Team Member - MICE (Events Planning & Contracting)

Division

Department

Sub Department 1

Job Purpose

Plan events & lead all contract negotiations. Liaison with Domestic & International suppliers. Connect with relevant Tourism boards, Consulate, Destination Management Company, Airline, Hospitality chains and other agencies. Ensure competitive rates are obtained and onboard new vendors. Implement cost saving initiatives as and when possible. Analyse and manage contractual terms, processing all travel-related documentation, including itineraries, visas, legal formalities & payments. Managing operational issues and concerns in a timely manner. Attend trade shows, conferences and industry meetings. Plan & conduct inspection trip with stakeholders & suppliers. On site travel to ensure the event/conference runs smoothly & efficiently.

Key Accountabilities (1/6)

Develop strategic partnership with vendors and negotiate contracts for the MICE activities and ensure that the events are planned as per the budgeted costs.

• Identify, strategize, and lead all supplier contract negotiations to ensure lowest logical.


• Key point of contact for suppliers related to contracting, operational, commercial or financial activities


• Connect with relevant Tourism boards, Consulate, DMC, Airline, Hospitality chains and other agencies to receive commercial subsidies, discounts, waiver & deals


• Conduct competitive analysis, pricing positioning to define the desired event requirement with budget in line


• Engage with suppliers to foster strong relationships and ensure adherence to quality and delivery standards


• Ensure compliance, regulations, and ethical standards


• Establish & maintain vendor relationships, attend trade & road shows for product update

Key Accountabilities (2/6)

Plan & execute all events for Delegates / employee attending the conference / event and ensure hassle free travel and stay experience

• Plan & Interact with the Commercial Leads / Therapy Heads / Business Unit Heads, Support function for planning events  


• Efficiently managing Senior Leaderships events


• Adhere to internal and MCI guideline while planning the meeting and events.


• Manage internal and external stakeholder expectations.


• Carry out a destination study, prepare a basic itinerary framework and request for proposal to the potential venues/hotels  with all related requirements


• Identify PAN India flight hubs to the destination, categorize with seat count. Negotiate with the airlines for the group fares, fare rules, ticketing time limit & payments.


• Create an estimated budget in order to accomplish the set requirements from the stakeholders.


• Site inspections of destination, hotels, venues, wherever required.


• Post budget approval, review the contract details & sign the contract / service agreement with the hotel /airlines / event company etc


• Work with Finance team to ensure adherence to internal payment policies & Co-ordinate for timely payments (in case of advance payments).


• Incorporate timely changes in processes, service providers, way of working

Key Accountabilities (3/6)

Prepare detailed schedule for various events and ensure all co-ordination, proactive communication, and resolution of issues, effective controls and thorough monitoring of costs to ensure a positive and hassel free delegate experience while adhering to all Compliance policies and budgets.

• Create a schedule with stakeholders along with all vendors for step wise activities to be executed.


• Have periodic meetings with selected vendor to ensure timely execution of schedule.


• Prepare a backward chart for regular timely tracking of event activities.


• Monitor the inventory of hotel rooms, airline seat block etc. with the ongoing / final pax count for the group.


• Collate the data and begin operation activities with the help of the respective team / regions


• Ensure that rail / bus / air travel is booked well in advance to capitalize on low / promotional fare.


• Monitor spend to ensure the event are within approved budgets.

Key Accountabilities (4/6)

MICE - On ground operations, closure and event Feedback

• Oversee end-to-end operations


• Preparing duty chart before the event followed by on ground CIPLA team


• Review the rooming list, conference check list, transport sheet & close the menu along with the stake holders.


• A pre-con discussion with all suppliers


• Post events collate invoices with supporting and send it to the respective Head for approval


• Prepare data / documentation for audit reviews.


• Ensure vendor invoices are verified to ensure the event is executed within the budget


• Keep record of final passenger count and invoice amounts and payment schedules made for future reference


• Define parameters for the survey, which will help identify areas of improvement


• Review the feedback received from the internal & external customer for improvement

Key Accountabilities (5/6)

Vendor Management - Onboarding the complaint vendors and keeping a regular track of their performance.

• New vendor Creation of unique code as per company process


• Conduct risk assessment and due diligence on suppliers, ensuring compliance to the legal, ethical, and environmental standards


• Ensure transparency, accountability and maintaining open communication channels and fostering trust and confidence


• Giving feedback to the vendor on quality / service issues - Service analysis done, and feedback given to vendor on regular interval and visiting vendors.

Key Accountabilities (6/6)

Organising Digital and Physical events across India for delegates conferences, Meetings and Events and ensure smooth running and high quality of webcasts

• Book and arrange host centre and webcast centres for delegates across country.


• Carry out arrangement of hospitality services during the webcast


• Liaise with the field staff and manage the smooth telecast of the webcast


• Obtain feedback at the end of events for continuous improvements.

Major Challenges

Short notice request with Inadequate data is provided by the stakeholders for conducting meetings / events / conferences

Overcome by – Connect the concerned team & suggest planning the event in advance & to define a timeline with all details of the event requirement.

Last minute request received which results in cost increment & impacts the overall budget

Overcome by – Connect with the concerned team & work in detailed manner to arrange all services well in advance

Credit facility issues with non-rate contracted vendor in secondary town for events

Overcome by – Plan the event well in advance for on boarding the vendor. Release advance payment if required.

Key Interactions (1/2)

• India Business Divisions, International Business, Support Function team for planning events


• IPD Team for Planning of Investigator Meetings


• Finance Team for Accounting GST and vendor payments.


• MDM Team for vendor code creation.


• Depot Team for courier and dispatch related.


• Compliance team for SOP and EAS system related.


• Audit team for solving their queries


• Handling marketing issues related to SOP of systems laid down via company for Events & conferences

Key Interactions (2/2)

• Hospitality, Travel Partners, Destination Management Company, Event Partners - Within India & Outside India vendors, coordinate daily basis for commercials, contracting & daily operations for Accommodation, logistics, visa documents, event elements required etc.


• Tourism Boards – As per event requirement, coordinate for subsidy etc


• Various Airlines partners - As per event requirement, coordinate, negotiate with airlines for group fares, time limit etc


• Visa Consulate / Embassy As per event requirement meeting with the country consulate / embassy on visa waiver documents

Dimensions (1/2)

On annual basis the HO MICE team handles

• 3000 + Events,


• 45000 Room nights, and


• a budget of approx. 180 Crores

End to End Arrangements which include International and Domestic conferences classified as below

• International and National Congress


• Company conducted CME’s


• Advisory board meeting, Expert Forum, Webcast


• Investigators meeting


• Factory Visit, Stockist, Partner meet


• Board meeting, Leadership meetings


• Awards ceremony for employees


• Staff Budget/Cycle/Review Meets/Product launch/Workshop/Esproute

Support functions Offsite

Dimensions (2/2)

Key Decisions (1/2)

Day to Day operational decisions taken as per the situation

Technical decision taken as per suitability of internal & external customers with regards to the events

Key Decisions (2/2)

Recommend comparatives and obtain High cost / high value decisions related approvals from seniors and / or Business Heads

Education Qualification

Graduate in any field with a Diploma or degree certificate in Travel & Tourism Management / Degree in Hotel Management and knowledge of Ticketing’s / IATA

Relevant Work Experience

At least 5 years of experience in a reputed Travel firm / Hotel industry with Knowledge of various destinations, airlines, visa procedures, hospitality chains, service providers.

Good communication skill for communicating with internal stakeholders & external vendors

Ability to handle crisis & problem solving skills