Major Events Lead

Organisation: UK Sport
Salary: £74,900
Location: Loughborough, London or Manchester based, with regular remote working.
Contract type: Permanent (Full time)
Closing date: 16 April 2026
Interview date: 24 April 2026
Job Description: Who are UK Sport?

We are the UK’s trusted high-performance experts, powering our greatest athletes, teams, sports and events to achieve positive success. Investing a combination of National Lottery and Government funds, we support our Olympic and Paralympic sports to realise their world-leading potential and help bring major sporting events to the UK. Our purpose is to lead high-performance sport to enable extraordinary moments that enrich lives.

We are on a mission – to create the greatest decade of extraordinary sporting moments; reaching, inspiring and uniting the nation. That mission is underpinned by three ambitions for UK high-performance sport; to keep winning and win well, to grow a thriving sporting system and to harness those to inspire positive change. Working with the sports and events we fund, DCMS, and our partner organisations across the UK high-performance system, we are building on 25 years of ever-growing success to write the UK’s next chapter for Olympic and Paralympic sport.

About the role:

As the Major Events Lead, you will spearhead the UK’s long term programme of major international sporting events, ensuring the right events are secured, staged brilliantly, and deliver meaningful impact across the country. You’ll lead the Major Events Team, guide strategic investment, and oversee the delivery of Making Live Sport Matter, UK Sport’s events strategy.

You’ll play a central role in shaping the national events landscape over the next decade: programming future hosting targets, strengthening partnerships across cities and agencies, and driving a high quality support and assurance offer for every funded event. You’ll be responsible for effective planning, budgeting, risk management and reporting across the entire Major Events portfolio, ensuring that events reach, inspire and unite communities across the UK.
This is a pivotal leadership role at the heart of the UK’s major events system.

Who will I be working with?

You’ll work closely with the Head of Events & External Affairs, colleagues across the Major Events team, host cities, national lottery partners, and home nation event agencies.

About you

You’re an experienced senior leader with a strong track record of delivering or strategically investing in major international sporting events. You bring confident leadership, exceptional relationship management skills and a forward looking approach that challenges and improves how things are done. You’re comfortable working at a pace, making tough decisions under pressure, and navigating complexity with clarity. You understand budgets, business plans and investment processes, and you know how to motivate high performing teams directly and through matrix structures. Above all, you’re a strategic thinker who can translate long term ambitions into practical action, ensuring the UK continues to host world leading events that deliver measurable impact and inspire the nation.

As you’ll see in the more detailed Job Description, we are looking for an exceptional candidate who will naturally collaborate with others. In return, we will be there with you every step of the way. Come join us and be part of the heartbeat of high-performance sport in the UK.
How to apply: https://uksport.current-vacancies.com/Jobs/Advert/4150922?cid=3176