Production Associate

Salary: 30-35k dependent on level and experience | Contract: Full-time, permanent | Location: London, Hybrid (2-3 days in our office) and some UK based travel and overnight stays

We’re looking for a Production Associate at the start of their career in events or production: someone excited to learn by doing, who gets real satisfaction from making things run brilliantly behind the scenes.

Working alongside our experienced Production Managers, you’ll help plan, prepare and deliver workshops, residentials, dinners and bespoke leadership experiences across the UK. You’ll be at the heart of how the Forward Institute runs, supporting the internal events, logistics and systems that keep our team and programmes moving.

At the Forward Institute, production is more than logistics. The experiences we create are where leaders step back, think honestly and commit to acting more responsibly, and every detail, from the welcome at the door to the flow of the day, shapes how that happens.
This is a practical, hands-on delivery role: one day you might be liaising with venues and arranging travel; the next you could be preparing event materials, welcoming participants or helping set up a room. The focus is event production, experience and delivery, rather than designing programme content or facilitating sessions.

Bringing exceptional hospitality, creativity and care to everything you do, you’ll see first-hand how great production drives meaningful change in leaders.

CORE RESPONSIBILITIES

This is a varied and practical role where your care and attention to detail make every Forward Institute experience possible. Your responsibilities include but are not limited to: 

Event planning and logistics

• Coordinate bookings and practical arrangements for venues, travel, accommodation, catering and suppliers.
• Work at pace, balancing good judgement and budgets, and making sure our choices reflect our values, from sustainable caterers to suppliers that support our mission as well as the bottom line.
• Organise printing, signage, participant packs and event materials; prepare and maintain event kits and equipment, proactively managing our storage so every event is polished and professional.
• Keep event plans, checklists, risk registers and schedules accurate and up to date.

Participant support and administration

• Support onboarding, calendars, coaching schedules and practical participant communications, including managing shared inboxes.
• Maintain accurate attendance and programme records, including in Salesforce.
• Support purchase orders, invoices, expense tracking, meeting notes and other team administration.

Live event delivery

• Practical support with event set-up, registration, room preparation, catering, participant support and pack-down, including virtual sessions.
• Take ownership of agreed on-site tasks, flag issues early and respond calmly when plans change.
• Create welcoming, inclusive experiences that reflect FI’s standards.
• Help run our internal events and day-to-day hospitality, so our office reflects the same care and production values we bring to our programmes.

Administrative support across the Engine

• Bring a proactive, generous attitude and become the go-to person for administrative support across our Engine team as priorities change.
• Provide ad hoc diary management and meeting scheduling for recruitment and senior leadership needs.
• Supporting with catering and event management in our office.
• Proactively suggest and implement improvements to how we manage and deliver our work, from checklists to everyday ways of working.

What we’re looking for

• A genuine interest in building a career in event production and delivery in a mission-led organisation, with a hands-on, can-do approach
• You are organised with a brilliant attention to detail, with developing project management capabilities, and somebody who takes pride in completing practical tasks well
• Proactive and dependable, able to balance competing priorities and deadlines
• Warm, clear communication and a collaborative approach with participants, suppliers and colleagues
• Confidence with everyday digital tools and a willingness to learn systems such as Salesforce and use automation to supercharge your impact
• A creative approach, and a belief that thoughtful spaces and experiences are central to great programme delivery.
• A belief in our mission, and an understanding that exceptional production plays a vital part in achieving it

What Success Looks like

You become an integral and reliable team member within the Engine. You ensure events are; delivered to an exceptional standard: from participants feeling welcomed and informed; to records and materials being reliable; managing your work independently and proactively, enabling you and the rest of your team to succeed.

Over time, you’ll build confidence in owning defined tasks and anticipating what the team needs, being able to independently manage delivery of small events, and being a core and relied upon team member within our wider programmatic delivery.

An exceptional Associate doesn’t just deliver great work. They proactively look for ways to make our systems better, and they bring a sense of responsibility and our values to everything they do.

Your Experience

You might be an Event Management graduate or have relevant experience through hospitality, volunteering, internships, conferences or other live events.
A particular qualification or corporate events background is not essential: we’re most interested in your enthusiasm for an events career and your willingness to learn.

The practical nature of the role

Event preparation and pack-down involve some physical activity, including handling boxes and helping move materials or furniture to and from delivery vehicles.
Manual-handling training, equipment and support will be provided, with safe working practices and reasonable adjustments where needed.
The role involves regular travel and work outside standard office hours, so you’ll need to work flexibly, managing your workload with autonomy and high attention to detail.

You’ll learn from experienced Production colleagues and gain exposure to the full event lifecycle, from planning and supplier coordination to live delivery and evaluation, while developing your skills and taking on increasing responsibility. As your confidence grows, so will your responsibility.

Working at the Forward Institute puts you close to some of the most exciting thinking on responsible leadership, and to the leaders putting it into practice. We’re a growing organisation with big ambitions, and production is central to how we’ll achieve them.

The experiences we create are a core part of our work, not an add-on, which means there is real scope for you to grow with us; helping shape and deliver against what we define to be exceptional production experiences.

We are pragmatic idealists
We pair moral ambition with the discipline to follow through, and measure ourselves by outcomes, not intentions.

We care
For the work, the people we work with, and the leaders we support. Care without courage is just comfort, so we take the work seriously, in a way that is deeply human.

We build from multiple perspectives
We work with leaders from across business, government, and civil society, and from a range of backgrounds, because difference drives better thinking.

We challenge assumptions
We ask the questions other's don't. Clarity starts with curiosity, and courage means acting on it; we would rather ask the hard questions.

To apply, please send your CV and a covering video (maximum 90 seconds) answering the following question:

What is the most impactful experience or event you have played a part in creating? What did you do?

We are an equal opportunities employer and are committed to fair and inclusive recruitment practices. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, identities, and lived experiences.

We want to make this process as inclusive and accessible as possible. If you have any access needs or specific requirements, please get in touch.

We are looking to bring somebody into the team as soon as possible, we will be interviewing on a rolling basis, with the role formally closing on the 31st November.

You must have the right to work in the UK.