Events Officer

(Maternity Leave Replacement)

URBACT Secretariat

Paris, France

The URBACT Secretariat is looking for an Events Officer to coordinate the organisation and delivery of the 2025 URBACT City Festival and to start the preparations for the 2026 URBACT City Festival. The position is based in Paris, at the URBACT Secretariat premises.

Duration: at least six months ideally from January 2025.

Missions and tasks

Event organisation

Keep a timeline of all programme events until the end of URBACT IV;
Plan the organisation of major communications events as outlined above with Gantt Chart or other planning tools;
Identify locations and venues that can host the URBACT events following specifications and needs;
Identify suitable digital formats responding to the needs identified should the event be digital;
Organise taskforce meetings with members of the URBACT Secretariat, experts, and when relevant URBACT’s external events agency, to co-design the content and format of the event;
Draft communication campaigns for the events;
Steer and coordinate with the URBACT’s external events agency that contributes to the delivery of the event (with logistics, graphic identity, renting venue, etc.);
Coordinate with other external service providers linked to the organisation of the events;
Follow up the logistics, graphic identity, internal and external communication;
Ensure smooth, timely and reliable communication within the team, with other technical teams and with event participants;
Make sure that the URBACT events are as low carbon as possible and keep record of the carbon impact of events over time;
Make sure that the budget set for each event is respected;
Report to the Head of Unit about progress made in the organisation of events and brief the members of the URBACT Secretariat about state of play;
Report on the events’ activities and results to the URBACT Monitoring Committee, the Presidency of the EU council when requested;
Produce news/communication materials for the URBACT website and other digital channels on the activities and results of each event once it’s over.

Contribution to the programme communication activities

In addition to events, the successful candidate can be requested to contribute the programme’s communication activities, and in particular to:

Contribute to external events with submission of applications, stands, etc. (for example European Week for Regions and Cities);
Design of visuals (GIFs, short videos, infographics) for communication materials for the programme activities (events, publications, presentations of the programme);
Draft articles for the URBACT programme to present different activities;
Present the URBACT programme and activities to external events;
Support URBACT beneficiaries and National URBACT Points in the organisation of their local, network, and national events (with training workshops, online presentations, guides, tools, etc.);
Support the members of the URBACT Secretariat in the organisation of smallscale meetings with the URBACT beneficiaries or National URBACT Points;
Contribute to the conception of communication and knowledge activities and events (for example policy labs);
Support with the implementation of social media strategy;
Moderate or facilitate workshops or panels.

Programme implementation

Contribute to the preparation, implementation and follow up of the decisions of the URBACT IV Monitoring Committee related to communication activities;
Monitor the events’ budget;
Meet and monitor the output and results indicators set in the URBACT IV cooperation programme, such as: ‘number of participants in programmelevel events aimed at knowledge sharing” and number of people with increased URBACT knowledge due to their participation in programme level events aimed at knowledge sharing”;
Report to the URBACT Monitoring Committee about the progress on events two or three times per year, with written and oral presentations;
Contribute to the production of the annual implementation reports in accordance with European Commission requirements;
Fulfil other competence-related duties assigned by the Director/Head of unit as resulting from the mission and needs of the URBACT programme.

Required Profile

Qualifications & experience

A degree in communications and/or events organisation;
At least 2 years of experience in organising large-scale events, preferably in a European or international environment;
Experience using online project management and brainstorming tools;
Project management experience, coordinating and negotiating with external suppliers;
Excellent knowledge of Microsoft Office and the ability to learn new systems rapidly;
Experience in another EU programme will be an advantage, as well as knowledge of EU communication rules, EU institutions, urban affairs;
Experience with graphic design (Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, Canvas, etc.) and ability to produce in-house graphics will be an advantage.

Languages

Fluency in English (both written and spoken);
Knowledge of French or other EU languages is appreciated.

Skills and abilities

Excellent communications skills (both oral and written);
Excellent organisation skills;
Excellent coordination and negotiation skills;
Creativity, thinking ‘out of the box’;
Attention to details;
Excellent event project management skills;
Ability to work with people from different countries and cultures;
Team player;
Capacity to work in an autonomous way;
Ability to handle multiple tasks and deadlines, and work well with others in a fast-paced environment. Should be able to organise and prioritise own work with limited supervision;
Availability for frequent travels across Europe, subject to public health restrictions.