Head of Host Cities

Head of Host Cities

Fixed Term Contract to Summer of 2028

The Role
Reporting to the Director of Host Relations, the Head of Host Cities will be central to creating a world class experience across the eight UEFA EURO 2028 Host Cities.

As UK&I 2028 Limited’s lead representative with Host Cities, you will work closely with local authorities and local stakeholders to deliver the ambitions of the UK and Ireland partners, ensure compliance with UEFA’s technical requirements, and ensure Host City planning is appropriately integrated into the wider tournament planning.

Creating a tournament-wide look and feel with consistent levels of service across all Host Cities, you will ensure each city is also able to showcase its unique culture and experiential offering for visitors and residents.

The successful candidate will have outstanding stakeholder relationship skills with a creative and solutions-focused approach. They will have experience delivering major international events and be able to work confidently in a dynamic and complex multi-agency environment.

What will you be doing?

• Lead responsibility for the delivery the UEFA EURO 2028 Host City programme across eight Host Cities
• Work closely with UEFA and UK&I 2028 stakeholders to create the overall vision for the Host City programme, including the UEFA Festival and match day city operations
• Establish strong relationships with Host Cities providing guidance and support for the development of individual Host City plans in line with the tournament vision, operational requirements, legal obligations and funding conditions
• Liaise with UK&I 2028 functional areas including Safety & Security, Mobility and Medical to ensure integrated city operations leading to a successful tournament delivery
• Provide coordination across all Host City planning sharing best practice, encouraging collaboration and identifying common issues and risks with appropriate solutions
• Represent all UK&I 2028 departments on Local Delivery Structure Steering Groups, updating colleagues on key outcomes and actions, and ensuring that UK&I 2028 are appropriately represented on relevant sub-groups
• Determine and manage the host city programme (including a stakeholder engagement plan) in line with overarching tournament roadmap, tracking progress across the cities, and providing departmental reporting
• Manage a small Host City Relations team providing leadership, mentorship and support
• Execute additional tasks as required in order to meet the changing priorities
• Comply with all company policies and procedures to ensure the highest standards of health, safety and wellbeing can be maintained

What are we looking for?

Essential skills and experience

• Experience of delivering major international events including liaison with the event owner/ rights holder
• Exceptional skills in building constructive relationships and communication channels individually and collectively with external stakeholders
• Experience of project working for/with a local authority in a senior role, ideally in an events environment
• Experience of collaborating on complex multi-agency projects
• Proven track record in managing projects in dynamic environments including effective management of risks and issues
• Working knowledge of public funding and associated governance arrangements.
• Ability to work collaboratively to effectively resolve complex issues across stakeholders
• Strong verbal and written communication skills

Desirable skills and experience

• Experience of delivering major international events within a public sector setting
• Knowledge of local authority structures in the UK and / or Ireland
• Strong knowledge of city operations requirements for major international events
• Managing a portfolio of venues, cities or projects in an events environment.

Why apply?
We offer a competitive salary (plus benefits of 25 days holiday, contributory pension, Private Medical Insurance etc), which coupled with the opportunity to be part of one of the biggest sporting events to ever take place across UK & Ireland we think makes for an exciting place to be!

Where is the role based?
Our head office is based at the iconic Wembley Stadium in London, however depending on your role you may be required to travel across the UK and Ireland to our 9 Stadiums and 8 Host Cities, with some roles being based in those locations.

As an event delivery organisation, it’s important that we have regular time together in the office and currently employees come together at least 2/3 days a week at HQ in Wembley, with the number of days in HQ increasing as the project develops with a minimum of 3-4 days needed in 2026-2027 and full time in the year of 2028.

Everyone is welcome
UK & Ireland 2028 Limited actively promotes diversity and inclusion and welcome applications from everyone. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer. If you have any particular requirements in respect of the recruitment or interview process, please mention this during your application. 

As part of UK & Ireland 2028 Limited’s commitment to ensuring a safe environment for everyone, every employee will be required to complete a DBS check. The level of the check required will be based on the activity of the specific job role and in line with legislation and government guidance.