Working for Hay Festival

    The festival is put together by hundreds of people, from building the site and producing the events to welcoming our guests and spreading the word. We are currently looking for a Commercial Administrator.

    Commercial Administrator

    Hay Festival is seeking an enthusiastic, highly organised and commercially minded Commercial Administrator to support the delivery and growth of our commercial activities.

    This is an exciting opportunity for someone looking to build or develop a career in events, sales, partnerships, retail or commercial management. Previous festival experience is not essential—we're looking for someone with strong organisational skills and a genuine enthusiasm to learn and grow.

    This is a varied and fast-paced role, combining administration, sales support, customer service, retail operations and event delivery. During the Festival, you will play a key role in supporting our commercial activities, helping to deliver an exceptional experience for our audiences, partners, sponsors and traders.

    Working closely with the Commercial team, you will support a broad range of commercial and marketing activities, including preparing sales materials, presentations, reports and promotional content. You'll also assist with the coordination of commercial partnerships, retail operations and on-site delivery, ensuring projects are delivered efficiently and to a high standard.

    Essential

    • Strong administrative and organisational skills.
    • Highly numerate and comfortable working with data and spreadsheets.
    • Previous experience in a customer-facing role.
    • Good working knowledge of Microsoft Office, particularly Excel.
    • Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
    • Exceptionally organised with strong attention to detail.
    • Strong customer service skills.
    • Confidence working with a variety of people, both internally and externally.

    Desirable

    • Previous sales, fundraising or business development experience.
    • Experience working in retail, hospitality, events or ticketing environments.
    • Experience using CRM or database systems.
    • Experience using Canva or similar design software to create presentations, promotional materials and marketing content.

    A full job description can be found here

    Please send your CV with a cover letter explaining how your experience fits the role by midday 3 Sept 2026 to penny@hayfestival.org.