Events and Marketing Officer

The Events and Marketing Officer will play a crucial supporting role in promoting the work of the Sutton Trust – including its research, policy priorities, programmes, and alumni stories – to external audiences through our events and marketing. This is a newly created role, introduced to expand our capacity and significantly grow our roster of external events in the Trust's 30th anniversary year.

The postholder will work alongside the Marketing and Events Manager to create, coordinate and maintain our event schedule. They will need excellent skills in organisation, project planning and communication to support the delivery of both online and in-person events, many of which will focus around the 30th anniversary in 2027.

This is an exciting opportunity for an organised and proactive individual to create and deliver engaging events to maximise our impact and influence with key stakeholder audiences. The postholder will also support brand and marketing activity across the charity, bringing creativity, an eye for detail and a strong audience focus to all of our branded materials.

Main duties

Event support

• Take a lead on a range of Sutton Trust in-person events and webinars, many of which will focus around research reports and government policy. This includes creating detailed briefings, managing relationships with speakers and stakeholders, working with venues and suppliers and promoting events through channels, including social media, newsletters and email invites to maximise engagement.
• Support with the development of our series of events for the Sutton Trust's 30th anniversary. This may involve events in parliament, part conferences and wider events with universities and corporate partners.
• Maintain an events calendar that can be used across the organisation.
• Manage the recording of event information and engagement on Salesforce.
• Manage digital engagement, uploading of events to the Sutton Trust YouTube channel and maximising viewership through promoting them to our audiences.
• Create detailed event evaluation reports for internal stakeholders and funders.

Marketing

• Advise and support colleagues across the organisation with marketing activity including use of Sutton Trust brand guidelines, Campaign Monitor and Canva.
• Work with the Marketing and Events Manager to further strengthen the Sutton Trust brand, including the updated tone of voice and messaging and new visual elements.
• Support with the proofing and production of cross-Trust marketing materials, including items for Programmes and Development teams.
• Support with the management and development of Sutton Trust email communications through Campaign Monitor.

Other

• Regularly update Communications and Research stakeholder lists as needed.
• Work with colleagues to maintain communications and content planning grids.
• Track and assess event engagement across different marketing platforms, including newsletters and social media.
• Write copy as required.
• Keep up to date with events in the sector.
• Feed into the wider work of the Research and Communications team.
• Other duties as necessary from time to time.

Person Specification

We welcome applications from individuals who have:

• Excellent organisational and project management skills
• Experience in event delivery, including in-person, online and hybrid events (even if in a voluntary role)
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills across a range of different audiences and stakeholders
• A strong understanding of event management, including an awareness of the importance of briefing documents, relationship management, supplier management, event promotion and event logistics
• An understanding of the importance of branding and brand development
• An eye for detail, and the ability to work accurately to tight deadlines
• An understanding of how to use Canva and email platforms (such as Campaign Monitor) to support with marketing activity (desirable)

We are also looking for an individual who:

• Is sympathetic to the aims of the Trust and its mission to address educational disadvantage
• Has first-class interpersonal skills
• Is able to work both independently and collaboratively within a small team
• Is eligible to work in the UK

Terms of Appointment

• Contract: Full-time, fixed-term 18-month contract
• Salary: £33,700 - £37,000 per annum, depending on experience
• Working location: Minimum of 2 office days per week
• Office location: The Sutton Trust, 9th Floor, Millbank Tower, 21-24 Millbank, London, SW1P 4QP. Our home working policy gives staff the option to work from home for up to 60% of the time, with approval from their line manager.
• Hours: The standard working hours are 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday and may also be required to attend events/meetings outside of their normal working hours during weekday evenings and occasionally at weekends, in line with organisational policies
• A DBS check may be required

Interviews

Applications should reach us by 23:59 on Sunday 6th September, with first round interviews held over Zoom on Tuesday 22nd September, and second round interviews held at our London offices on Thursday 1st October.

Contextual recruitment

The Trust is committed to ensuring equality of opportunity and that all applicants receive equal consideration for employment. We strongly encourage individuals from all backgrounds, including those underrepresented at present at the Trust, to apply for this role. As such we particularly welcome applications from people with disabilities, Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic backgrounds, LGBTQ+ and from different socio-economic and educational backgrounds. We are committed to being an inclusive and welcoming place to work and know that greater diversity will lead to even greater results for the young people we support.

We are committed to providing reasonable adjustments for disabled candidates throughout our recruitment process and during employment.

We also operate contextual recruitment at the Sutton Trust. Our application process gives you the option to include information about your background, such as whether you were eligible for free school meals, whether your parents went to university, or whether you attended a state school. For more examples and information on contextual recruitment, please see our website.