Are you ready to be at the heart of Manchester's innovation scene? Venture Café Manchester is on the lookout for a passionate Programme and Experience Design Coordinator to support our flagship Thursday Gathering and other groundbreaking initiatives.
Join us in creating a dynamic and inclusive community where innovators connect, collaborate, and drive change. If you're excited about making a real impact and fostering a vibrant ecosystem, you belong at Venture Café Manchester!
ABOUT VENTURE CAFÉ
Venture Café believes that Isolation is the enemy of innovation and our mission is clear: Connect innovators to make things happen. We are a neutral and trusted center of gravity that connects the entire innovation ecosystem and is available for everyone.
Our flagship programme, the Thursday Gathering, is a dynamic and intentionally designed experience freely accessible to all. Featuring vibrant networking sessions activated with captivating demos or immersion in the night’s theme by attending thought-provoking sessions led by inspiring speakers. Here, curiosity meets opportunity, connections flourish, and innovation thrives.
Venture Café was founded by Tim Rowe, founder and CEO of the Cambridge Innovation Center (CIC), in 2009 and helped fuel the growth of one of the world’s most powerful innovation ecosystems: Boston’s Kendall Square. What began with a modest gathering of 12 people at our inaugural Thursday Gathering has flourished into the Venture Café Global Institute (VCGI). Over the past 15 years, VCGI has united over 750,000 visionaries, developers, creatives, and civic leaders across 15 cities worldwide, building a global community of communities.
At VCGI, we believe if we’re going to solve humankind’s biggest challenges, we need as many amazing humans as possible involved in that process.
Venture Café Manchester launched in Q4 2025 alongside strategic partner ARIA. Venture Café Manchester partners with companies and organizations that are evolving business, education, technology, social justice, science and the arts within Manchester and beyond. Our flagship Thursday Gathering convenes hundreds of creative, resourceful people who are just as invested in improving life on this planet as you are.
YOUR DAY-TO-DAY WORK
We are looking for a curious doer to join our fun team to coordinate an impactful programme of events for a community of innovators at the Venture Café’s flagship weekly event: the Thursday Gathering.
Your role would be to execute weekly Venture Café Thursday Gatherings including the following:
• Coordinating programs and speakers before, during, and after the event.
• Setting up and breaking down Thursday Gathering events, including managing programme partner bump-ins and outs, setting up the Venture Café Kiosk, and placing signage.
• Coordinating local Venture Café Ambassadors to assist at the Thursday Gatherings.
• Connecting with the Venture Café Global Institute to share learnings and support the relationship between Venture Café Manchester and its global counterparts.
• Identifying and mitigating risks to the effective operation of the Thursday Gathering.
• Collaborating with the awesome ARIA team to ensure a delightful event experience.
• Great hospitality skills – able to keep community members engaged and happy even while resolving problems. Be able to enforce the Venture Café credo/guidelines in a friendly but firm fashion.
ABOUT YOU
With a background in event management, you bring creativity and flexibility to Venture Café Manchester, driven by a passion for mission-driven work and a commitment to hosting successful events. Your customer service excellence, problem-solving skills, and openness to learning from failure, paired with meticulous attention to detail, prepare you for success in this role. You excel in executing and innovating event experiences, engaging diverse community members, creatively using spaces, communicating effectively in various settings, and leveraging social media to promote events. Additionally, you have:
• Ideally at least 1-3 years of professional events experience.
• English fluency.
• Great hospitality skills – able to keep community members engaged and happy even while resolving problems. Be able to enforce the Venture Café credo/guidelines in a friendly but firm fashion.
• Familiarity with social media channels and ability to leverage them as part of your work.
• Willingness for domestic and international travel as needed.
• Ability to legally work in the UK. We are unable to sponsor visas for this role at this time.
OUR OFFER
• Competitive salary, commensurate with experience
• 25 days of annual leave, plus bank holidays
• Supplemental medical and dental insurance
• £200 Monthly Commuter Allowance
• Life insurance
• Business Travel Insurance
• Payment Protection
• Employee Assistance Program
• Hybrid work model – You will work three days per week in the office, with Thursdays required as a core in-office day.
ATTRACTIONS OF THE JOB
In addition to helping to make the world a better place, we work to ensure each talented team member feels nurtured by many benefits, here are just a few:
• You’ll join a team of driven and bright collaborators who are eager to lend their own unique skills to building our inspiring community.
• Learn and develop skills within the epicenter of the innovation community within a growing global network.
• Travel to Venture Café locations across the globe.
Venture Café is committed to building teams that reflect the fabric of the cities we support. We welcome all candidates regardless of race, color, ancestry, gender identity or expression, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, Veteran status, or any other legally protected status. Any other human expressions and experiences not mentioned here are equally welcome. If you require an accommodation please let us know. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer.
