Officer, Meetings and Events at Open Society Foundations

Role Purpose

• The Meetings & Events Officer will support the planning, coordination, and delivery of meetings and events across OSF’s global office locations and external venues. The role will help strengthen organisation-wide consistency in event workflows, policies, tools, and best practices, ensuring colleagues have clear guidance and practical support throughout the event lifecycle.
• Working closely with internal event organisers, Global Operations colleagues, and external vendors, the Meetings & Events Officer will provide specialist logistical and operational support for high-priority and complex events. The role requires strong planning skills, sound judgement, cultural awareness, and the ability to remain calm, proactive, and solutions-focused in fast-moving event environments.

Key responsibilities

Support the Organization-Wide Event Planning & Coordination

• Develop a full understanding of meetings and events that are hosted by OSF and/or attended by OSF staff members.
• Support the design of the meetings and events support framework, including the event lifecycle, workflows, policies and roles and responsibilities of various internal and external stakeholders.
• Provide step-by-step guidance to the event organizers on the event planning and successful execution within the support framework; when asked to support outside its remit, re-direct to the appropriate stakeholders with professionalism, discretion and integrity.
• In collaboration with meeting/event organizers, incorporate continuous improvement to the meetings and events support framework and adapt to the changing needs of the organization.

Guidance & Training on Event Tools and Policies

• Walk the event organizers through relevant event tools and policies, including those managed by external vendors or other internal colleagues.
• Provide regular training to the event organizers on event design principles, workflows, tools, and compliance.
• Maintain a set of supporting materials for the meetings and events support framework that are clearly organized and shared with the event organizers for ease of access and utilization.

High‑Priority & Complex Event Support

• Provide hands‑on, in-person logistical support for high‑priority and complex events.
• Work closely with the event organizers and event management companies in preparing for complex events and coordinating with various internal and external stakeholders.
• Display adaptability and calm under pressure to think quickly on their feet and manage any unexpected situations during the events.
• Event Vendor Management and Support
• Manage relationships with hotels, event venues, and vendors in key operational cities.
• Establish and maintain global master service agreements with preferred event planners and venues, both at the global level and at the regional/local level.
• Manage usage of global event providers including booking confirmation, payment processing, and performance evaluation.
• Review the current preferred external venues, accommodations and other event vendors on a regular basis based on staff’s feedback on their contribution to the meetings and events.

Cross‑Functional Collaboration and Continuous Improvement

• Collaborate with other members of Global Operations, OneOps teams, event organizers and programmatic staff members in ensuring the successful event planning and execution, as well as continuously improving
• Liaise with facilitators, consultants, and external partners in improving their experience and contribution toward successful OSF events.
• Support the Global Associate Director in improving event workflows and policies by proactively identifying operational gaps and recommending enhancements.

The ideal candidate

Essential Education

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent professional experience.

Essential Experience

• Demonstrable experience supporting or delivering end-to-end meetings, events, conferences, convenings, or complex stakeholder gatherings.
• Experience coordinating multiple event workstreams, including timelines, logistics, stakeholders, venues, vendors, participant needs, and follow-up actions.
• Experience working with external vendors, venues, hotels, event agencies, or service providers, including negotiation, booking, contracting support, or performance follow-up.
• Strong project coordination skills, with the ability to manage competing priorities, deadlines, and changing requirements.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, including the ability to guide internal event organisers through processes, policies, and practical event requirements.
• Ability to remain calm, solutions-focused, and professional during high-pressure or live-event situations.
• Strong attention to detail and follow-through, including documentation, task tracking, and process compliance.
• Ability and willingness to travel for high-priority or complex events when required.
• Excellent working knowledge of English and fluency in the local language of the office location.

Desirable Experience

• Experience in a global, regional, nonprofit, foundation, philanthropy, development, international organisation, or mission-driven environment.
• Experience working with event management companies.
• Experience using event platforms or tools such as Stova, TROOP, registration platforms, travel/event logistics tools, or similar systems.
• Experience creating event guidance documents, workflows, checklists, templates, or knowledge resources.
• Experience supporting events with accessibility, safeguarding, security, protocol, or sensitive participant considerations.
• French language fluency or strong working proficiency, particularly for roles based in Dakar or supporting West Africa coverage.

Language

• Fluency in English and the local language of the office location.

Travel

• Travel is required. Travel frequency depends on the role requirements.

Functional Competencies

Event Planning and Coordination

• Able to coordinate multiple meetings and events simultaneously across office-based and external venues.
• Strong attention to detail, with the ability to anticipate logistical needs, risks, dependencies, and participant requirements.
• Comfortable managing tight timelines, shifting priorities, and multiple event workstreams.

Communication and Stakeholder Guidance

• Clear, diplomatic communicator who can liaise effectively with colleagues at all levels.
• Skilled at walking event organisers through workflows, policies, tools, and complex procedures.
• Able to represent the organisation professionally with vendors, venues, facilitators, consultants, and event partners.

Problem-Solving and Event Judgement

• Able to troubleshoot challenges quickly during pre-event planning and live events.
• Brings a solutions-oriented mindset to vendor, participant, logistics, or stakeholder issues.
• Demonstrates sound judgement in complex, sensitive, or high-pressure event situations.

Vendor, Venue and External Partner Management

• Skilled at building effective relationships with hotels, venues, event agencies, and service providers.
• Able to support negotiation, booking, contracting, service coordination, and vendor performance follow-up.
• Confident coordinating external partners for large, complex, or high-priority events.

Technical Competence and Process Orientation

• Comfortable learning and using event tools, including registration platforms, TROOP, notification systems, or similar platforms.
• Able to follow structured workflows and help others apply them consistently.
• Skilled at documenting and maintaining event processes, guidance materials, checklists, and knowledge resources.

Continuous Improvement and Workflow Development

• Looks to improve event workflows, procedures, tools, and supporting materials.
• Welcomes feedback and contributes practical ideas to improve event operations.
• Helps drive consistency and shared standards across global teams.

Personal Competencies

Adaptability and Calm Under Pressure

• Works well in fast-paced and occasionally high-stakes environments.
• Maintains composure during complex events with many moving parts.
• Adjusts plans efficiently as event needs, stakeholder requirements, or risks evolve.

Cultural Competence and Global Collaboration

• Experienced working with international colleagues and culturally diverse event participants.
• Sensitive to global contexts, time zones, languages, accessibility needs, and cultural norms.
• Able to navigate cross-cultural communication effectively and respectfully.

Professionalism, Discretion and Integrity

• Handles confidential or sensitive information appropriately.
• Represents the organisation’s values in all internal and external interactions.
• Demonstrates reliability, maturity, sound ethics, and good judgement.

Proactive Ownership and Initiative

• Takes initiative without waiting for direction.
• Anticipates needs before they arise, especially for high-priority or executive-level events.
• Follows through on commitments and escalates risks early when support or decisions are needed.

Service Orientation

• Brings a practical, helpful, and solutions-focused approach to supporting event organisers and colleagues.
• Balances responsiveness with appropriate process discipline and clear boundaries.
• Builds trust by being reliable, clear, and calm under pressure.

Languages

• Fluent in the local language where the role is based and excellent working knowledge of English.
• Fluency in French is desirable, particularly where the role supports Francophone stakeholders, vendors, or event participants.

What we offer

• Exceptional opportunities to learn, grow, and make an impact; from a generous annual professional development allowance for every employee to onsite training and learning conversations with visiting experts.
• Excellent benefits and perks to promote well-being and a healthy work-life balance, including:
• Generous time off and flexible work arrangements.
• Staff are required to work in an Open Society office 50% of working days per month.
• Employer-paid health insurance *and dental plans for individuals and families (no employee contribution required).
• Exceptional retirement savings plan (non-contributory for employees) and life insurance.
• Progressive paid parental leave, reproductive and family planning support, and much more.
• A commitment to nurturing a diverse and inclusive workplace, so you can bring your whole self to work and make a positive impact.