Marketing & Operations Assistant

Marketing & operations assistant

Full time, permanent – office-based role in London, SE1

THE ROLE

We are looking for an enthusiastic marketing and operations assistant to join our busy team. This is a new role in the team and a rare opportunity to join the small and close-knit team who run some of the world’s most respected food and drink competitions: Great Taste and World Cheese Awards.

A fantastic opportunity that might suit someone wanting to build their experience in food, media or events, this multi-faceted role will focus on marketing our awards schemes and events as well as having an hands-on operational role in running our judging processes.

Reporting overall to the operations & marketing director, but working on a day-to-day basis with our marketing officer, as well as on specific operational tasks. You will be a key member of our operations and communications team, who are based across our two offices in London and Dorset. During Great Taste judging (February – June), this person will have a hands-on role helping to run the judging process in our London venue.

Due to the nature of our events and activities, this is an office-based role, and you need to be able to work in our office in London Bridge on a daily basis.

You will be joining the Guild at an exciting time, as we develop and grow our wide range of activities that support the independent food and drink sector. Specifically, you will be involved in:

• Supporting on marketing activities for our two international awards schemes: Great Taste and World Cheese Awards, including writing newsletters, social media posts, updating our website, and formatting images
• Assisting with the running of the Great Taste judging room, including accepting deliveries, assisting with overseeing the front of house team, sorting products and welcoming judges
• During the judging season, liaising with producers getting in touch by phone or email
• During results periods, assisting on marketing and PR campaigns
• Coordinating product photoshoots Researching and inputting data leads for independent retailers
• Working with the wider team on operational and administrative tasks to support the awards schemes and our other activities

This is predominantly a desk-based role, however due to the nature of the role and the Guild’s activities, there will also be significant hands-on event and marketing tasks on many activities throughout the year.

YOUR BACKGROUND

We’re a small and growing business with a brilliant team (meet them here !) who work across a broad range of activities. We’re looking for a self-motivated team player who is keen to get stuck into a variety of tasks across our projects. This is a great opportunity to gain a variety of experience and build on your marketing, operational and communications skills.

If you have some of the following skills and experience – or have the ability and willingness to learn – we’d love to hear from you:

Useful experience

Ideally you’ve got some basic marketing experience and are keen to learn more. Useful marketing experience might include:

• Copywriting for newsletters, websites, press releases or social media
• Following a marketing plan, brand guidelines and tone of voice and tailoring your content and messaging to your audience(s)
• Experience with photography and video, including basic editing

On the events side of things, it’s helpful, but not essential, if you’ve been involved in some event planning and execution, for example:

• Experience of delivering an event as part of an event or front of house team
• Know what’s involved in setting up, breaking down and hosting events

You’ll be working in an environment that handles food so a background in food or hospitality will also be beneficial:

• Hospitality and/or customer service experience will help you when speaking to entrants and judges
• An understanding of or interest in the food and drink industry – particularly the independent sector

Please note, none of this experience is a requirement for applying for this role, but we want to give a good idea of the type of experience that will put you in a strong position and to give you more of an idea of what the position will entail if you join us.

Skills:

• Excellent use of the English language and strong writing skills
• Strong attention to detail
• Confident on the phone and greeting visitors face-to-face
• Excellent digital competency – particularly with key software (Excel, Word, Outlook)
• Experience of digital (e.g. social media platforms, using WordPress to add content to websites), design (e.g. Adobe Creative Suite or Canva) and/or email software (e.g. Mailchimp) would be useful, but not essential if you’re willing to learn.
• Able to work on multiple projects at once, take direction and forward plan
• A team player with a ‘can do’ attitude, able to work with variety of different team members and on a variety of tasks
• An ability to understand a tone of voice and house style
• A creative eye – you know what sounds and looks good and how to get your message across
• Languages, especially Italian, an advantage – but not essential, please don’t let that put you off applying
• A love of and interest in good food & drink is definitely a bonus – you will be exposed to a lot!

WHAT WE CAN OFFER YOU

This is an exciting opportunity to join the Guild as we grow our team and develop our business – and in a small team, everyone plays a key role in the delivery of many of our projects.

We are offering a compelling package, including:

• Competitive salary, plus bonus
• 25 days paid holiday, plus public holidays
• Private health insurance
• Contributory pension
• Life insurance
• Opportunities for training and development
• Exposure to a vast array of delicious independent food and drink – and the producers and stories behind these products

Our normal office hours are Monday to Friday, 9.30am – 5.30pm. During our events, especially Great Taste judging, the team work on a rota to cover opening and closing the judging venue, which might involve occasionally coming in slightly earlier or staying slightly later.

At the Guild of Fine Food, we are committed to creating an open and inclusive working environment. We want to offer equal opportunities for all and encourage applications from all – regardless of ethnicity, race, gender, sexuality, age or disability.

HOW TO APPLY

Click on the ‘Apply now’ button below. Please upload your CV and a cover letter outlining why this is the role for you and what experience you have to date.

The closing date for applications is 31 October 2024. Please note we may start interviewing before the closing date and if a suitable candidate is found then the position may close early – so please get in touch with us as soon as possible if this position is of interest to you.

For more information: gff.co.uk/about-us