Job Description

The Role

This is a 12-month fixed-term role established to support the implementation of the Europe-wide freelancer contracting and crewing framework. Working alongside the current Initiative Owner, who heads Crew & Project Support in the UK, you will provide the dedicated programme coordination and practical implementation capacity needed to move the business case from design through rollout and early adoption. The role is based in the Creative Technology office based in Crawley, West Sussex.

You will coordinate activity across European Business Units and work closely with Crewing, Operations, HR, Finance, Legal, Project Management and local leadership. The role will track actions, dependencies, risks and deadlines, while also producing the processes, guidance, training and implementation support required to embed the new framework.

Primary Objectives

• Support the Initiative Owner with the coordinated delivery of the Europe-wide freelancer contracting and crewing framework.
• Create structure, pace and visibility across implementation activities, decisions, dependencies, risks and milestones.
• Help develop and roll out standardised approaches to freelancer contracting, onboarding, offboarding, rates, approvals and supplier management.
• Coordinate Business Unit readiness, stakeholder engagement, training, communications, launch and post-launch support.
• Improve the consistency and quality of freelancer data, process documentation, governance and reporting across Europe.
• Help ensure the new framework is adopted and embedded as the standard way of working while accommodating approved local legal and market requirements.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate the implementation plan on behalf of the Initiative Owner, maintaining clear actions, owners, deadlines, dependencies and deliverables.
• Maintain the implementation tracker, risk and issue log, decisions log, stakeholder plan and other core programme documentation.
• Gather, document and review existing freelancer processes, contracts, rates, approval routes, supplier arrangements and ways of working across European Business Units.
• Identify differences, gaps, risks and improvement opportunities in current freelancer contracting and crewing processes, escalating material issues to the Initiative Owner.
• Coordinate the design and implementation of standardised processes for freelancer contracting, onboarding, offboarding, approvals, rate negotiation, exceptions and supplier management.
• Support the rollout of approved freelancer contract templates and help ensure the appropriate contract type and approved local variations are applied.
• Support the implementation of agreed rate cards, commercial guardrails and approval or exception processes.
• Help crewing teams introduce rate negotiation into day-to-day activity and monitor adoption, market feedback and commercial effectiveness.
• Support the development of preferred supplier relationships with crew and stagehand providers, including information gathering, commercial analysis and negotiation preparation.
• Identify opportunities to use internal group capability and preferred suppliers before engaging external freelancers.
• Coordinate the review, cleansing and standardisation of freelancer data across Business Units and relevant systems.
• Organise engagement and pilots with selected freelancers, gather feedback, track responses and escalate contract, rate or adoption issues.
• Create and maintain process maps, operating guidance, FAQs, briefing packs, launch materials and controlled implementation documents.
• Coordinate the development and delivery of training for crewing teams and other stakeholders, particularly in commercial awareness, negotiation, contracting, rate cards and new processes.
• Support change-management and communications activity so that affected employees, leaders, Business Units and freelancers receive clear and timely information.
• Coordinate Business Unit launch-readiness reviews, identify outstanding actions or blockers and support the formal go or no-go process.
• Provide practical day-to-day implementation support during rollout and the initial post-launch period, ensuring queries and issues are recorded, resolved or escalated.
• Monitor implementation progress and adoption using agreed KPIs and reporting requirements, preparing concise updates for the Initiative Owner and governance forums.
• Coordinate post-implementation reviews, capture lessons learned and identify recurring issues and opportunities for continuous improvement.
• Maintain strong working relationships across Business Units and act as an accessible, practical point of coordination throughout the implementation.

Skills and Experience

• Proven experience coordinating or managing business change, operational improvement or implementation projects across multiple teams or locations.
• Experience within crewing, resource management, freelance workforce management, live events, technical production or another project-led operational environment is highly desirable.
• Strong project-management discipline, including plans, milestones, actions, dependencies, risks, issues, decisions and status reporting.
• Ability to turn policy and business requirements into practical processes, guidance, training and implementation activities.
• Experience working across operational, commercial and support functions such as HR, Finance, Legal, Procurement and IT.
• Commercial awareness and confidence working with rates, supplier arrangements, approval controls and cost-saving initiatives.
• Experience supporting change management, stakeholder engagement, communications, training and adoption.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to identify gaps, assess impacts and propose practical solutions.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to produce clear documentation and concise senior-level updates.
• Highly organised, able to manage multiple workstreams and maintain momentum in a complex, multi-country environment.
• Confident building collaborative relationships, constructively challenging where needed and escalating issues appropriately.
• Comfortable working with incomplete or inconsistent data and coordinating data-cleaning and standardisation activity.
• Proficient with Microsoft 365 and project-tracking tools. Experience with Monday.com or similar tools would be beneficial.
• Willingness to travel within Europe when required and to work flexibly around implementation activity.

Role Scope

The Crewing Implementation Manager is a fixed-term implementation role supporting the Europe-wide freelancer contracting and crewing initiative. The postholder will work directly with the Head of Crew & Project Support in the UK, who remains the Initiative Owner and retains accountability for the business case, key decisions and overall direction.

The role provides dedicated coordination and implementation capacity rather than permanent ownership of the crewing function. It will work across European Business Units and with Crewing, Operations, HR, Finance, Legal, Project Management, technology teams and local leadership to support consistent implementation.

The role has no automatic authority to approve policy, contracts, rate cards, legal positions, investment or Business Unit exceptions. These decisions remain with the Initiative Owner and the relevant functional or Business Unit approvers. The postholder will ensure decisions are prepared, documented, progressed and communicated.

Personal Attributes

• Communication – Speak and write clearly, adapting messages for operational teams, leaders and international stakeholders.
• Teamwork – Build effective relationships across functions and Business Units and promote a one-team approach.
• Initiative – Take ownership of implementation activity and proactively maintain momentum.
• Resilience – Remain organised, constructive and professional when priorities shift or issues arise.
• Organisation – Manage multiple workstreams, stakeholders, documents and deadlines with accuracy.
• Inquisitiveness – Ask the right questions to understand local practices, risks and opportunities.
• Judgement – Know when to act, when to consult and when to escalate a decision or risk.
• Integrity – Handle commercial, contractual and personal data professionally and responsibly.
• Pragmatism – Translate agreed principles into workable processes that teams can adopt.
• Achievement Orientation – Focus on observable outcomes, adoption and sustainable implementation.