Awards Assistant

Job Description

Job title: Awards Assistant

Reports to: Awards Manager

Location: Hybrid, remote working + 2 days in the London office (E2)

Job Type: Full-time, permanent

Salary: £26,000 - £28,000 per annum depending on experience plus benefits

Hours

09.30-17.30 (Standard office hours) flexibility is required when working to deadlines and covering team hours.

This year, you must be free to work over D&AD Awards Judging and Festival which is from Saturday 23 to Wednesday 26 May 2027, the Festival which is Sunday 27 June to Wednesday 1 July 2027 (Please note dates of key events vary each year) Your hours may be rearranged or you will get time back in lieu for weekend work and overtime accrued.

Summary

The Awards Assistant is responsible for aiding the delivery and project

management of the D&AD Awards programme to the highest standard. Supervised by the Awards Manager, the Awards Assistant will deliver Judge communications, relevant Judge admin, Awards operations, general research and reporting as required. They will support the Awards team with ad hoc tasks when required. You will be required to work from the London office (E2) a minimum of two days a week, typically Tuesdays and Thursdays, and will have the flexibility to work from home or the office for the remaining three days. Please note that the number of days in the office may increase during busy periods and according to the needs of the business.

Dimension of Role:

The Awards Assistant is required to support the Awards team with a variety of tasks, including but not limited to:

• Communicating in a timely and effective manner with D&AD Judges, D&AD Impact Council, potential entrants and industry figureheads

• Assist with preparations for live judging and delivery

• Monitoring and managing the shared inboxes

• Research that contributes to the development and organisation of the D&AD Awards & Festival

• Proofing and organisation of data/results

You must have a willingness to develop your knowledge of industry luminaries, influencers and others who would lend the right expertise to judging in order to support the team in their recommendations for Judges. Having the ability to multitask and support fellow team members during busy months (March-May) will be vital.

The role requires external outreach to the industry with regards Judge recommendations, invitations and category development. This can take the form of email, phone calls including zoom or similar platforms, face to face meeting, or assisting at round tables or focus group style events. Frequency will be dependent on time of year with almost daily communications coordinated from September through June.

Internal communications with the Awards team on a weekly basis will be required. This includes meeting with project leads, the wider Awards team, and meeting with your line manager for 1:1s. You will also need to attend a monthly All Staffer with the wider business. Internal communications take place over email, Zoom, G-Chat or telephone, and/or in person when required.

Responsibilities & Duties

Main accountabilities/responsibilities of the role include, but are not limited to:

Communications

• Support the Awards Manager to deliver the communications plan for D&AD Awards programmes

• This includes inviting industry figureheads to participate in judging; communicating with them in the lead up to the event via email and phone; ensuring they feel supported throughout the judging process; and effectively handling urgent queries whilst live judging is in progress

• Support the wider D&AD team by contacting entrants with requests and queries

• Assist in the development of Awards communications by applying any video editing or design skills where appropriate

• Support the Awards Manager in the request and collation of Judge feedback

• Support the wider D&AD team by contacting entrants with requests and queries

Events & Administration

• Assist the Awards Manager in the collation, proofing and display of Judge profiles

• Assist the Awards Manager in creating Judge records

• Assist the Awards Manager in judging preparation, ensure judging schedules are agreed and communicated to relevant parties

• Provide on-site event support during live judging, meeting and greeting Judges and supporting the operations team where required, and being available as a point of contact for Judges at all times.

• Support the Awards team with credit proofing and rankings data

• Support the Awards team with the creation of Awards material e.g. entry kits, decks

• Assist the Awards team with booking accommodation and travel where necessary

• Where necessary assist with programming by supplying suggested speakers for Judge Insight session, ad hoc events and the D&AD Festival

Research & Reporting

• Support with any research that needs to be undertaken to inform product development

• Support with any research that needs to be undertaken to inform competitor analysis

• Support with the selection of Judges under the supervision of the Awards Manager, ensuring diversity and meeting organisation-wide targets

• Support in the preparation and execution of diversity monitoring of Awards Judges across all programmes

• Analyse Judge queries and use this to inform the development of the Awards

• Recommend changes to the process to improve efficiencies during the cycle

• Identify and report on category trends to inform planning

• Prepare reports, presentations, correspondence and any other documents as requested

Operations

• Support operations in the accurate cataloguing, storage, processing and warehousing of awards entries ensuring these are ready for judging and presented to a high standard

• Support the facilitation of juries by acting as Jury Co-host when required

• Support the Awards Operations team when required

• Support judging, both virtual and on-site where necessary

• Support the answering of queries where necessary

You will need to support the Awards team and other departments with ad hoc tasks when required.

Skills & Qualities

Knowledge, skills and attributes required for the post:

Required Skills

• Research and analytical skills

• Excellent customer service skills

• Excellent organisational skills

• Good interpersonal skills and confidence to communicate with stakeholders at all levels

• Ability to work to own initiative and as part of a team

• Ability to work under pressure and to tight deadlines

• Good database and systems skills

• Research and analytical skills

• Experience coordinating projects is desirable

Personal Qualities

• Strong communication skills

• Flexible approach to workload

• Self-motivating and works well under pressure

• An interest in advertising and the design industry

• Meticulous approach to all tasks

• A good team player with a helpful, positive attitude and a great sense of humour

D&AD is committed to diversity, equality, equity, inclusion and respect for all.  Providing a work environment in which all employees are treated with fairness, respect and dignity and which is free of discrimination, victimisation, bullying and harassment.   At D&AD we are interested in every individual bringing their ‘Whole Self’ to work and this includes you! Please email [email protected] to let us know if you need any reasonable adjustments to be made for any part of the recruitment process.

In order to comply with the Prevention of Illegal Working, Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act, you will need to provide appropriate documentation that proves that you are eligible to work in the UK.

Due to the number of applications we receive, we regret that you will not be contacted unless you are shortlisted for an interview. If you have not heard from us within three weeks of the closing date of your application you should assume that you have not been successful on this occasion.

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