Job Description
Are you ready to be at the heart of Edinburgh’s innovation scene? Venture Café Edinburgh is on the lookout for a passionate Event experience & Marketing Coordinator to be part of 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 Edinburgh!
ABOUT VENTURE CAFÉ GLOBAL INSTITUTE (VCGI) & VENTURE CAFÉ EDINBURGH
Venture Café Global Institute (VCGI) began in 2009 within the Cambridge Innovation Center (CIC) in Massachusetts, aiming to connect people, ideas, and resources globally. Today, it has grown into a worldwide movement, facilitating over 750,000 connections among innovators, creatives, and leaders across cities like Boston, Berlin, and Tokyo. VCGI’s mission is to drive global change by building a community of communities focused on solving humankind’s biggest challenges.
Venture Café Edinburgh will launch in 2025 alongside strategic partner ARIA. Venture Café Edinburgh partners with companies and organizations that are evolving business, education, technology, social justice, science and the arts within Edinburgh 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 program 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:
•Designing and scheduling engaging social media content (e.g., posts, stories, event recaps) across platforms (LinkedIn, Instagram) to promote the Thursday Gathering and the Venture Café mission
•Monitoring social media engagement and responding to comments and enquiries
•Designing and publishing weekly email newsletters/updates to the Venture Café community
•Creating visual assets (using tools like Canva) for digital communication and event promotion
•Coordinating inventory - managing food & beverage supplies, printing supplies, signage, etc.
•Setting up and breaking down Thursday Gathering events, including managing program partner bump-ins and outs, setting up the Venture Café Kiosk, and placing signage
•Connecting with the Venture Café Global Institute to share learnings and support the relationship between Venture Café Edinburgh and its global counterparts
•Identifying and mitigating risks to the effective operation of the Thursday Gathering
•Collaborating with Edinburgh Futures Institute as well as ARIA team to ensure a delightful event experience
ABOUT YOU
With a background in marketing/communications and ideally some experience of event coordination you bring creativity and flexibility to Venture Café Edinburgh, driven by a passion for mission-driven work and a commitment to hosting successful events. Your communication skills, 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 and digital marketing tools to promote events and help build a thriving innovation community.
Additionally, you have:
•1-3 years marketing or communications 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
•Experience 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.
We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.
