Festival Administrator

Our Festival Administrator is at the heart of the Guernsey Literary Festival’s planning and organisation.

From coordinating speaker travel and accommodation to supporting the production of the printed programme and liaising with suppliers, volunteers and venues, this varied paid role is perfect for someone who is highly organised, enjoys problem solving and loves working as part of a collaborative team.

The role is offered on a flexible, self-employed basis, making it ideal for someone looking for rewarding, meaningful work that can fit around other professional or personal commitments.

Handling administration work for the Festival including but not necessarily limited to:

Speaker Administration

• Arranging all travel and accommodation for each speaker
• To receive and collate all Speaker Information Forms for the Festival
• Preparing contracts for each speaker based on template provided and dealing with all queries in relation to either from the speaker or from their agent
• Liaising with the volunteer coordinator regarding collection and return of the speaker to the airport/ferry terminal
• Collate and distribute speaker schedules/goody bags and arrange tours with Visit Guernsey/Hauteville House if required.
• Work with the programming team to ensure event descriptions and bios are received from the speaker and signed off for inclusion in the printed programme.
• Requesting books from publishers and organising books to be delivered to schools and other community settings as required.
• Create a draft programme spreadsheet on the drive for main, community and school speakers and input speakers as they are confirmed so the team can track which days are filling up etc. 
• Communicating arrangements to event chairs and interviewers; ensuring books and

other research materials are requested and sent to event chairs in good time.

• Create a master document for each event, listing speaker and chair details, stage and AV requirements, volunteer stewards, how the speaker is getting to/from the venue, book sales and any other relevant info.

Supplier Administration 

• Book all AV suppliers (with assistance from Festival Director) and liaise with them to ensure they have details of AV requirements, presentations in advance, stage furniture requirements.
• Booking hotels for the festival and liaising with hoteliers to negotiate preferential rates. Liaison with venues regarding booking enquiries.
• Supporting the administration and smooth running of the festival competitions and education, community and outreach programme as required with administrative assistance.

General Administration 

• Attend monthly meetings and take the minutes. 
• Be available for last minute glitch sorting and other duties as required.
• Attend events as a festival representative to welcome speakers as needed.
• Assisting with other administrative and operational tasks related to the festival as required.
• Assistance during the festival period with administrative duties. You may be required to take on such reasonable additional and other responsibilities and tasks as we need from time to time.
• Liaise regularly with the Festival Director, Programming, Marketing, Volunteers, Sponsorship and Finance teams.

Note: This job description is not exhaustive. Flexibility is required, and other reasonable tasks may be assigned as needed.

A maximum of 500 man hours over a festival period, predominantly the 6 months from December to May, excluding the steering group attendance. 

This includes attendance at steering group meetings and to provide such assistance during the festival period as might be agreed between the parties.

How to Apply

Please send a CV and covering note to:

 Claire Allen, 

Festival Director 

[email protected] 
07781 136 328

Skills & Experience

• Excellent organisational and time-management skills with impeccable attention to detail.
• Strong written and verbal communication.
• Attention to detail.
• Excellent IT skills, including Microsoft Team, Word and Excel.
• Ability to prioritise, plan and structure own workload to meet fixed deadlines.
• Resourcefulness, commitment and ability to work as part of a small busy team or on
• own initiative as required.
• Ability to prioritise, plan and structure own workload to meet fixed deadlines.

Personal Qualities

• Professional and articulate.
• Confident and flexible.
• Persuasive and collaborative.
• Enthusiastic about the Festival’s mission and a love of the arts.
• Experience of working or volunteering in a festival or art/publishing environment.