Program & Experience Design Coordinator, Venture Café London

Job description

Are you ready to be at the heart of London's innovation scene? Venture Café London is on the lookout for a passionate **Program and Experience Design Coordinator** to support 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 London! **ABOUT VENTURE CAFÉ GLOBAL INSTITUTE (VCGI) & VENTURE CAFÉ LONDON** [Venture Café Global Institute](http://venturecafe.org/) (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 London](https://venturecafelondon.org/) launched in May 2025 as an activation partner of [ARIA](https://aria.org.uk/). Our mission is to connect innovators to make things happen, convening all parts of the UK science and entrepreneurship network to create the conditions for ambitious ideas to move from early-stage research into real-world capabilities and companies. Since launching, we’re proud to have delivered 55 innovation gatherings for 9000 attendees, showcasing 250 businesses and achieving an NPS of 70 as we build a thriving community of regular attendees. **YOUR DAY-TO-DAY WORK** We are looking for a curious self-starter to join our 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: • Coordinating programs and speakers before, during, and after the event. • Setting up and breaking down Thursday Gathering events, including managing program partner bump-ins and outs and setting up the Venture Café Kiosk. • Coordinating local Venture Café Ambassadors to assist at the Thursday Gatherings. • Connecting with the Venture Café Global Institute to share learnings and support the relationship between Venture Café London and its global counterparts. • Identifying and mitigating risks to the effective operation of the Thursday Gathering. • Collaborating with the ARIA team and our weekly ecosystem partners to ensure a delightful event experience. • Curating relevant, engaging workshops for our attendees each week. • 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. **ABOUT YOU** With a background in event management or innovation ecosystems, you bring creativity and flexibility to Venture Café London, driven by a passion for mission-driven work and a commitment to hosting successful events. Your customer service excellence, 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 solving problems in fast-paced environments. Additionally, you have: • Ideally at least 1-3 years of professional events experience. • English fluency. • Familiarity 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. • A STEM background is not required, but an educational background in Biology, Chemistry, or a related scientific field would be considered a bonus. **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 including Venture Cafe from 6-9pm **Why Venture Café?** In addition to helping to make the world a better place, we work to ensure each talented team member is supported in their career at Venture Café. You’ll: • Join a team of driven and bright collaborators who are eager to lend their own unique skills to building our inspiring community. • Get opportunities for growth as we expand Venture Café’s impact. • Work at the forefront of London’s science and technology ecosystem • 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.*