site once a year for all employees
Our Values
PASSION
We deliver all our events with passion for people, the environment and businesses. We form connections with those who are just as passionate about what they do as we are. We always strive to exceed expectations and celebrate success. We love what we do, and it shows.
CARE
We care about our people and our products and work tirelessly to achieve lasting connections and satisfaction for ourselves, our customers and the businesses they support. We really get people - everyone is welcome.
IMAGINATION
Everything is possible. We constantly challenge the status quo and create amazing experiences and opportunities. We take huge satisfaction in solving problems. As open-minded and fun-loving people, the sky is our limit.
TRUST
We trust our skills, people and partners to deliver extraordinary events our customers have come to rely on. We support everyone around us and always learn through our experiences. We are honest and straight forward. You can always rely on us.
Equal Opportunities
We encourage employees to be open and confident and recognise that every member of the team makes a vital contribution.
Clarion embraces equality, diversity and inclusion and seeks to promote these principles in all of our business activities.
When recruiting new employees or providing opportunities for promotion, we will:
- Recruit, develop and retain the most talented people, regardless of background, and make the best use of their talents;