Head of Venue Operations
Who are we?
We are Manchester Students’ Union, the biggest SU in the country, supporting over 48,000 students throughout their time at university. We help to make student life the best it can be by supporting students to campaign for change, creating opportunities to meet new people, providing employment opportunities, providing advice and support and being a safe place on campus.
We are a values-centred organisation that employs around 90 permanent, full-time members of staff. We recruit a wide range of roles throughout the year within all our departments from our Commercial team operating Manchester Academy Venues, 13 Media, Bar 532 & Kitchen and Corridor Coffee to our Student Activities, Student Engagement, Marketing and Communications, Finance, HR and Facilities teams. Our team of around 400 part-time, studying staff are instrumental in providing to support to all departments as well as leading major projects like Student Angels. When you join UMSU, you’ll be immersed in an environment that empowers staff to make great things happen and we're always on the lookout for innovative, passionate, and proactive people to join us.
Our values are really important to us and shape the work that we do every day. As part of our recruitment process, we want you to demonstrate how your experiences, behaviours and skills align with our values. You can find more detailed explanations of our values on our website.
About the role
If you’re a dynamic leader with a passion for delivering high quality live events and creating unforgettable experiences, our Head of Venue Operations role could be for you.
The University of Manchester Students’ Union and Manchester Academy is a unique organisation. As the biggest Students’ Union in the country, we support over 48,000 students through their time at university. Hosting events since the 1960’s, Manchester Academy Venues are part of the cultural fabric of the city of Manchester. We generate income to fund the incredible work of the SU and deliver an exciting programme of events for our students and the wider Manchester community. The Head of Venue Operations is at the heart of our ambition to create memories for our visitors that last a lifetime.
The new Head of Venue Operations role will lead our Operations and Technical teams in the successful delivery of over 400 commercial events, which attract over 350,000 visitors annually. Bringing your experience and an improvement-driven approach, you’ll create high-performing teams, enable first-class delivery and manage a wide range of stakeholders. Whether you’re already working in a venue, a high-volume licensed premises or elsewhere in the events industry, this role offers an exciting next step. What will interest you is the energy and pace of our environment and going above and beyond to withhold our reputation as one of Manchester’s premier event destinations. You’ll play a pivotal role in ensuring our venues are safe, welcoming and operate efficiently and sustainably. While you’ll bring valuable experience, we’re equally committed to investing in your growth and development throughout your time with us.
This is a full-time, permanent role, based at the Student Union building and Manchester Academy. The role involves regular evening and weekend working.
We’re looking for someone who has operational leadership experience at scale who can:
- Lead and develop the Operations and Technical teams
- Oversee health & safety and licensing compliance
- Manage supplier relationships and contracts
- Meet operational budgets
- Be on-site lead during live events.
As Head of Venue Operations, you’ll be instrumental in shaping the future of our event delivery and contributing to the wider success of the University of Manchester Students’ Union. If you’re interested in making real impact, we want to hear from you.
Please read the full role profile before applying, as well as our guide to recruitment.
Details
Salary: £40,500 per year
Contract: Permanent
Hours: 35 hours per week
Our Reward Package
You'll get access to our reward package which you can see here.
Recruitment Guide
We have a guide that explains our full recruitment process. We recommend reading through this before beginning an application.
If you are invited to interview with us, we will share our interview questions in advance so you can prepare your responses. We’re more interested in hearing about your experiences and ideas than in testing your memory, and so we want you to feel as prepared as possible.
AI Use
GenAI tools, like ChatGPT, are revolutionising how we approach a whole host of tasks at work. As a future-focused employer, we believe in embracing, not banning, these tools. However, as with all tech, some ways of using it are better than others. You can use GenAI to refine and articulate your ideas. It’s a tool to help structure your thoughts and improve clarity, not to replace your unique voice and experiences. Please don’t just copy and paste what AI tells you to write.
We recommend you read our guide on how to approach the use of AI within our recruitment process:
Inclusivity and Accessibility
We are committed to equality of opportunity, and we work hard to ensure we appoint based on skill and values.
We particularly encourage applications from Disabled or Black, Black British, Black Welsh, Caribbean or African candidates as these groups are currently underrepresented in our staff team.
If you have any accessibility requirements or require adjustments to support you to apply to work with us, please get in touch. We can offer reasonable adjustments at all stages of our recruitment process.
We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer. Under this scheme, we aim to offer an interview to candidates who declare a disability and meet the minimum essential criteria for the role. Minimum criteria are marked with an asterisk on the person specification. However, during periods of exceptionally high application volumes or peak recruitment times (i.e. July, August and September), it may not always be possible to guarantee an interview for every eligible candidate. In such cases, we will take steps to ensure that the process remains fair, consistent, and inclusive.
Recruitment Timeline
Applications opened: 28th November 2025
Applications close: 4th January 2026 23:59pm
Interviews: w/c 12th January 2026
Role Commencing: February/March 2026
We may close applications early if we receive a high volume of applications. We recommend that you apply as soon as possible to avoid disappointment. Once the vacancy has closed, we’re unable to accept late applications to ensure a fair process for all candidates.
Contact
People Team
You can contact the People Team with any questions regarding this vacancy or our recruitment process.
Email: jobs.su@manchester.ac.uk