Officer, Festivals

LEVEL 4 

Permanent, Full-Time

Closing Date: Tuesday 19th August 2025 at 3:00pm

Salary: €57,375- €82,048 Per annum *  

*This role will be filled in line with Public Pay Policy at Point 1 of the relevant Salary Scale unless the successful candidate is appointed from an existing public sector role

Blended work model with office locations of: 

Áras Fáilte, 88-95 Amiens Street, Dublin 1, D01 WR86

JOB PURPOSE:

To work with internal and external stakeholders to maximise the economic, environmental, cultural and social contribution of tourism to Ireland by supporting, developing, delivering, and promoting Ireland’s Tourism Festivals.

JOB DESCRIPTION:

STRATEGIC

• Responsible for implementing the Festivals Strategy, focusing on delivering Fáilte Ireland owned and co–created festivals and events.

• Manage development plan programmes for Fáilte Ireland’s key festivals and festival initiatives.

• Relationship building with key stakeholders and partners and identify new partnership opportunities.

• Work on delivering a variety of projects within the unit as required.

• Contribute to the development and implementation of other sector development and capacity building initiatives as they arise

• Undertake post-event evaluations and incorporate strategic thinking/learnings to future activity

• Actively seek market knowledge from internal and external sources and feed into business planning and strategies

• Support Festivals to seek innovative approaches to leverage opportunities for media/promotional activity, and to adapt to changing market conditions.

• Work closely within Fáilte Ireland’s matrix framework with regional teams, marketing, international publicity, product & commercial development, enterprise development and industry digitisation to ensure consistency of approach to maximise effectiveness in the implementation of plans & activities.

INDUSTRY & STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT  

• Develop and maintain relationships with key stakeholders such as local authorities, public agencies, festival and event organisers and tourism industry partners to collectively deliver agreed plans and objectives, and ultimately a ‘best in class’ visitor experience aligned to destination development goals.

• Feed into and support delivery of the Festivals Engagement Plan including communication mapping and CRM integration. Present to stakeholders and industry where required.

• Ensure that processes and communications with festivals are clear and effective. Constantly work to ensure consistency of approach and maximise effectiveness.

• Provide regular feedback from stakeholders to the organisation.

• Develop and harness industry and destination networks to actively collaborate to gain buy-in and commitment on project priorities and areas of focus.

• Build robust working relationships and networks with key cultural/art organisations and public bodies to identify synergy projects and maximise collective investment.

• Identify themes and experiences to develop & enhance their tourism offering and recommend and implement enterprise solutions to assist in their festival development.

OPERATIONAL  

• Manage multiple projects and deadlines and navigate an effective path to deliver agreed KPIs.

• Develop and maintain project plans including planning activities, resources and budgets.

• Compile and Track project status to assess and report performance against agreed programme KPIs.

• Create contingency plans and manage issues and risks at project level.

• Consistently contribute at the project team level.

• Embrace new and evolving organisational systems and processes.

• Support the wider festivals team to deliver operational plans.

• Ensure all activities are delivered on time and on budget.

• Ensure communication internally and externally is professional, consistent, timely and relevant.

• Provide project scopes for tender documents.

• Adhere to Fáilte Ireland budgetary processes, tracking spend, and triggering remedial actions should variances occur. Maintain all required documentation for internal and external audits.

• Ensure that any procurement of work from a third party is implemented in line with the Fáilte Ireland procurement policy.

• Proficiency with GDPR and Fáilte Ireland’s processes to adhere to GDPR policies

• Prepare documentation for meetings of the Executive Team, the sub-Authority Festivals Committee and the Fáilte Ireland Authority.

• Respond to information requests from the industry, their representative bodies, government departments, local authorities and the public.

• Record, produce and distribute actions of meetings where required.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

ESSENTIAL CRITERIA

The Successful candidate will demonstrate a strong commercial aptitude and will demonstrate experience of excellent interpersonal and communication skills with an ability to build strong external and internal networks.

In order to be eligible to apply for this role you must have / demonstrate in your application form the following:

• The successful candidate will have a minimum of three years’ experience in managing large-scale  projects, preferably in product development.

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills

• Experience in managing large project budgets and timelines

• Experience in destination or product development within tourism or related sector

• Successful applicant will have been part of a team that delivered large scale projects with multiple stakeholders

Qualifications/Mandatory Training : 

A professional qualification (minimum Level 6 under the QQI Framework) in a related discipline is essential.

DESIRABLE CRITERIA:

• An excellent understanding of the domestic and international festival landscape

• Experience working with both public and private stakeholders and an understanding of their operating models.

• A professional qualification Level 7 (under the QQI framework) in Event Management, Tourism Management, International Marketing or Project Management would be desirable

KEY COMPETENCIES: 

• Strategic Thinking

• Managing Relationships

• Commercial Awareness

• Project Management

Selection Process

Shortlisting will be based on applications and the selection process may involve two competency based interviews. A panel of successful candidates may be formed following the selection process.

Fáilte Ireland is an equal opportunities employer and is committed to fostering an inclusive workplace which values and benefits from the diversity of the workforce. We encourage you to reach out to us directly at recruitment@failteireland.ie should you require assistance or reasonable accommodation during the recruitment process.