Background

The International Water Resources Association (IWRA) is a globally recognised non-profit, non-governmental, membership-based organisation that was established in 1971. With a strong emphasis on collaboration between science, policy, and practice, IWRA serves as a knowledge and research-based forum dedicated to addressing pressing water challenges. IWRA’s overarching goal is to enhance the understanding of water issues and foster sustainable water use and management worldwide. With a global membership of over 5250 in more than 160 countries and through a multifaceted approach encompassing events, projects, publications, and capacity building, IWRA strives to facilitate informed decision-making and inspire dialogue across all sectors, scales, and communities. For more information, consult our website at www.iwra.org.

IWRA hosts numerous events, including but not limited to the World Water Congress, Islands Water Congresses, Technical and Regional Water Congresses, Online Conferences, Webinars, Master Classes, workshops, etc. With this growing portfolio, the Association is seeking a new Events Officer to support the planning, coordination, and delivery of these important activities. Responsibilities include working with both internal teams and external stakeholders to ensure that events are well-organised and consistently of a high standard. The role requires strong multitasking, administrative, and events experience, with excellent focus to detail.

We are currently seeking an experienced Events Officer to help the Association deliver its expanding portfolio of face-to-face, hybrid and online events and to support the work of the Executive Office. Working in a small dynamic international team, this person will report directly to the Executive Director. Candidates should be self-motivated, willing to take initiative, able to work both independently and collaboratively, and be solution oriented.

Roles and responsibilities

This person will be responsible for managing all IWRA’s in person and online events, including:

Coordination of all IWRA online and in person events, including stakeholder management and administrative activities in close collaboration with the Executive Director.
Coordination of the events with the Communications Team, in collaboration with the Executive Board, Task Forces, Working Groups, Geographic Chapters, and key partners.
Support of International Scientific Committees (ISCs), working with local hosts, to ensure oversight of abstract and proposal submission processes across all events, and event programme development.
Management of our team of part-time Webinar Officer/s.
Overseeing attendee management and follow-up with all event stakeholders, including managing event speakers and attendees, rapporteurs, and IWRA World Water Envoys; providing briefings and logistical support, as required.
Providing reports and updates to the Executive Board and ISCs for meetings and events, including minutes, summaries, action logs, etc.
Capturing specific and general outcomes/outputs from events, and packaging them into reports to be shared on IWRA’s website, social media channels, etc.
Working with Executive Office and Board members to design, implement and monitor IWRA’s events strategy, including the identification of future hosts for the World Water Congresses, Islands Water Congresses and Technical/ Regional Water Congresses, as well as seeking sponsors for all events.
Working with the Communications Team to select the best digital platforms for online events, such as master classes, webinars, online conferences, etc.

Candidate profile

Essential

Demonstrable experience in planning, organising, and hosting international and high-level in person, hybrid, and online events, including content development and strategic process planning.
Excellent people management skills, including an ability to coordinate large groups of people in a multi-cultural environment across multiple time zones.
Expert knowledge of Zoom, Teams and other online meeting/events platforms.
Proven ability to identify new hosts, partners, and/or sponsors for events.
Fluent level in written and spoken English.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Competent using Google Suite, Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other packages.
Ability to work remotely and independently on different tasks simultaneously and to adhere to strict deadlines in a fast paced environment.
Ability to travel internationally, as required.

Desirable

A working knowledge of French/Spanish or other official UN languages.
Knowledge of the water sector with an academic background in political sciences or hard sciences, international relations or events management.
An understanding of event marketing/communications.
Creative thinker and an eye for good design.

Duration:

12 months, open to renewal.

Payment and work conditions:

3,400 € / month (gross) on a contract basis (approx. 35 hours per week)

IWRA operates on a remote working model. IWRA also offers the option of a physical workspace, if desired, at its offices located in Paris, France.

To Apply:

Please send your CV (maximum 2 pages) and a one-page letter of motivation addressed to Mr. Ignacio Deregibus, IWRA Executive Director, at office@iwra.org by Monday, 26 January 2026.

For more information, please refer to the Terms of Reference.