Conference Operations Manager

About the Company

The Africa Real Estate Conference & Expo (ARCE) is a major platform focused on supporting growth across Africa’s real estate sector. It brings together investors, developers, public officials, policymakers, financial institutions, PropTech founders, researchers, and other industry stakeholders from Africa and beyond.

ARCE is designed as a high-level forum for exchange of ideas, investment promotion, project presentations, and strategic relationship-building in the built environment. Its annual program includes keynote addresses, panel sessions, technical workshops, exhibitions, business matchmaking, and professional learning activities.

Conference topics typically cover real estate investment, PropTech, sustainability, urban development, affordable housing, infrastructure, market movements, policy and regulation, land administration, construction technologies, ESG, and property management. Each edition is built around the most relevant opportunities and challenges affecting the African real estate landscape.

Position Overview

ARCE is looking for a proactive, well-organized, and outcome-driven Conference Operations Manager to lead the planning and delivery of operational activities for ARCE 2026. Based in Accra and reporting to the CEO and Conference Convener, this person will be responsible for ensuring the conference is executed professionally, within deadlines, and inside budget.

The role calls for strong project management capability, excellent stakeholder coordination, sponsorship support experience, logistics control, and confident leadership to help deliver one of Africa’s leading real estate events.

Key Responsibilities

• Coordinate end-to-end conference planning and keep all operational workstreams moving.
• Build, update, and track detailed project schedules, milestones, and deliverables.
• Run planning sessions, document outcomes, and follow through on assigned actions.
• Manage venue setup, logistics, registration flow, exhibitor operations, event materials, signage, volunteers, temporary staff, and on-site delivery.
• Develop and maintain contingency measures and risk response plans.
• Handle speaker communication, VIP speaker coordination, briefing schedules, presentation deadlines, and delegate support, including travel-related arrangements when needed.
• Support sponsorship strategy execution, prospect research, sponsor outreach, pipeline tracking, meeting scheduling, presentations, agreement coordination, invoice/payment tracking, and delivery of sponsor benefits before, during, and after the event.
• Keep all sponsorship activity updated in Zoho CRM.
• Manage exhibitor onboarding, booth planning, contract tracking, setup support, benefit delivery, and operational issue resolution.
• Liaise with venues, hotels, caterers, transport providers, audiovisual suppliers, and printing vendors to ensure contractual obligations are met.
• Support marketing activity, webinars, promotional events, content deadlines, social media campaigns, media partner coordination, and press-related tasks.
• Maintain project files, operational budgets, procurement requests, contracts, conference records, CRM entries, trackers, and weekly progress reports.
• Build and sustain effective relationships with sponsors, government contacts, strategic partners, exhibitors, and media stakeholders.

Requirements

• A bachelor’s degree in Event Management, Business Administration, Real Estate, Urban Planning, Hospitality Management, Marketing, Communications, or a closely related discipline.
• At least 3 to 5 years of experience handling conferences, exhibitions, corporate events, or large projects.
• Proven ability to coordinate venues, suppliers, exhibitors, sponsors, speakers, and delegates.
• Strong planning, budgeting, scheduling, execution, and risk-management capabilities.
• Hands-on experience using CRM tools, preferably Zoho CRM, along with Microsoft Office, Google Workspace, spreadsheets, and project management software.
• Excellent written and spoken communication skills for working with executives, officials, sponsors, media, and international participants.
• Strong organization, analysis, problem-solving ability, and attention to detail.
• Comfort working across several priorities at once and meeting tight deadlines in a fast-moving environment.
• Experience in real estate, construction, infrastructure, investment, or the broader built environment is an advantage.
• Knowledge of event registration and attendee management platforms is preferred.
• A valid driver’s license and reliable transport are preferred.
• Willingness to work flexible hours, including evenings and weekends, during planning and event delivery.
• Must already be based in Accra or ready to relocate immediately.

Additional Information

This is a contract role based onsite in Accra, Greater Accra Region, Ghana. The position supports the delivery of a major annual industry conference and may require intensive coordination during peak event periods.

Preferred Skills

Conference management, event operations, project planning, budget control, sponsorship sales, vendor coordination, stakeholder engagement, exhibition management, logistics coordination, customer service, CRM administration, Zoho CRM, Microsoft Excel, team leadership, and risk management.