Operations Meeting and Events Senior Associate

Job description / Role

Line of Service
Internal Firm Services

Specialism
IFS - Internal Firm Services - Other

Management Level
Senior Associate

Job Description & Summary

Meeting and Events operations
• Responsible for managing day to day operations of the venue sourcing team based out of the dnata Dubai and KSA offices. This includes compliance with policy and the established process.
• Responsible for monitoring and continuously improving the firm's venue sourcing processes whilst focusing on managing internal stakeholder expectations and experience.
• Manages the relationship between PwC, the service provider (dnata) and suppliers (hotels / venues) and acts as the first point of contact for resolution of complaints and issues.
• Responsible for ensuring SLAs are adhered to and adequate cover is provided by the service provider whenever required.
• Large events support for client and markets events team:
• Provide support as listed below at WLT, Town Halls, GPM and the LoS Universities
• Hotel management - reviewing contracts and invoices;
• Managing events inbox
• Managing attendee and rooming lists
• Assist with LPO's and vendor registration
• Liaising with finance to ensure timely payments to vendors
• Assist with permits and ensuring timely submission of any documentation
• Assist on site with event logistics and vendor management.

Financial
• Drives and supports a culture of long-term savings on event costs
• Tracks and reports savings made by the venue sourcing team
• Acts as the point of contact between finance and dnata to ensure accuracy of LPOs and invoices.
• Ensures payments are processed in time and in compliance with VAT and other requirements. Ensures invoices are accurately billed to the appropriate PwC legal entity.

Customer
• Manages the relationship between PwC, the Service Provider (dnata) and vendors.
• First point of contact for issue resolution and escalates to the Travel Operations Lead when necessary.
• Responsible for guiding PwC stakeholders through the venue sourcing process including compliance with internal policies and securing approval for exceptions.
• Supports the development of policies and procedures and ensures they are followed by event organisers.

Internal Process
• Supports reviews and recommendations to optimise events spend including updating the policy to align with trends in the market or the general events environment.
• Promotes and enforces compliance of the firm's venue sourcing policy and process.
• Manages and supports day to day activities in accordance with policy ensuring appropriate approvals are in place for exceptions.
• Works closely with Business Resilience to ensure risk assessments are carried out for team building events.
• Introduces new processes or optimises current ones to improve the quality of venue sourcing services.
• Manages conflicts, acting as the go to person for receiving feedback from PwC and dnata and venues.
• Resolves any conflicts or escalating to the Travel Operations Lead when necessary.
• Oversee dnata to ensure smooth day to day operations including the provision of adequate leave cover when required.

Learning & Growth
• Ability to ensure adherence to policies and procedures with a flexible mindset to recognise whether improvements to the current processes are required.
• Act as key resource and liaison with other areas of the business, building cross-functional and cross LoS relationships as needed.

Requirements

Knowledge, skills, and abilities

Education
• Bachelor's Degree

Language
• Fluency in English. Knowledge of Arabic is an added advantage

Overall Experience
• 3 to 5 years of overall experience

Specific Experience
• Prior experience in venue sourcing and /or running events
• Knowledge and Skills
• Strong customer service orientation
• Organised, with an eye for detail, strong time management skills and proactive.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills
• Good computer skills
• Strong relationships with major hotel chains in the Middle East.
• Ethical Conduct

About the Company

At PwC Middle East, we've set out an ambitious purpose and strive to live it everyday: to solve important problems and build trust in society.

We're a community of solvers that come together in unexpected ways to build trust and create sustained outcomes. We solve important problems, support one another as we grow, develop and build fulfilling careers.

PwC provides industry-focused services for public and private clients across Assurance and Audit, Deals, Consulting, Tax and Legal. We draw on our development legacy that brings together the collective experience of over 7,000 people in our region with offices across 12 countries to solve for tomorrow.

We're striving to consistently deliver innovative work that builds trust and delivers sustained outcomes. And we're proud of the strength that comes from all our different backgrounds and experiences and we value everyone's uniqueness. We thrive in uncertainty, operate with integrity and leverage the diverse perspectives of our teams.

If you're looking for a place that fuels your ambition to make a difference, that matches your curiosity with continuous learning opportunities and reimagines ways of working to enable you to lead a more balanced life, then you're a future PwCer.