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About Us

The International Working Group on Women and Sport (IWG) is the world’s largest network dedicated to advancing gender equality in sport and physical activity. It was founded in 1994 to encourage international collaboration on issues facing women in sport and physical activity.

We achieve this through:

• Connecting communities of interest and practice globally, regionally and nationally.
• Building and developing strong strategic partnerships with key global organisations.
• Continuing the development of the IWG Insight Hub as a leading portal for gender equity and inclusion in sport and physical activity relevant globally across cultures.
• Advocating and influencing policy and strategy by sharing impact and learning from work around the globe.

The Secretariat of IWG is hosted by the UK (following a bid process) from 2022-2026. Our team is led by Annamarie Phelps CBE OLY (Chair), Lisa O’Keefe MBE (Secretary General) and Clare Barell (Chair, Summit Organising Committee).

A key deliverable for the UK Secretariat is the IWG 9th Global Summit hosted at the International Convention Centre, Birmingham from the 9-11 July 2026.

About The Role

We are looking to recruit a Summit Organising Committee to plan and deliver the summit in conjunction with the small IWG Secretariat.

IWG Global Summit Organising Committee will be established to plan and deliver the IWG Global Summit ensuring that it is aligned to the IWG 2022-26 Strategic Plan and meeting the needs of the IWG network. The Summit Organising Committee will report directly into the IWG UK Steering Committee.

 There will be two subgroups of the Summit Organising Committee

• Content Subgroup – identify themes, content, speakers and facilitators
• Delivery Subgroup - focused on summit venue & logistics, exhibitor logistics, budget management, volunteer programme, transport, travel and city/social programme. 

Media, communications, marketing and speaker management will crossover both subgroups. A summit producer will be appointed to work with the Organising Committee to oversee all aspects of pre-production and delivery of the Summit. An expanded production team will be appointed in 2026.

The scope of the Organising Committee includes:

• Identifying and approaching speakers and facilitators
• Delivery of a commercial partners programme
• Creation and delivery of IWG recognition awards
• Ensuring an appropriate delegate support programme is in place
• Delivery of a volunteer programme
• Development and delivery of a cultural programme
• Identifying successes and opportunities for improvement after the summit
• Coordinating event logistics
• Budget and risk management

Responsibilities of Members of the Committees:

• Attend meetings (mix of remote and in person) at the frequency agreed by the Group with the Chair.
• Take on responsibility for an element of the scope (as listed above) and drive through to completion with the assistance of the IWG Secretariat as appropriate.
• Provide a short biography and photo for inclusion on the IWG Women and Sport website.

Membership:

• Membership will comprise a mix of IWG UK Steering Committee, SRA Finance & Audit Committee, IWG Secretariat and co-opted members with appropriate knowledge and experience.
• The Group will be Chaired by a member of the IWG UK Steering Committee.
• The Chair of the Commercial Partnerships Group will be a member of the Summit Organising Committee.
• The following members of the IWG Secretariat shall attend all meetings as part of the Summit Organising Committee and/or Subgroups.

• Secretary General
• Summit Producer
• Head of Strategic Communications
• Digital Communities Manager
• IWG Research Lead

• The term of office shall be from September 2024 to September 2026.

Chairing:

• The Summit Organising Committee will be chaired by a member of the IWG UK Steering Committee appointed by the IWG UK Steering Committee Chair.

Decision Making:

• The Committee shall be responsible directly to the IWG UK Steering Committee and abide by the host body (Sport and Recreation Alliance) Code of Conduct and Conflicts of Interest Policies.
• The Committee must operate within the overall budget enveloped agreed with the IWG UK Steering Committee, with authority to flex budget lines up to 10% within the overall envelope. Requests outside of these limits must go to the IWG UK Steering Committee.

Reporting:

• A record of discussions and recommendations will be captured by a member of the IWG Secretariat and included within IWG Steering Committee papers.
• Progress will be reported back to the IWG UK Steering Committee through the sub-committee Chair, and where appropriate, scope leads.

Being part of the IWG Global Summit Organising Committee is an excellent opportunity to work with a multidisciplinary team to ensure delivery of THE global summit on gender equality and equity in sport, attracting 1200+ senior decision-makers and policy influencers from across the world who can shape and drive the systemic change needed to ensure sport and physical activity contributes to a world where all women and girls thrive.

Further Information

To apply, please send a CV with a covering letter outlining the skills and experience you would bring to the role and why you are interested in this position to info@iwgwomenandsport.org 

The closing date for applications is 25 October 2024.

The successful candidates will be selected for the Committee based on their CV and covering letter – there are no interviews for these positions.

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All roles are voluntary. Expenses will be managed in accordance with the Sport and Recreation Alliance Expenses Policy

Recruitment Agencies - Please note we are only looking at direct sourcing for this role and if this were to change, we will contact our preferred agencies directly.

Apply for role

Closing date: 25th October 2024