Crystal Peaks jobs

People Operations Manager – Festivals

Recruitment | Staffing | Account Management | Event Operations

Location: London – applicants must be London-based or within a realistic commuting distance
Contract: Full-Time, Permanent
Start Date: October - November 2026
Salary: £32,463 - £41,808- dependent on experience and level

Want to play a key role behind the scenes of some of London and the UK’s biggest festivals and live events?

Arc is looking for an experienced and ambitious People Operations Manager to join our Festival Operations Team on a full-time, permanent basis.

This is a year-round role combining people operations, recruitment, staffing, account management and live event delivery. You’ll be involved throughout the full festival lifecycle – from building teams and planning staffing months in advance to managing client relationships and seeing everything come together onsite.

We’re looking for an experienced People Operations or Staffing professional with a strong background in events, recruitment, or workforce management. This is not an entry-level or early-career management role — we need someone who already understands the pace, complexity, and scale of live event staffing and can confidently take ownership of people operations across multiple large-scale festivals.

You’ll work across some of the UK’s biggest festivals and live events, including All Points East, Brockwell Festival Series and Crystal Palace Bowl, alongside major events further afield.

If you’re organised, people-focused, commercially aware and thrive in the fast-paced world of live events, we’d love to hear from you.

The Role

As a People Operations Manager within our Festival Team, you’ll take ownership of or support a portfolio of festival projects and client accounts, depending on your experience.

You’ll work closely with our clients, internal Operations teams and onsite managers to make sure we have the right people, in the right place, at the right time.

The role is fast-paced, varied and hands-on. At certain points of the year, your focus will be recruitment and workforce planning; at others, you’ll be delivering events onsite, managing clients and teams, or reviewing performance and preparing for the next festival season.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage and support key festival and live event accounts from initial planning through to onsite delivery and post-event review
• Build strong client relationships and act as a key point of contact throughout the planning and delivery process
• Understand client requirements and translate these into effective recruitment and staffing plans
• Lead high-volume recruitment campaigns across London and other key festival locations
• Source, interview and select high-quality candidates across hospitality, management and specialist event roles
• Build and develop strong, reliable pools of festival staff and managers
• Plan staffing requirements, schedules and workforce allocations across multiple large-scale events
• Manage candidate onboarding, compliance, training and readiness for work
• Coordinate event communications, travel, accreditation and other operational requirements
• Support and manage onsite staffing operations during festival season
• Work closely with onsite managers to maintain strong attendance, performance and staff experience
• Monitor staffing numbers and delivery targets, responding quickly to any gaps or changes
• Analyse recruitment and staffing data to improve workforce planning and future delivery
• Produce post-event reporting and support client debriefs
• Work collaboratively with our wider regional teams to deliver staffing projects across the UK

What We’re Looking For

Experience is important to us, but we’re open-minded about exactly what that experience looks like.

You may come from events, festival operations, recruitment, staffing, hospitality, account management, workforce planning or project management.

You might already manage large-scale events or client accounts, or you may have strong operational or recruitment experience and be ready to take on more responsibility.

We’re particularly looking for:

• Previous relevant experience within events, staffing, recruitment, hospitality, operations or account management
• Strong organisation and the ability to manage multiple projects and deadlines simultaneously
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Confidence building relationships with clients, candidates and internal teams
• Strong people management skills and the ability to get the best from a team
• Experience working in a fast-paced environment where plans can change quickly
• Strong administrative and database management skills
• Confidence working with staffing numbers, data and operational plans
• A proactive approach and the ability to solve problems quickly
• Great attention to detail, particularly when managing large volumes of people and information
• A genuine passion for people, festivals and live events
• Flexibility to travel and work onsite at festivals across the UK
• Availability to work weekends and longer hours during peak festival periods

You must be based in London or within a realistic commuting distance for this position.

Why Join Arc?

This isn’t just a summer festival job.

You’ll join our Festival Team on a permanent, year-round basis, giving you the opportunity to see projects through from the very beginning – building the workforce, developing client relationships and planning delivery – right through to being onsite when the gates open.

We offer:

• A full-time, permanent, year-round position
• A competitive salary based on your experience and level
• The opportunity to work across some of London and the UK’s biggest festivals and live events
• Real ownership of projects and client accounts
• Hands-on experience in large-scale recruitment, workforce planning and event operations
• Opportunities to travel and work onsite throughout festival season
• Training, support and ongoing career development
• A supportive and experienced national Operations team
• A role that can grow alongside your experience and ambitions
• The opportunity to make a genuine impact on the continued growth of our Festival division

Interested?

If you have experience in events, recruitment, staffing, account management or people operations and want a role where you can combine all of these within the festival industry, we want to hear from you.

Apply today with your CV and a short cover letter telling us about your experience and why you’d be a great addition to our Festival Team.

Start date: October – November 2026.

Arc Hospitality Recruitment Ltd is proud to supply some of the UK’s leading sporting, festival, leisure and heritage venues with premium seasonal and temporary staffing solutions.

We are an Equal Opportunities Employer and recruit based on merit alone.

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Pay: £32,463.00-£41,808.00 per year

Benefits:

• Company pension
• Private medical insurance
• Referral programme
• Sick pay

Work Location: In person