VIP Operations Coordinator, Frieze

Who We Are:

Frieze is a leading global contemporary art organisation, recognized for its art fairs, publications and digital presence. Founded in 1991 with the launch of frieze magazine, the brand has grown to encompass seven of the most significant art fairs worldwide in cities including Chicago, London, Los Angeles, New York and Seoul. These events attract leading artists, galleries and collectors, fostering innovative dialogues and practices within the art community. Frieze magazine continues to set the benchmark for insightful art criticism and commentary, while frieze.com serves as a vital online resource. Committed to expanding the reach and understanding of contemporary art, Frieze also hosts year-round curated programs and associated initiatives, such as No.9 Cork Street, Frieze House Seoul and Frieze Connects, that enrich the cultural landscape. With a dedicated team passionate about the arts, Frieze remains at the forefront of artistic exploration and cultural discourse, connecting diverse audiences with groundbreaking artists and their work. For more information, visit frieze.com.

Working Conditions:

Permanent, London Surrey Street

Mon-Fri, 10am-6pm

What You'll Do:

Frieze is seeking a highly organised, proactive and detail-oriented VIP Operations Coordinator to support the VIP Operations Team across all operational priorities for all fairs globally. This role combines VIP-facing customer service, systems and process management, VIP partners coordination, and administrative support, ensuring smooth communication and alignment across regional VIP teams, consultants and internal stakeholders.

The VIP Operations Coordinator will play a central role in maintaining operational systems, coordinating timelines and information sharing, and supporting both strategic initiatives and day-to-day VIP delivery.

 

Key Responsibilities

1. VIP Partnerships & Hotel Partner Support

• Support research and outreach to potential global hotel partners.

• Assist with the management of hotel partnership deliverables across all fairs.

• Coordinate partner benefit delivery, including collecting partner assets, maintaining website partner pages, and updating VIP materials (e.g. Hotel Partner PDFs, City Guides, VIP Overviews).

• Manage complimentary hotel room allocations and coordinate bookings for key stakeholders and internal teams.

• Track partnership deliverables and produce post-project evaluation reports against agreed KPIs.

2. Systems, Notion & Process Management

• Own and maintain the VIP Operations Notion teamspace as the central source of truth.

• Build and maintain operational documentation, guides and procedures (including Sugar CRM, portal, MaxBulk, Mailchimp and other VIP systems).

• Support onboarding and training of team members in systems and processes.

• Maintain timelines, trackers and documentation to support cross-regional coordination and deadline management.

• Support internal project management systems, including tracking planned reviews and entering outcomes where required.

• Oversee management of the VIP Dashboard along with other VIP access platforms, making sure that associated content is updated

3. VIP Consultant & Regional Coordination

• Act as a key point of contact for VIP Consultants alongside the VIP Operations Manager.

• Support consultant onboarding, vendor setup, and distribution of key information and materials.

• Track consultant travel and coordinate hotel bookings.

• Support consultant nomination review processes, including requesting lists and chasing missing information.

• Draft and distribute key internal communications for VIP teams and consultants.

4. Fair Operations & VIP Desk Support

• Support VIP Operations across all fairs in the lead-up and on-site.

• Provide high-quality customer service via shared VIP inboxes and communication channels.

• Update VIP data in Sugar CRM, keeping abreast of art related news and information

• Support VIP desk operations, including training temporary staff and contributing to training materials, manuals and procedures during the fair periods.

• Act as a client-facing representative at VIP desks, responding to VIP enquiries professionally and confidently.

• Support fair time programming and events, when required

5. Administrative & Departmental Coordination

• Oversee all VIP inboxes and coordinate responses and follow-ups with the VIP Inbox temps and permanent team.

• Responsibility for the VIP Ops timeline and shared calendars, ensuring they are up to date.

• Support internal timelines and deadline reminders, including list and portal reviews.

• Coordinate meetings, schedule calendars, take minutes, and track actions and follow-ups for VIP Team meetings.

• Support invoice processing, vendor management and financial administration tasks.

• Assist with departmental coordination across regions and teams.

 

Skills & Experience

Essential

• Proven experience supporting operations, projects or events in a fast-paced environment.

• Strong organisational skills with exceptional attention to detail.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

• Strong interpersonal skills and professionalism with discretion and confidentiality.

• Ability to manage multiple priorities and work collaboratively across teams and with external partners.

Desirable

• Experience using project management or documentation tools (e.g. Notion or similar).

• Experience using Adobe InDesign or similar design tools for document creation.

• Experience using CRM systems (Sugar CRM or similar).

• Experience supporting art fairs or live events.

• Basic financial administration experience (invoicing, reconciliation, vendor tracking).

• Experience with digital platforms such as Mailchimp, portals, or content management systems.

 

Additional Information

• The role requires availability during all fairs, including shift work and unsocial hours.

• Some international travel may be required in line with fair schedules.

• Responsibilities may expand over time in line with team needs and organisational growth.

Our Diversity & Inclusion Statement

Frieze unites people in our love of the arts. We understand this can only be accomplished when we harness the entirety of our company and lead with a lens of diversity, equity, and inclusion in everything we do. As a global company that drives culture, we are committed to practicing anti-discrimination including race, gender identity, sexual orientation and disability, together with artists, writers and cultural practitioners from all backgrounds. There is still much work to be done to address systemic inequality and discrimination within the arts and culture industry, and we are dedicated to making progress to both within our own organization and the art world at large.