Awards Manager

Job Description

Job title: Awards Manager

Reports to: Head of Awards

Location: Hybrid, remote working + 2 days in the London office (E2), flexibility is required when working at events.

Job Type: Full-time, permanent

Salary: £28,000-36,000 per annum - depending on experience plus benefits

Hours: 09.30-17.30 (Standard office hours) flexibility is required when working to deadlines and covering team hours.

This year, you must be free to work over D&AD Awards Judging and Festival which is from Saturday 23 to Wednesday 26 May 2027, the Festival which is Sunday 27 June to Wednesday 1 July 2027 (Please note dates of key events vary each year) Your hours may be rearranged or you will get time back in lieu for weekend work and overtime accrued.

Summary

The Awards Manager is responsible for managing the delivery and project management of jury selection across the D&AD Awards & New Blood Awards. The Awards Manager will drive the research, analysis and development of the judge strategy, manage the recruitment and management of all awards juries and judge communications, support awards product development and contribute to the annual awards review.

Overview

We operate a hybrid working policy, and are happy to talk about flexible working arrangements between working from home and from the London office (E2). Please note that the number of days in the office may increase during busy periods and according to the needs of the business. You must be available to work over the judging period, which covers one weekend per year.

Dimension of Role:

• The Awards Manager is required to curate and manage approx. 60 juries for the D&AD Awards and New Blood Awards in a year-round cycle, applying critical thinking in the selection and assessment of over 400 low/mid/senior industry Judges to align with the requirements of D&AD.

• They are required to have a good knowledge of industry luminaries, influencers and others who would lend the right expertise to judging in order to propose suitable Judge recommendations for approval by leadership.

• Conducting effective research and analysis and using critical thinking in the selection and assessment of Judges will be essential in understanding both Judge and category effectiveness, in making recommendations for future cycles and developing the Judge Strategy for approval by leadership.

• They are required to be a strong written and verbal communicator with the ability to manage projects, in order to effectively manage the participation and communication with Judges.

• Having the confidence to steer the creation of Juries and the ability to anticipate and overcome challenges will be essential to ensure the judging product moves at a timely pace. Having the ability to multitask and to support fellow team members during busy months leading up to judging (March-May) and launch (October-November) will be vital.

The role requires external outreach to the industry with regards Judge recommendations, invitations and category development. This can take the form of email, phone calls including zoom or similar platforms, face to face meeting, or assisting at round tables or focus group style events. Frequency will be dependent on time of year with almost daily communications coordinated from September through June.

Internal communications with the Awards team on a weekly basis will be required. This includes meeting with the wider Awards team and meeting with direct reports for 1:1s. You will also need to attend a monthly All Staffer with the wider business. Internal communications take place over email, Zoom, Slack or telephone, and/or in person when required.

Responsibilities & Duties

Main accountabilities/responsibilities of the role include, but are not limited to:

Recruitment & Management of Juries:

• Develop the Judge selection strategy document to inform Jury recruitment, ensuring it aligns with organisation-wide targets

• Brief the Business Development team on Judge requirements, to be collated and placed into Juries

• Build Juries in accordance with the Judge selection strategy

• Undertake industry research to inform Judge selection

• Collaborate with the wider team to ensure judging schedules are agreed and communicated to relevant parties

• Manage the booking for judges accommodation

• Manage travel reimbursements for judges and guests

• Manage the collation and display of judge profiles

• Manage creation of internal Judge documents to be shared with Jury/Master Hosts

• Manage judges on site during events where required

Communications:

• Manage the year-round judges communication plan and implementation of it

• Ensure an excellent standard of year-round communications to Judges and entrants

• Manage the training of additional team members (both temporary and permanent)

• Manage the preparation and communication of Judge guides and other collateral,

ensure judges have and understand all relevant information pertaining to judging events

Outreach & Partners:

• Manage ongoing relationships with industry networks and holding companies to

ensure fair talent representation

• Oversee the promotion of the Awards on social media amongst our judges

• Represent D&AD at external events where necessary

• Identify and manage outreach with potential Judge networks or organisations that

can support Judge selection

• Attending events and networking to identify current industry ‘movers & shakers’ to

include in Judge selection

Events & Administration:

• Manage the programming of Judges for Insight sessions, ad hoc events and the

D&AD Festival & New Blood Festival

• Keep an holistic view on events when selecting judges, keeping in mind who might

also work as a potential speaker

• Support recruitment of seasonal staff to ensure there is enough resource to cover

project needs when required

• Support in the task management of seasonal staff during the awards production entry

project, working alongside the Production Manager

• Support operations in the accurate cataloguing, storage, processing and

warehousing of all awards entries in your category area ensuring these are ready for judging and presented to a high standard when required.

• Oversee the administration of judges of the judging site, ensuring all profiles, access

and material are accurate and up to date.

• Monitor progress and status of online judging, coordinating with a temporary team to

chase judges where necessary and ensure all evaluations are completed on time.

• Check judges’ abstentions to ensure they are correctly applied, verifying that judges

abstain only where appropriate.

• Support in the management and hosting of virtual and live judging when required
  

Research & Development:

• Manage the annual review and development of designated categories

• Manage the collation of category feedback and recommendations

• Conduct and collate competitor research where relevant

• Identify and report on category trends to inform planning

• Identify and make recommendations for improvements to entry and awards

processes (e.g. formats, systems)

Analytics & Reporting:

• Create regular reports and analysis of queries, using this to make any changes to the

process to improve efficiencies during the cycle.

• Internal and external reporting and analysis on diversity monitoring of awards judges

across all programmes

• Prepare and present reports, presentations, correspondence and any other

documents as requested by management

You will need to support the Awards team with ad hoc tasks when required.

Knowledge, skills and attributes required for the post:

Preferred Skills:

• Proven experience delivering in-person and/or online events end-to-end

• Strong project management skills

• Proven line management experience

• Excellent organisational skills with the ability to manage multiple timelines

• Confident communicator, able to work with senior industry figures and partners

• Experience coordinating speakers, suppliers and external stakeholders

• Strong administrative and systems skills, (preferably Hubspot, Google Suite, Adobe, and project management software, eg monday.com)

• Budget management experience

• Ability to remain calm, solutions-focused and detail-driven under pressure

Personal Qualities

• Proactive and self-motivated with a strong sense of ownership

• Flexible and adaptable, particularly during busy delivery periods

• Meticulous attention to detail alongside big-picture thinking

• Collaborative and supportive team player

• Approachable, professional and confident in fast-paced environments

• Interest in, and understanding of, the creative, advertising and design industries

• Strong networking skills

D&AD is committed to diversity, equality, equity, inclusion and respect for all. Providing a work environment in which all employees are treated with fairness, respect and dignity and which is free of discrimination, victimisation, bullying and harassment. At D&AD we are interested in every individual bringing their ‘Whole Self’ to work and this includes you! Please email vanessa.knight@btinternet.com to let us know if you need any reasonable adjustments to be made for any part of the recruitment process.

In order to comply with the Prevention of Illegal Working, Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act, you will need to provide appropriate documentation that proves that you are eligible to work in the UK.

Due to the number of applications we receive, we regret that you will not be contacted unless you are shortlisted for an interview. If you have not heard from us within three weeks of the closing date of your application you should assume that you have not been successful on this occasion.

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