Project Manager

Our client is seeking an IT Project Manager (Events) to own the end-to-end delivery of the technology behind their portfolio of mass participation events — from requirements and planning, through testing and readiness, to live operation on event day. You’ll be joining a small, friendly team, working across a busy events calendar well beyond the organisation’s single largest annual event — currently running at roughly one event every fortnight during the season, so this is a fast-paced, varied role.

This is a coordination-heavy, hands-on project management role rather than a hands-on network engineering one. Our client’s event technology — timing and tracking platforms, and temporary event connectivity such as fixed circuits, Wi-Fi, 4G/5G and Starlink — is built and operated by an outsourced IT and timing delivery partner. The role holds that partner to the agreed architecture, specification and SLAs, coordinates closely with the internal events team, and acts as the assertive, on-the-ground point of contact who keeps everything joined up and on track — including picking up ad hoc technical issues when something needs a quick, practical fix on site.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Own the technology project plan for each event — scope, requirements, milestones, budget and risk — coordinating closely with the internal events team and the outsourced event delivery and technology partners.
• Act as the day-to-day point of contact between the events team and the third-party event delivery and technology partners, making sure nothing falls into the gaps between them.
• Verify delivery against the agreed event technology specification and a readiness checklist, and sign off IT operational readiness ahead of each event.
• Maintain the event technology risk register, spotting infrastructure blind spots early and driving mitigation and contingency planning.
• Hold the outsourced IT and timing delivery partner to their specifications, SLAs and milestones — you won’t be implementing the connectivity or timing systems yourself, but you will need enough working knowledge to ask the right questions, challenge their plans, and sanity-check what they deliver.
• Act as the on-site technical lead on event day: troubleshooting logistics and infrastructure issues as they arise, escalating what genuinely needs the delivery partner, and getting hands-on with ad hoc technical fixes where you can.
• Provide direction and support to on-site event-day colleagues, and brief and support event staff so they’re confident using the technology provided.
• Lead post-event debriefs and produce reports on system performance, partner performance and improvements for next time.
• Maintain event technology documentation, SOPs and event-day run books.
• Contribute to wider IT, infrastructure and business change projects between events.

What Our Client Is Looking For

Essential

• Demonstrable project management experience delivering technology or IT-related projects into live, time-critical or operational environments.
• A hands-on technical background — ideally 2nd line support/technician level or above — with the confidence and ability to pick up and resolve practical technical issues on site. You do not need to be a 3rd-line infrastructure specialist.
• Experience managing outsourced or third-party suppliers against specifications, SLAs and milestones, including cost and performance review.
• Excellent stakeholder communication — able to translate fluently between technical delivery partners and non-technical events colleagues.
• Assertive, adaptive and calm under pressure: comfortable prioritising, making judgement calls at pace, and confidently (but diplomatically) influencing partners and colleagues to get things done in a fast-moving environment.
• Flexibility to work event days, including some weekends and early starts, with the physical stamina for a full day on your feet across an event site.
• Evidence of formal training and/or certifications in project manageement either through academia or professional eg Prince2 / PMI

Desirable

• Experience of mass participation events, sport, broadcast or other live/temporary operations — this doesn’t have to mean building sites from scratch (‘greenfield’); experience gained at a venue that regularly hosts live events is just as valuable.
• Working knowledge of temporary event connectivity — fixed circuits, Wi-Fi, 4G/5G and Starlink. The delivery partner implements this, so our client is looking for understanding and the ability to ask informed questions, not hands-on network design experience.
• Familiarity with timing and tracking technology (e.g. chip timing) and event-critical systems (registration, accreditation, CCTV, radios).
• Awareness of data protection/GDPR and information security good practice.
• Familiarity with collaborative project tools such as Monday(dot com)
• A Bit More About the Team

You’ll report to the IT Project Delivery Manager, who leads on-site during live events — so day to day you’ll be trusted to run with your own patch, with the wider IT and events team around you for support. The role is predominantly office-based between events and on-site for live event days; expect the pace to pick up notably during event season.

This team and their company culture are second to none. If you're looking to work with friendly and collaborative co-workers in an exceptionally exciting company then this is the next step for you.