Event Coordinator

Event Coordinator – Full-Time

Location: Glencoe & Glenview, IL, On-Site
Reports to: Director of Events and Business Development (Emily)
Company: Uptown Event Spaces / Hometown Coffee & Juice

About the Role

We’re looking for a motivated, highly organized Event Coordinator to join our team at Uptown. You’ll help plan and execute private events across Uptown Glencoe and our brand-new Uptown Glenview location opening this fall 2025. Working directly with our Director of Events, you’ll shadow client meetings, manage logistics, coordinate vendors, and support onsite hospitality.

This role is ideal for someone getting started with their hospitality career who thrives in fast-paced environments, is eager to learn, and excited to grow into a client-facing sales and planning position.

You’ll receive hands-on training in things like sales strategy and lead conversion, client communication and timeline management, event pricing, planning, execution, and much more. 

Uptown is a family-owned and operated business, run by the same owners as Hometown Coffee & Juice [Major perk! Free coffee and meals everyday]. Our lounge-style, luxury event spaces are created to feel like you’re inside of someone’s beautifully designed home.

Our event mix includes milestone birthdays, wedding and baby showers, corporate meetings, charity galas, engagement and rehearsal dinners, Mitzvah-surrounding events like Shabbat dinners, and much more. You name it, we’ve likely hosted it.

In the past year, we’ve run events for major companies including Crate & Barrel, AbbVie, and The RealReal. Our clients are driven, interesting, smart, fun to work with, and have high expectations for luxury service.

Key Responsibilities

Sales & Planning Support

• Shadow event space tours and planning meetings; transcribe key notes and follow-ups.
• Prepare and update BEOs (Banquet Event Orders) for all private events.
• Learn the ins-and-outs of our planning software, Perfect Venue and eventually own the organization of that system alongside the Director of Events.
• Coordinate and create digital/print signage for events using Canva.
• Support event communications through phone and email with clients and vendors, including assigning incoming emails/leads.
• Uphold the “luxury” experience by managing and predicting high expectations of our amazing clients.

Pre-Event Coordination

• Oversee all pre-event logistics, including scheduling cleaning, furniture moving, space prep, and organization.
• Serve as the point person for vendor coordination and confirmations.
• Assist with light tech needs: music system, slideshows, basic AV.
• Lead internal organization projects to ensure both event spaces stay functional, and guest-ready.
• Be the main point of contact to our staffing partner.

 Onsite Hospitality

• Attend high-touch events to support setup and guest experience.
• Help clients carry in supplies or personal items when needed.
• Treat every event like it's your own, and build long-lasting relationships with clients – we pride ourselves on repeat business and are the go-to for celebrations of any kind throughout our clients’ lives.

Creative Tasks

• Use Canva to design menus, signage, and branded event materials.
• Support in creating and updating menus or other seasonal marketing collateral.
• Work closely with our Marketing Agency to capture iPhone photos/videos at events occasionally for social.

Who You Are

A fast learner who listens, is naturally curious, and detain-oriented even when things move quickly. You're proactive and driven, and take pride in anticipating needs before they are noticed by the client. If you've had experience working in the event industry, that is a bonus!

💡 We truly believe no experience is bad experience. If you’ve served tables, run a dorm floor, or led icebreakers at summer camp, we want to hear about it.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required (We’re especially interested in candidates who studied hospitality, marketing, communications, business, or a related field—but we also value real-world experience).
• 1–4 years of experience in events, hospitality, customer service, or sales.
• Excellent communication and follow-through.
• Canva experience (required, and we'd love to see a portfolio of your favorite work, personal or work-related!).
• Comfortable with light tech troubleshooting (audio, music, etc).
• Able to lift and move items as needed for event setup (uncommon).
• Eager to grow into a planning/sales role with increasing responsibility.
• Comfortable in a fast-paced, highly collaborative, client-facing environment where every event has different needs.

Compensation, Schedule & Benefits

Salary: $45,000 – $55,000/year (based on experience)
Schedule: 40-45 hours/week

This is a full-time, in-person role with flexibility built in. While you’ll work some evenings and weekends to support events onsite, we don’t believe in ‘the theater of working.’ Some weeks may be event-heavy; other weeks may be quieter behind the scenes. We expect you to take ownership of your time, get your work done, and give 150% when it counts – but we will work with you to balance your schedule accordingly.

This isn’t your typical 9–5. We value efficiency, drive, and integrity over clock-watching. If you thrive in a rhythm that changes week to week and enjoy being part of a high-functioning, self-managed team – this is for you.

Benefits include PTO, health care, meals, Mac laptop.

Growth Potential

We’re not just looking for someone to fill a role – we’re looking to invest in someone’s long-term success. This position is designed as a launching pad for the right person to grow into a client-facing planning and sales role.

As you grow more confident in the sales process, this role can evolve, allowing you to directly manage and close client bookings and grow your own book of business within the Uptown family.

Our goal is to build leaders from within. If you’re smart, creative, accountable, and driven – we want to meet you!