This role is now closed for applications.
Role: Events Coordinator
Location: Surfing England Office – Braunton, North Devon
Hours: Part/Full time (Minimum of 4 days/week), weekends required for contests
Salary: £25k (dependent on experience) pro rata
Employment type: 12 months initially with a view to permanent contract (scope to develop in the role – read on for detail).
Start date: As soon as possible
About Surfing England
There has never been a more exciting time to be involved in English surfing. World leaders in the roll out of artificial waves which are bringing surfing to new audiences across the country, record levels of participation and some amazing talent coming through the competitive ranks. Alongside the sporting potential of surfing, it is also being recognised as a fantastic tool for positive social change, with many of our clubs & schools involved in amazing projects, from overcoming the barriers to get teenage girls involved in sport to providing mental health support for the blue light emergency services.
Surfing England is the sport’s National Governing Body (NGB) as recognised by Sport England and we look after the sport from grassroots through to Team England. This covers the disciplines of bodysurf, bodyboard, shortboard, longboard, SUP surfing, and adaptive/para surfing.
Surfing England deliver four headline events on an annual basis: the English National Surfing Championships (run over 2 event weekends), the English Adaptive Surfing Open, and the English Interclub Surfing Championships, as well as being a delivery partner for brands such as the Rip Curl Grom Search.
We constantly strive to develop our events to meet European and International levels – this year we have delivered a priority training program for our judges and ran an event with priority rules in place. We also launched SUP surf championships and introduced bodyboard divisions. Our events program has an exciting future of growth and development.
This role will be focused on assisting the delivery of the Surfing England Events program, as well as supporting the development of the Junior Surf Series which launched in 2022, a club level series of small competitions. With record numbers of participants (including more women and girls) competing at events, it is an epic time to get involved. The successful candidate will work closely with the Operations Manager to gain training and knowledge on how to organise and deliver surfing events.
Aside from the focus on the events, this person will support on relationship building and activations for commercial partnerships. The ideal candidate will also have a good understanding of social media as creating and driving campaigns around corporate partners and Events will be required.
The right person will be a forward thinking, motivated, hardworking individual, who enjoys early starts and late finishes when in the events environment. These are long days on the beach in the elements but are hugely rewarding for the right person. You must be a dynamic worker, and exceptionally organised, have great personal skills and show the ability to slot into any given team environment.
You will be passionate about the development of surfing and ambitious in the delivery of your role and contribution to our sport. For the right person there is lots of scope to grow and develop the role. Our ambition for this role is in 12 months’ time be in a position to be managing events independently, with capacity to become the Events Manager for Surfing England. The focus from the Operations Manager will be giving training and guidance to reach this position.
Key Responsibilities
To support the Operations Manager (OM) in the delivery of the Events Program, Commercial Partnerships, and social media. This will include:
EVENT OPERATIONS
- Developing a skill set and knowledge on how Surfing England events are organised and delivered.
- Supporting the OM in the tasks ahead of the contest, e.g., planning processes, council permissions, social media posting, recruiting staff.
- Managing and setting budgets for events.
- Communicating with key stakeholders, e.g., landowners, sponsors, media partners about the event plans and aims.
- Managing contest formats and seeding of competitors.
- Coordinating a media team for events to ensure high quality photo and video is outputted and activations for partners are delivered.
- On the ground delivery at Events – contest site build, working with the Contest Director for the smooth running of an event, being reactive to tasks required and problem solving any issues that arise.
- Post event operations, including writing and coordinating press releases, photo, and videos
- Supporting the development of a Junior Surfer Club series and other event opportunities in England.
- Development of skills and knowledge to independently manage the organisation of events in the future.
COMMERCIAL PARTNERSHIPS
- Building relationships with existing partners and coming up with creative ideas to provide exciting opportunities for sponsorship.
- Delivering on activations throughout the year of sponsorship, e.g., content creation (media and blogs), scheduling social media posts, giveaways, Team England training days, etc.
- Demonstrating value to partners, whether it be through statistics, presentations, or the stories of positivity in surfing.
- Identifying and pitching to new potential partners.
- Leading on new projects/initiatives, that come as part of new partnerships/funding opportunities.
SOCIAL MEDIA
- Working with the OM and Membership Marketing Coordinator in the delivery of an engaging social media feed.
- Utilising the Sked social media scheduling tool for optimum posting and planning content.
- Inputting creative new ideas to diversify the feed, use of reels, polls, etc.
As the Events Coordinator you will be part of a small, dynamic team in a fast-moving environment. This requires an individual that is adaptable and open to new challenges.
The role is predominantly office based, working from our HQ in Braunton, North Devon. There will be requirements to travel and work outside of office hours, in particular for weekend events, where a typical day can be 12+ hours.
Successful applicants will ideally have:
Key Attributes:
- Heaps of enthusiasm and genuine passion for surfing and using surfing as a tool for positive change
- A positive, pro-active mindset with a solution orientated approach to tasks
- Brilliant and confident communicator through all channels (in person, groups, conference calls, phone, email, etc).
- Exceptionally organised, self-motivated and enjoys multi-tasking
- Team player, comfortable to take on a multitude of tasks, ability to ‘get stuck in’ – Event work requires lifting and shifting, setting up gazebos, delivering food and drinks to staff, and a whole other range of varied tasks!
- Comfortable ‘spinning multiple plates’ – managing and prioritising a varied and busy workload and maintaining track on all incoming and ongoing tasks.
If you are feeling excited at the prospect of making a real difference to surfing and want to join our team at this pivotal time, then we’d love to hear from you!
If you have questions on the role or would like an informal discussion, please address your email to Hannah to lineup@surfingengland.org
Applications process
Please send a written CV with covering letter (email address below), detailing why you believe you are the right person to join the team at Surfing England and details of two references. Please mark the subject box ‘Events Coordinator’.
Closing deadline: Monday 19th June at 10.00am.
Interview dates for shortlisted candidates: Monday 26th or Tuesday 27th June, North Devon. Location TBC on invite for successful applicants.
Surfing England – lineup@surfingengland.org – www.surfingengland.org / @surfingengland
