Are you looking for a new job opportunity for the new year? The External Development team at Canterbury City Council are looking for an Events Officer to join their team.

This is a fantastic opportunity if you are enthusiastic in ensuring the district has excellent quality, safe and diverse events.

What’s in it for you?

A Salary of £36,291.51

Cost of living pay award negotiated annually as a salary increase

Flexible, hybrid working - we understand the importance of a good work-life balance.

We offer a generous annual leave entitlement! You’ll receive 23 days annual leave which increase with service, plus bank holidays, PLUS 3 given days which are usually used over the Christmas period when our main offices are closed. You’ll also have the option to buy more annual leave.

A fantastic local government pension scheme.

We’ll support and encourage your career by providing excellent opportunities for training and development.

Employee benefits, including multiple retailer and lifestyle discounts to help you get the most out of your money and enjoy your free time.

An easier commute: free use of Canterbury’s Park and Ride, flexi bus tickets, and a cycle to work scheme.

Stay healthy: Access to free counselling, advice and webinars through our employee assistance programme, as well as contributions to the cost of Flu Jabs.

About this role:

This is a unique opportunity to play a key role in enabling community and commercial events to take place safely and successfully across the district's public open spaces.

As Events Officer, you will act as the central point of contact for event applications, working with organisers, council services and external partners to coordinate permissions, review event proposals and ensure all required information is submitted and assessed appropriately.

This is not primarily an event delivery role. Instead, you will manage a varied portfolio of event applications, guiding organisers through council processes, coordinating input from multiple departments and agencies, identifying and mitigating risks, and ensuring that applications meet legal, safety and operational requirements.

The role requires excellent organisational skills, attention to detail and the ability to manage multiple projects, stakeholders and deadlines simultaneously.

Here’s what you’ll get up to:

You will support community groups, charities and commercial organisers to hold safe and well managed events on council owned public open spaces.

You will Provide advice and guidance to event organisers on industry best practice, event safety management and relevant legislative requirements.

You will Coordinate consultation and approval processes across council departments and partner agencies, including emergency planning and Safety Advisory Group representatives where appropriate.

Build and maintain positive relationships with event organisers, residents, businesses, council services and partner organisations.

Identify potential safety, operational, environmental and reputational risks and work collaboratively with partners to agree suitable mitigations. Maintaining accurate records and manage a diverse caseload of events, ensuring deadlines and statutory requirements are met.

Manage event applications from initial enquiry through to approval, ensuring organisers provide all required information within agreed timescales.

Review event management documentation, including risk assessments, site plans, traffic management proposals and operational plans, ensuring applications meet required standards.

There will be the opportunity to occasionally support the council in direct event delivery and event management.

Working Pattern

Flexible working hours around event delivery including evenings and weekends.

Permanent contract 37 hours per week

Hybrid working, with regular days in the new St Georges Lane offices in line with our Smarter Ways of Working Policy.

About You, the ideal Events Officer for the job:

Your knowledge

You will have in-depth knowledge and understanding of Outdoor Event Management processes and health and safety requirements, with a good understanding of   assessing risks in public open spaces.

You will have a good understanding and of the Purple Guide and industry standards linked to event planning for small and large events in public spaces.

You will have strong IT skills to enable management of multiple systems and processes.

Your experience

Experience of small and large scale event management

Experience managing events in public open space

Experience of partnership and collaborative working

Budget management experience

Experience of managing high profile events

Your skills

Ability to assess and monitor risks

Monitor measurable and meaningful performance targets.

Ability to work flexibly with different customer groups including but not limited to; councilors, management, external organisations and the public.

Ability to manage multiple conflicting deadlines

High level of problem solving, taking into consideration multiple sources of information

High level of IT competencies

If you want the chance to make a real impact in the district and are looking for a new challenge, then please apply today! Simply click the “Apply online” button and create your account to begin your application form. The closing date for applications is Monday 23rd November 2026.

For an informal chat to find out more about the role or what it is like to work for Canterbury City Council, please contact Alison Small by emailing alison.small@canterbury.gov.uk

Interviews will be held on Tuesday 1st December 2026.

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion at Canterbury City Council.

We are committed to promoting equality and diversity in everything we do. We provide a safe and welcoming environment where everyone is valued, included, and respected.

Our diversity strengthens our ability to serve the diverse communities we support through our work.

To demonstrate this through our actions, all applications are anonymised for the shortlisting panel, allowing all applicants to be assessed on merit alone.

Site Maintenance Dates:

Site maintenance is being carried out and may be unavailable on 24 October 2026 between 00:00 - 12:00 and 21 November 2026 between 00:00 - 12:00.

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