Key Information

Role: The Head of Events will have total autonomy over a full schedule of world class events and meetings to advance major donors in their philanthropy. The events will vary according to the needs of donors we are working with, but responsibilities are likely to include planning at least 1 large retreat per year and at least 10 donor meetings or dinners. The HoE will manage our events team (currently 1 events specialist) and serve as an independent, senior member of our team. 

Location: London (in office 2-3 days / week minimum) or US (remote). 

Note remote candidates must be able to regularly work 3 hours overlapping with usual UK hours (9am - 6pm)

Starting Salary: £65,000 - £85,000 and a competitive benefits package.

Application Deadline: We will be reviewing applications on a rolling basis.

How to apply

To apply, complete our form by clicking Apply (at the top). We aim to respond to candidates to let them know if they are advancing within 10 days.

About Longview Philanthropy

Longview Philanthropy’s mission and activities

Longview Philanthropy is a non-profit based in the UK and US. We design and execute bespoke giving strategies for major donors. Our grant recommendations are driven by the conviction that we can use evidence and reason to find the highest-impact donation opportunities. We focus on global challenges that could transform our future for many generations to come, including AI safety and governance, biosecurity, and nuclear weapons policy. Everything we offer is free-of-charge, independent, and often reviewed by external experts. We currently advise donors worldwide. We have recommended >$10m grants annually since our founding, and we have plans to scale up our giving.

Impact in this role

Events are central to Longview’s mission of reducing risks from global challenges (such as AI and nuclear weapons) through high impact philanthropy. We run intimate and bespoke events, ranging from 65 person retreats to curated roadshows for some of the most influential and wealthy people in the world.

Past and currently in production events include:

• 2 x 65-person 3-day retreats in the UK bringing together philanthropists, communicators and cause area experts to discuss supporting key issue areas
• A 50-person 3-day residential retreat in upstate New York focused to promote truth-seeking media on the world’s most important issues 
• A 40-person 2-day residential retreat in SF bringing together major philanthropists and AI experts to work on reducing risks from AI 
• A 30-person 2-day retreat in Sweden focused on threats from emerging technologies 
• A one-day road show in London for a major philanthropist focused on AI safety 
• A virtual event hosted by major and celebrity philanthropists connected to our President’s TED talk to promote the power of philanthropy
• Bespoke dinners in LA, Washington DC, London and SF to discuss the impact of the Oppenheimer film on nuclear weapons discourse 

Longview Philanthropy’s team culture

We are a collaborative, dedicated and positive team. We are all deeply motivated by the work that we do and the impact we can have. We are an ambitious organisation with a culture of clear communication, commitment to excellence, direct feedback, total ownership over our work and a strong focus on outcomes. 

Responsibilities 

General

• Ensure flawless delivery of all in person interactions between the Longview team and our advisees. This includes meetings, dinners, one-day and multi-day events.
• Entirely own the delivery of our retreats this includes:
• Owning production (venue selection, food and beverage, AV, security, inventory, merchandise, vendor management, contract negotiation, event build, budget tracking, run of show, managing contractors etc.)
• Working with our programme team to ensure they are on track to deliver world-class content, sessions and follow ups.
• Note: this role will not involve content development and no prior knowledge of our cause areas is required. However the HoE will be overall responsible for project managing the programme team to ensure they know what they need to produce & when. 
• Ensuring all attendee communications are flawless and sent on time.
• Project managing invites to our events, including reviewing invite lists, tracking follow up actions, tracking RSVPs and ensuring we stick to capacity. 
• Work with the executive team to prioritise our events calendar to ensure we are maintaining appropriate capacity and only delivering world-class, highly impactful events. This includes proposing events and proposing how we prioritise between different events.
• Managing our events team (currently one events specialist) and overseeing their professional development. 
• Hiring more full-time staff as required.  
• Contracting and managing additional production staff as necessary. 

Outcomes

• Within 3 months of starting: mentor our events specialist such that she is able to entirely own the production of a donor dinner or meeting
• Within 3 months of starting: ensure all donor interactions are receiving appropriate production support
• Within 6 months of starting: begin planning our next major retreat & confidently own its delivery.
• Within 6 months of starting: implement a system for tracking the Longview event calendar, including the team’s capacity to deliver more events. This should act as a reliable source of truth to assess if we can take on more events. 
• Within 6 months of starting: implement an established system for team members to suggest upcoming donor interactions and assess their relative value. 

Who Should Apply for This Role?

The ideal candidate will demonstrate the following attributes:

Essential Skills, Abilities, and Attributes

Experience

• At least 5 years experience in event production
• Experience producing events for VIP guests, such as major donors to charities

Abilities and Attributes

• Exceptional project management, organisation and delegation skills - the ability to oversee the delivery of multiple concurrent events through effective delegation and communication of deadline and deliverables with the team (including our CEO & programme teams) 
• Exceptional budgeting and spreadsheet skills to ensure appropriate oversight of spending 
• Exceptional attention to detail to ensure every element of the event is delivered in line with the vision 
• Ability to thrive in a fast moving environment, including the ability to push back where necessary and reprioritise appropriately
• Comfort working with the team and independently
• Self motivated, self starter - someone who can join our team and independently drive forward our ambitious events 
• Persistence - approaching the world as malleable and the ability to use persuasion and creativity to overcome obstacles
• Commitment to excellence - a constant desire to achieve the very best version of the event
• Effective relationship building - treating others with kindness and ensuring they value the success of our event 
• Strong work ethic and commitment to getting the job done
• High openness to giving and receiving real time direct feedback in the pursuit of excellence.
• Highly collaborative; willing to pitch in to help others wherever needed 
• A valid driving licence, or commitment to obtain one within a reasonable timeframe (to be agreed with the Head of Operations)

Desired Skills, Abilities, and Attributes

• Experience directly managing and mentoring a team 
• A strong aesthetic sense to help us deliver a consistent and appropriate visual identity for our events 
• Experience with Airtable, G-drive, Slack and Asana which we use for our CRM and attendee tracking 

Other

• This role will require a minimum of 4 weeks travel per year 
• If the Head of Events is not US-based, they must be eligible to travel to the US (either via ESTA or via applying for a visa — we can support this process).

Salary, Benefits and Location

• This position is full time
• For remote candidates we request you travel to London for a 1-2 week onboarding window to meet the team and align with the vision for our events 
• We may be able to sponsor US and UK work visas for this position.
• Salary of £65,000 - £85,000 p.a. dependent on experience and skills consummate with a Head of Events.
• Benefits include: 
• 10% employer pension contribution (or a 10% employer contribution to a 401k for US staff)
• Equipment budget, training budget, £5,000 p.a. well-being budget
• Private health, dental, vision insurance
• Life insurance
• Short and Long Term disability insurance 
• Lunch provided in the office (if working in London)
• We also have flexible working hours and team members occasionally work from home. 
• We typically work regular hours (c. 9am-6pm) but would expect the successful candidate to be willing to work outside of these hours when needed in the run up to events and when attending/running events. 
• Remote US-based candidates are requested to work at least 3 hours per day overlapping with usual London hours 

Application Process

• First stage: Submit an application
• Second stage: First round screening interview 
• Third stage: Paid 4-hour work task
• We will pay candidates £50/hr for completing this stage.
• Fourth stage: interview (1 hour) & reference checks
• We will conduct interviews on a rolling basis starting April 15th, 2024.
• More information on Longview’s referencing process can be found here
• Fifth stage: In-person (in London) or remote 1-3-day work trial (paid)
• We recognise a work trial is a significant commitment. An honorarium will be provided to all candidates who complete a work trial and travel and accommodation costs will be reimbursed.
• We are keen to work with the final candidate(s) to ensure they are able to complete a work trial, and aim to be flexible and accommodating. We recognize it may not be possible in all cases. Please reach out if you are interested in applying but think you’d be unable to complete a work trial.

The starting date for the position will be determined together with the successful applicant. The ideal candidate would start by late May 2024.

Longview Philanthropy is an equal-opportunity employer and we aim to employ people with many different experiences, perspectives and backgrounds who share our passion and believe in our mission. We do not discriminate on the basis of ethnicity, religion, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, or disability status. We are happy to make any reasonable accommodations necessary to welcome all to our workplace. Please contact us to discuss adjustments to the application process.