Chief Executive Officer

Why we need you

NIDC is growing fast, and we're looking for 1 hands-on volunteer Chief Executive to lead it.

In 2025 we brought together 750 people at International Convention Centre Belfast for the last big tech event of the year in Northern Ireland. It was our 9th year running the conference.

Looking ahead, this role will be foundational to shaping the next phase of NIDC's development: growing it to a 1,500 to 2,000 person event and staying true to community roots.

What you'll help make happen

• Create a high-quality community conference that represents and supports Northern Ireland's tech community.
• Support Northern Ireland's tech community through the contacts and resources available to NIDC, and to yourself.
• Nourish NIDC's roots in the tech community, across domains including game development, design, and cybersecurity.
• Bring both local and global visitors to Belfast: while our focus is all about NI techies, we'd also love to see friends from ROI, UK and further afield, making Belfast a destination for high quality community events.
• Launch the next wave of community-first ideas to complement our existing support like peer-to-peer speaker training, and childcare.

What you'll do

In this role you will lead NIDC and how it runs. You will be responsible for the vision, growth, and sustainability of NIDC. This means leading the director team, keeping the conference financially and operationally sound, and making sure NIDC's reputation stays strong in the tech community & industry.

Goals

• Steer NIDC to be what we are all about.
• Build NIDC into the largest tech conference in Northern Ireland, with 1,500 - 2,000 people having a great experience, and 150 - 400 people coming from outside Northern Ireland.
• Bring in enough income to make sure NIDC is financially sustainable and able to invest in growing.
• Grow partnerships across the island of Ireland.
• Maintain a 1-2 year strategy, with clear goals and measurable progress.

Responsibilities

• Direct and manage the priorities and resources of NIDC.
• Direct the annual strategy, goals, and cohesive plans by collaborating with the director team on the conference, operations, marketing, and peripherals. And, monitor progress to make sure we're delivering on it.
• Build and maintain NIDC's reputation and influence across the tech community & industry.
• Build and maintain relationships with companies, organisations, conferences, communities, and meetups across Northern Ireland, and beyond. And, attend community & industry events representing NIDC.
• Take part in board meetings, and prepare reports for the board to give all board members the opportunity to make informed decisions and contributions.
• Oversee preparation and filing of statutory reports, including Confirmation Statements, Accounts, and VAT Returns, making sure they have approval of the board. And, making timely payments of Corporation Tax and VAT.

Key activities

You will define your own key activities, to support the goals of NIDC.

Team

This role is part of our director team, with your teammates working across marketing, conference, and operations to set goals and get it done with their teams. In this role you will also be on the board of directors where you will work with other board members on nourishing the long-term success of our purpose and living out our shared values.

The chairperson and board of directors will support you in creating a 1-2 year strategy that feeds into the 3+ year timeframe, and making the plans a reality. And, of course, you'll have the support of the full organising team, who will want the same from you.

How you'll set the tone

• Think about people first: always consider how our decisions affect attendees, speakers, volunteers, and others.
• Be you, and talk in your own tone of voice: it's not a script. We are people talking with people. Whether it's in a team meeting, or posting on social media — we're not about corporate statements.
• Reinforce our shared values and goals.

We are looking for a person who will…

• Commit 4-12 hours a week from June to November, and 2 hours a week from December to May.
• Have experience organising meetups, communities, or conferences (this isn't your first time). Or, have experience running a non-profit company.
• Be familiar with (or, willing to learn) the legal duties of a UK company director. NIDC is incorporated as Developer Conference Limited, a company limited-by-guarantee, and run as a not for profit.
• Learn the history, purpose, and values of NIDC.
• Live in Northern Ireland.
• Be part of the community you are building, not just someone managing it.

Nice-to-haves

• Contacts with potential sponsors, venues, speakers, etc.
• Know-how for on the day operations, and working with venues (eg: International Convention Centre Belfast).

We're serious about inclusion

We warmly encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. If you're excited about the role but don't tick every box, please still get in touch — passion and fresh perspectives matter.

We're happy to make reasonable adjustments throughout the process or the role itself.

How to apply

To apply or ask questions, get in touch with the organising team on organisers@nidevconf.com. Be mindful that this is a shared inbox. So, don't share any private or personal details.