VP, Content - Europe

VP, Content – Europe
Division: RetailTech
Brands: Shoptalk Europe and Shoptalk Luxe
Reports to: Global VP, Product & Content
Location: London, UK
Job status: Full-time, permanent

About Hyve

We believe that when people come together, powerful things happen. Hyve Group connects global industry communities through unmissable events, online networking platforms and hyper-productive meeting programmes.

Our decades of experience put us at the heart of industries, and we are committed to using our influence to shape innovation and drive progress across our customer communities.

Our market-leading portfolio of global brands includes Shoptalk, Groceryshop and Fintech Meetup.

#LifeAtHyve

At Hyve, we are driven by our values: brilliant work, fresh thinking, rich connections and collective buzz. In practice, this means we value quality, work with passion, celebrate uniqueness and are at our best when we work together.

We value a diverse team and are committed to employing individuals from all backgrounds and creating a culture based around belonging.

Our hybrid working model ensures we respect our people’s work-life balance.

Human connections are our specialty, and we offer a jam-packed calendar of social events, inclusion workshops and professional-development opportunities to make sure #LifeAtHyve is always fulfilling and exciting.

About RetailTech

Hyve’s RetailTech portfolio brings together the people and organisations transforming how the world discovers, shops for and buys products.

Shoptalk Europe convenes senior leaders from across the European retail ecosystem, including retailers, consumer brands, technology companies, investors, startups and industry partners. Its content programme is central to the event’s ability to attract influential speakers and decision-makers, create meaningful industry conversations and deliver value to attendees and commercial partners.

Shoptalk Luxe extends that proposition into the global luxury ecosystem, bringing together leaders shaping the future of luxury retail, technology and customer experience.

The OpportunityThe VP, Content – Europe will provide strategic and operational leadership for content across Shoptalk Europe and Shoptalk Luxe.

Working closely with the Global VP, Product & Content and the wider event leadership team, the VP will define compelling, differentiated content strategies that reflect the most important trends affecting retail, commerce and luxury.

This person will be a visible external ambassador for the brands and a trusted industry voice. They will build senior relationships across the global retail ecosystem, recruit high-calibre speakers, contribute to original research and deliver engaging content both onstage and across year-round channels.

The VP will also lead and develop a team of Content Directors and Producers, establishing clear priorities, maintaining a strong speaker pipeline and ensuring that each programme is delivered to an exceptional standard and against agreed milestones.

Key Responsibilities

Content Strategy and Programme Development

• Define the content strategies for Shoptalk Europe and Shoptalk Luxe in partnership with the Global VP, Product & Content.
• Develop programmes that are differentiated, commercially relevant and responsive to the changing needs of retailers, brands, technology companies, investors and other industry stakeholders.
• Analyse global retail and luxury trends to identify priority themes, emerging topics and new content formats.
• Ensure content supports the positioning, growth objectives and long-term strategic direction of each event.
• Use customer feedback, industry research, performance data and stakeholder insight to evaluate and continuously improve the programme.
• Maintain consistency across the portfolio while ensuring that each event has a distinct and relevant proposition.

Industry Research and Thought Leadership

• Continuously deepen knowledge of the global retail, commerce, technology and luxury ecosystems through research reports, newsletters, blogs, podcasts, interviews and other relevant sources.
• Build a strong network of senior industry leaders, analysts, entrepreneurs, investors and subject-matter experts.
• Contribute to original Shoptalk research, including developing research themes, undertaking market analysis and conducting senior-level interviews.
• Translate complex developments into accessible, engaging and commercially relevant content.
• Identify opportunities to extend Shoptalk’s authority and relevance beyond the live events through webinars, podcasts, reports and other year-round content.

Speaker and Moderator Recruitment

• Identify, engage and recruit hundreds of senior global speakers at VP level or equivalent and above.
• Build relationships with prominent retailers, consumer and luxury brands, technology companies, venture-backed startups, investors and consulting firms.
• Secure diverse, credible and highly relevant voices that reflect the breadth of the global retail ecosystem.
• Recruit and brief experienced moderators capable of leading insightful and engaging discussions.
• Maintain a strong and accurate speaker pipeline, ensuring recruitment targets and programme milestones are achieved.
• Personally manage sensitive, high-priority and C-suite speaker relationships.
• Ensure speakers receive a professional and engaging experience from initial outreach through post-event follow-up.

Content Creation and Delivery

• Develop compelling session titles, descriptions, formats and narratives that clearly communicate the value of the programme.
• Write and provide content to support marketing campaigns, sales materials, websites, speaker announcements and other promotional activity.
• Work with speakers and moderators to shape sessions that are focused, relevant and engaging.
• Deliver welcome remarks and presentations onstage, including on the main stage, as required.
• Interview senior executives and moderate high-profile conversations, panels, webinars and podcasts.
• Maintain quality control across all programme materials, presentations and live content

Brand Representation and Industry Engagement

• Represent Shoptalk Europe and Shoptalk Luxe at relevant events in the UK and internationally.
• Pursue appropriate speaking engagements, podcast appearances, webinars and media opportunities.
• Build Shoptalk’s profile as an informed, independent and trusted voice within the retail and luxury sectors.
• Develop relationships with industry associations, research organisations, media partners and other influential communities.
• Act as a senior ambassador for Hyve and the RetailTech portfolio.

Team Leadership

• Lead, coach and develop Content Directors, Producers and other members of the European content team.
• Establish clear objectives, responsibilities, priorities and performance expectations.
• Create effective programme-development and speaker-recruitment processes that enable the team to operate at scale.
• Monitor workload and resources across the event cycle, addressing risks and bottlenecks before they affect delivery.
• Conduct regular one-to-ones, performance reviews and development conversations.
• Build an inclusive, collaborative and high-performing team culture.
• Support recruitment and workforce planning as the portfolio evolves.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Work closely with event leadership, marketing, sales, operations, customer experience and audience teams.
• Ensure that content strategy supports audience acquisition, customer value, brand positioning and commercial growth.
• Provide regular programme and pipeline updates, highlighting progress, risks and required actions.
• Partner with marketing to develop campaigns that communicate the strength and relevance of the speakers and agenda.
• Support sales teams with market insight and content narratives that strengthen sponsor and partner conversations.
• Collaborate with operations to ensure successful onsite delivery across all stages and formats.

What You’ll Need

• Significant senior-level experience developing content for large-scale B2B conferences, exhibitions, media businesses or professional communities.
• Deep knowledge of the European retail ecosystem, ideally with exposure to luxury, commerce, consumer brands or retail technology.
• A strong network of senior relationships across retailers, brands, technology companies, startups, investors and advisory firms.
• Demonstrable success recruiting and managing C-suite and senior executive speakers.
• Experience defining a content strategy and translating it into a complex, multi-stage event programme.
• Strong research and analytical capabilities, with the ability to identify emerging trends and turn them into engaging content.
• Outstanding written and verbal communication skills.
• Confidence speaking onstage, moderating sessions and interviewing senior leaders.
• Strong project-management skills and experience working against fixed event deadlines.
• Experience leading and developing content professionals at different levels.
• The ability to combine long-term strategic thinking with hands-on delivery.
• Strong stakeholder-management skills and the credibility to influence senior internal and external partners.
• A collaborative, curious and commercially aware approach.
• Willingness to travel within the UK and internationally.

Measures of Success

• Delivery of distinctive, relevant and high-quality programmes for Shoptalk Europe and Shoptalk Luxe.
• Achievement of speaker-recruitment targets and programme milestones.
• Recruitment of influential, diverse and senior-level speakers.
• Positive speaker, attendee, sponsor and internal stakeholder feedback.
• Growth in the quality, reach and industry influence of Shoptalk’s European content.
• Strong alignment between content, audience, marketing and commercial strategies.
• Effective leadership, development and retention of the content team.
• Increased year-round engagement through research, webinars, podcasts and other thought-leadership initiatives.

Why This Role Is Needed Now

Content is fundamental to the value proposition and growth of Shoptalk Europe and Shoptalk Luxe. As the European RetailTech portfolio develops, Hyve requires dedicated senior leadership to set the strategic direction of its content, strengthen its industry authority and ensure both events deliver programmes capable of attracting the world’s most influential retail leaders.

The volume and seniority of speakers required create a significant recruitment, relationship-management and delivery workload. This cannot be addressed solely through tactical programme production. It requires an experienced leader who can combine market insight, industry relationships, public visibility, team leadership and disciplined project management.

The role will:

• Provide clear strategic ownership of content across Shoptalk’s European portfolio.
• Ensure Shoptalk Europe recruits enough high-quality speakers to complete the programme and address current content gaps.
• Establish the content proposition and industry credibility required to grow Shoptalk Luxe.
• Add senior capacity to manage the substantial volume of programme development, speaker recruitment and stakeholder engagement required before each event.
• Strengthen Shoptalk’s position as a year-round source of retail insight rather than solely an annual event.
• Improve coordination between content, marketing, audience and commercial teams.
• Develop the European content team and create a more scalable structure for future portfolio growth.

Without this appointment, there is a material risk that the team will not recruit the volume or calibre of speakers required, key programme milestones will be missed, and existing resources will be unable to manage the workload leading into the events. This could affect programme quality, attendee confidence, sponsor value, brand reputation and the commercial performance of both Shoptalk Europe and Shoptalk Luxe.