Event Coordinator

UNSW sees 25,000 new students each year that are looking for vibrant experiences, to find their thing, build a new community, and have blast while doing it. The Event Coordinator (Orientation) manages and delivers comprehensive orientation programs at UNSW, ensuring a seamless and engaging transition for first year students while enhancing the university experience for all students. This role involves leading the largest orientation event in the southern hemisphere alongside multiple smaller scale orientation weeks and events, managing a dedicated volunteer program with rich history, and coordinating a wide range of university-level initiatives. The successful candidate will possess strong event and people management skills, extensive experience in large-scale event execution, and a passion for fostering student life and community engagement. Arc is UNSW’s student organisation. We like to call ourselves the cool older sibling. We know that the best parts of going to uni is all the stuff you do outside the classroom, and we pride ourselves on making that experience awesome. We do that through a huge range of opportunities and services available to students online and in‑person. Working at Arc you’ll join a welcoming team of full of like‑minded students, who believe in listening to students, working together and having fun between hard work. Work perks include professional development opportunities, the occasional work cake party, hot desk spaces, tickets to the Arc Annual Dinner, and more. But probably the best thing you’ll get out of working here are some friendships you’ll never forget. Key Tasks & Accountabilities Event Coordination Plan and execute Arc & UNSW’s O‑Week each term, maintaining our offering as the largest of its kind in the southern hemisphere (Term 1: 40,000 attendees, Term 2: 5,000 attendees, Term 3: 15,000 attendees) Project manage and coordinate all aspects of the event, including site, safety, schedule, timelines, budget, user experience, stakeholder management, etc. Collaborate with all internal Arc departments to drive their presence and involvement across the weeks, including rostering and briefing staff. Innovate and improve services and operations to enhance the orientation experience. Plan and execute Discovery Fest each term: a week‑long orientation event post O‑Week aimed at re‑engaging current students and re‑activating campus. Lead Discovery Fest centrally, managing overall vision, site, safety, budget, schedules, internal and external stakeholders, etc. Organise Arc departments to drive their presence and involvement across the weeks, including rostering and briefing staff. Innovate and improve services and operations to enhance the orientation experience. Oversee and manage Arc’s pool of Event Casuals, ensuring effective support for event bump‑ins and bump‑outs, as well as other hands‑on initiatives across the organisation. Oversee the orientation volunteering program (Yellow Shirts). The Yellow Shirts are a team of 200 volunteers that are recruited, trained, and managed with the sole purpose of facilitating O‑Week and putting first years first. Specifically overseeing: volunteer recruitment, training, and management; internal program operation and long‑term strategy; budget allocation and reporting; mentor, coach, and manage the Yellow Shirts Officer. Expand Arc’s orientation presence across the first few weeks of each term through continued development of the Campus Compass program, wayfinding assistance and tour expansion. Mentor, coach, and manage the Campus Compass Officer in areas of volunteer and program management, assisting them to achieve their program and personal development goals. Attend and present at training sessions on nominated weekends across the year (3‑4 × Saturday full‑day trainings + Friday‑Sunday training camp in January). Orientation Initiatives Maintain a strong partnership with UNSW Onboarding and Transition. Attend regular Work‑In‑Progress meetings with the goal of alignment and holistic orientation improvement. Continue to establish Arc as a key deliverer of orientation activities, cementing our role in UNSW’s strategy and aspiration of a ‘relentless orientation’. Coordinate university‑level orientation initiatives, embedding Arc in UNSW students’ onboarding journey including being the point of contact and organiser of stalls, activities, and speakers at university events. Activities include: UNSW Official and Faculty Welcomes, Higher Degree Research Welcomes, Canberra Campus Welcomes, Riverina Campus Welcomes. Coordinate university‑level pre‑orientation initiatives, priming targeted prospective students to have familiarity with Arc and student life broadly. Initiatives include: UNSW College UEEC Welcomes and onboarding events; Nura Gili programmes; Future Students Open Day; Future Students Info Day. Qualifications, Knowledge and Experience Experience in planning and executing large‑scale events (10,000+ attendees on an NFP budget). Passion and commitment to the primary objective and student life holistically. Strong proven project management skills, including site management, safety protocols, scheduling, budgeting, and stakeholder engagement. Experience coordinating, mentoring and supporting volunteers. Excellent relationship building, collaboration and communication skills, with the capacity to work effectively with diverse internal and external stakeholders. Demonstrated ability to coach and mentor young adults in project management, events management, and people management. Demonstrated passion and enthusiasm for student life on campus, non‑academic programmes and services offered to students by Arc @ UNSW. Strong ethical and professional work attitude. Experience in the University sector. Experience organising orientation activities. Full driver’s licence. Selection Criteria Demonstrated experience in planning and executing large‑scale events (10,000+ attendees on an NFP budget). Passion and commitment to the primary objective and student life holistically. Strong proven project management skills, including the ability to coordinate multiple aspects of events such as site management, safety protocols, scheduling, budgeting, and stakeholder engagement. Experience coordinating, mentoring and supporting volunteers. Excellent relationship building, collaboration and communication skills, with the capacity to work effectively with diverse internal and external stakeholders. Demonstrated ability to coach and mentor young adults in the areas of project management, events management, people management. Demonstrated passion and enthusiasm for student life on campus, non‑academic programmes and services offered to students by Arc @ UNSW. Strong ethical and professional work attitude. Experience in the University sector. Experience organising orientation activities. Full driver’s licence. #J-18808-Ljbffr