People / Talent jobs in Manchester

with Dr Vanessa Vallely OBE (Keynote speaker, )

A lunchtime keynote and panel on how AI and data are changing careers, skills and the shape of work, held during Women in Tech Week. Hosted by Nimble Approach with WeAreTechWomen. Dr Vanessa Vallely OBE gives the keynote at 12:30, followed at 12:50 by a panel that includes Amma Ainsley of Databricks. Arrival, lunch and networking from 12:00, a welcome from Nimble Approach at 12:20, and final networking from 13:40 until 14:00. Free, with lunch provided; send dietary requirements to the organiser in advance. Bring photographic ID: the venue requires it for entry. Why go: two hours, lunch included, and a keynote-plus-panel format that leaves real time to talk. Best for women in data and engineering roles thinking about where their skills go next, and for managers building teams around AI.

A merchant-first conference for Magento and Adobe Commerce: a full day of practical talks on traffic, conversion, retention, average order value and operations, across two tracks, with the organisers promising substance over vendor pitches. Speakers include John Hughes, VP of Product at Hyvä, alongside Adam Hindle, Karlijn Löwik, Katie Gallagher OBE, Hilary Stephenson and David Edmundson-Bird. Co-organised by On Tap, PushOn, Gene, Foundation Commerce and Monsoon Consulting, with Hypernode and Stripe as headline sponsors. At Sister, Renold Building, 32a Altrincham Street, M1 7JR. Free for verified merchants; agencies, vendors and freelancers pay £75. Tickets include the recordings. The After Dark social follows from 18:00 at Salón Madre, free for ticket holders. Why go: unusually for ecommerce events, it is built around the people who run the stores. Best for in-house ecommerce leads and Magento developers.

Empact Ventures brings healthtech and medtech founders, clinicians, corporates and investors together at No.1 Circle Square for a morning of panels, pitches, an expo and structured 'Super Connect' networking. The organiser's own calendar invite gives the runtime as 08:30 to 13:00, half an hour later than the end time shown here. Free 15-minute support clinics run alongside the programme with Novidian and CTO in Your Pocket, EBS, and Accelerate Associates. Free, registered through Eventbrite. Attendees have actions due by 18:00 on Monday 12 October: accept the calendar invite, and optionally submit the Super Connect form or send a photo for the Super Connect Wall. As of 9 October the organiser reported about a quarter of clinic places left, plus one pitch slot and three expo slots. Why go: one of the few Manchester rooms that deliberately matches clinicians, health founders and investors into scheduled conversations rather than leaving the networking to chance. Best for healthtech founders raising, or hunting a first NHS route in.

Venture Cafe Manchester's Thursday Gathering on making the business case for purpose-driven tech - ROI, social impact and what it does for hiring and retention.

Structured evening networking run by Colony, the Manchester coworking and tech community operator, at the Manchester Tennis & Racquets Club. The format guarantees each attendee an introduction by the host and two one-to-one conversations, rather than leaving the room to sort itself out.