Run the venues. Reimagine the spaces. Build what comes next.

We're looking for someone to take the lead on our venues and spaces at the University of Sussex Students' Union.

This is an operational management role, but it's also an opportunity to build something.

You'll oversee our established venues operation in Falmer House, including Falmer Bar, our catering provision, events and a large team of student staff. You'll make sure our spaces are safe, welcoming, commercially successful and somewhere students genuinely want to spend their time.

But an important part of this role is about what happens next.

There's a building full of opportunity.

Falmer House is home to more than just our day-to-day commercial venues. We have bars, event spaces, meeting rooms and other bookable spaces, and we think there is much more we could be doing with them.

One of your key objectives during your first year will be to lead the development of our venue and space hire model.

You'll look at how we can make better use of our commercial venues outside the academic term, explore the potential of meeting rooms and other spaces across Falmer House, develop packages and processes that make them easy to hire, and help us build an offer that works for conferences, meetings, events and other external bookings.

We aren't looking for someone simply to administer a room-booking system. We want someone who can help us answer questions like: What could we offer? Who could we offer it to? What should it cost? How do we make the experience brilliant? And how do we grow it sustainably?

You'll have the freedom to help shape the answers and then lead on putting them into practice.

You'll still be at the heart of our venues.

Alongside developing our hire offer, you'll lead the management and continued development of our venues and catering activity, working closely with our Bar Manager, Assistant Bar Manager and student staff team.

You'll oversee commercial performance and budgets, help develop our offer, maintain high operational standards and make sure we're meeting our licensing, food safety and health and safety responsibilities.

It's a varied job. Some weeks you'll be looking at budgets, performance and future commercial opportunities. Others you'll be working with colleagues on how a space could be used differently, meeting a potential hire customer, developing a new process or supporting the team through one of the busiest events in the student calendar.

That's very much the point.

Why a Students' Union?

We're a charity, independent from the University, and everything we generate through our commercial activity ultimately helps us do more for students.

That creates an interesting commercial challenge. We want our venues and spaces to generate income and operate successfully, but we're not here simply to maximise profit. They also need to be inclusive, accessible and useful spaces for our students and wider community.

You'll have an important role in balancing both.

Sussex Students' Union describes itself as a dynamic, values-led organisation, with income from its bars, cafés and shops helping to support its wider work for students.

Who are we looking for?

You might already work in a Students' Union, but you absolutely don't have to.

Your background could be in bars, hospitality, events, venue management, conferences, commercial venue hire or another customer-focused operation. We're interested in people who understand great operations but are also excited by developing something new.

You'll need to be comfortable leading people, managing a busy operation and taking responsibility when things don't quite go to plan. You'll also need the curiosity to spot opportunities, the commercial awareness to work out whether they stack up and the drive to turn an idea into something that actually works.

The role profile particularly looks for experience in a busy bar or catering environment, customer-focused operations, health and safety, EPOS and evidence of bringing creative ideas to life.

Most importantly, we're looking for someone who wants to leave things better than they found them.

KEY INFORMATION

Job Title: Venues and Spaces Manager

Responsible to: Head of commercial services

Rate of pay: Grade 6.1 £35,972

Contract: Permanent

Hours of work: 36.5 hours per week (including some evenings and weekends)

Location: Falmer House, BN1 9QF

Applicants: Open to internal and external applicants*

Please note that applications from full-time students will NOT be considered for full-time positions, as it exceeds the recommended hours of work for individuals in higher education. This applies to both undergraduate and postgraduate students.

For more details please see the full Job Description and Person Specification; if you have any questions about the role please email jamie.b@sussexstudent.com

KEY DATES

Closing date: Monday 12th October 2026; 08:00 am

Interviews: Tuesday 20th October 2026 or Wednesday 21st October 2026

Start date: As soon as possible

INTERNATIONAL APPLICANTS

We really welcome applications from abroad for all of our vacancies. Due to legal regulations we have to ensure that everyone is eligible to work in the UK, and this would be done by us checking and making a copy of the correct original identification/documentation before your first day of work. You may also be limited in the number of hours you would be allowed to work. Find out more information about applying to work in the UK.

In any case, we would encourage anyone to apply for a job in one of our friendly departments to give yourself the chance of being selected, and we would look to see the appropriate original documents before your first day of work.

GETTING PAID

Everyone working in the UK needs a National Insurance number in order to get paid. If you are a UK citizen you will automatically have this, however if you are not a UK citizen you might want to apply for an NI number at the same time as you apply for a job so there is no delay in your payments. You can do so using this link: https://www.gov.uk/apply-national-insurance-number. Please note you cannot apply for a National Insurance Number until you're in the UK, but this should not stop you from completing your application for this role.

COMMITMENT TO INCLUSION

We are really committed to maintaining a diverse workforce because we know how important it is to have decision makers and collaborators with varied lived experiences and backgrounds that reflect the range of needs from our diverse student community.

We welcome applications from everyone, and we want to strongly encourage applications from: people with an ethnic minority or Chinese background, people with a disability, people with dependents, and people who identify as LGBTQ+. We conduct anonymous shortlisting and all of our interview panels have Unconscious Bias Training in order to support the above. We also consider flexible working for those with care commitments. If you have any suggestions as to how we could improve our language or application process please let us know.

As a representative body, one of our key aims is to increase applicants that identify as Black, Asian or a minority ethnic to work in the Students' Union. To support this we will ask you an optional question about your ethnic origin. Not providing this information will not adversely affect your application for the role. This information will be hidden during the application process. Staff that identify as Black, Asian or minority ethnic are also welcome and supported to join our BAME Staff Network.

STAFF AND APPLICANTS WITH LONG TERM CONDITIONS

The Students' Union aims to implement reasonable adjustments for all staff and applicants with disabilities, creating a culture of cooperation, shared responsibility and proactiveness to ensure equitable access to jobs. We want to make sure everyone is supported in our selection processes, and are equipped to work safely and get as much as possible out of their role as possible.